Restaurant in Beijing, China
Ceremony-first Peking duck, book ahead.
Duck de Chine delivers Peking duck with genuine imperial ceremony, ranked #146 in Asia by Opinionated About Dining in 2024. The courtyard-house setting with terracotta warriors and gong service makes it the strongest choice for atmosphere over Da Dong, at a ¥¥¥ price point that is serious but not the city's top tier. Book it for occasions, not casual dinners.
If you are choosing between Duck de Chine and Da Dong for Peking duck in Beijing, Duck de Chine wins on atmosphere and ceremony. Da Dong is technically precise and more internationally famous, but Duck de Chine delivers a fuller theatrical experience: gong, imperial courtyard setting, terracotta warriors, painted beams, red pillars. For a first-time visitor to Beijing who wants Peking duck served with genuine pageantry in a setting that earns its price tag, this is the stronger booking. It ranked #116 in Asia on the Opinionated About Dining list in 2023 and #146 in 2024, which tells you it holds its ground in a competitive field without accelerating. Book it with confidence but manage expectations: this is a formal, occasion-oriented meal, not a casual dinner.
Duck de Chine sits on the fifth floor of the Jinbao Place shopping complex on Jinbao Street in Dongcheng, Beijing's historical core. The address sounds commercial, and the mall entrance is slightly incongruous with what you find inside, but that contrast disappears once you are in the dining room. The space is built around a courtyard-house structure with full theatrical decoration: life-size terracotta warrior figures, deep-red lacquered pillars, hand-painted ceiling beams. The effect is deliberate and considered, not kitschy. The room is designed to signal that Peking duck is Beijing's imperial dish, and to make you feel you are eating it in a setting commensurate with that history.
The atmosphere is formal and ceremonial, with a noise profile to match. Expect the low hum of a full dining room with periodic gong strikes announcing the arrival of duck. This is not a quiet dinner venue and it is not meant to be. If you want a more restrained environment for the same cuisine, Made in China at the Grand Hyatt offers a polished, hotel-dining version of Peking duck with a calmer room. For something rawer and more neighbourhood-rooted, Liqun Roast Duck in the hutongs near Qianmen trades ceremony for character. Duck de Chine sits between those two poles: more considered than Liqun, more atmospheric than Made in China.
The duck itself is roasted over date wood, a detail that is part of the restaurant's defined preparation method. The crossbreed bird used here, a combination of Cherry Valley and local white duck, is specific to the kitchen's sourcing approach and distinguishes it from the standard Beijing roast duck preparation. Starters like deep-fried king oyster mushrooms and mustard duck web are designed to occupy the table while the duck roasts, and they are worth ordering as a practical pacing measure as much as for their own merit. The meal is structured around the duck as its anchor, with everything else in a supporting role.
Dongcheng is the right neighbourhood for this kind of restaurant. It covers the area around the Forbidden City, the Wangfujing shopping strip, and several of Beijing's older hutong lanes. Eating imperial-style Peking duck in Dongcheng, rather than in a hotel dining room across the city, has a locational logic. The neighbourhood has a density of historically significant sites that gives the restaurant's decorative choices more grounding. Family Li Imperial Cuisine, which focuses on Qing Dynasty court recipes, operates nearby and is worth knowing about if your interest is in Beijing's imperial food tradition more broadly. Duck de Chine is the more accessible and less intimate version of that idea, which for most visitors is exactly what they need.
The ¥¥¥ price positioning puts Duck de Chine at the upper-middle tier of Beijing dining. You will spend meaningfully but not at the level of the city's highest-end tasting-menu restaurants. The Google rating of 4.3 from 241 reviews is consistent and does not suggest a venue coasting on reputation. For context on what this price level gets you elsewhere in Chinese fine dining: 102 House in Shanghai operates at a comparable price point with a very different sensibility, and Xin Rong Ji in Chengdu shows how regional Chinese cuisine performs at similar pricing with a more ingredient-focused approach. Duck de Chine is the right choice if theatre and ceremony matter to you as much as the food itself.
For explorers who want to trace Chinese culinary ambition across cities, the comparison set is informative. Ru Yuan in Hangzhou, Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau, and Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou each represent a distinct regional take on refined Chinese dining. If your interest is in how Peking duck travels globally, Restaurant Tim Raue in Berlin and Mister Jiu's in San Francisco demonstrate how Chinese culinary ideas perform in Western fine-dining contexts. Duck de Chine remains the source material: the Beijing original, done with intent. For a full picture of where to eat and stay in the capital, see our full Beijing restaurants guide, our full Beijing hotels guide, our full Beijing bars guide, our full Beijing wineries guide, and our full Beijing experiences guide. If you are also evaluating Xitan Beijing or Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing as part of a broader China itinerary, those are worth comparing against Duck de Chine on atmosphere versus ingredient focus.
Duck de Chine is located at 88 Jinbao Street, 5th floor of Jinbao Place, Dongcheng District, Beijing. Pricing sits at the ¥¥¥ level, making it a meaningful spend without reaching the top tier of Beijing fine dining. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, meaning same-week reservations are generally achievable, though prime weekend slots fill faster. No specific dress code is confirmed, but the formal atmosphere makes smart-casual the sensible minimum. Group dining is well-suited to the space given the ceremonial format and shared dishes.
Quick reference: ¥¥¥ | Dongcheng, Beijing | OAD Leading Restaurants Asia #146 (2024) | Google 4.3/5 | Booking: Easy
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duck de Chine | As you set foot in this courtyard house-turned-restaurant, it’s hard to miss the life-size terracotta soldiers, painted beams and red pillars . All of these decorative elements impart a majestic feel befitting its imperial speciality – Peking duck – served to the banging of a gong. While a crossbreed between Cherry Valley and local white duck is roasting over date wood, tease your appetite with deep-fried king oyster mushrooms and mustard duck web.; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Asia Ranked #146 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Asia Ranked #116 (2023) | ¥¥¥ | — |
| Jing | Michelin 1 Star | ¥¥¥ | — |
| Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) | Michelin 3 Star | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Lamdre | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Jingji | Michelin 2 Star | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Yes, and the venue suits groups well. The courtyard-house format with private dining rooms makes it a practical pick for corporate dinners or celebrations in Dongcheng. For groups of six or more, request a private room when booking — the communal Peking duck ritual plays better in that setting than at a shared main-floor table.
Da Dong is the main rival for Peking duck in Beijing — leaner duck, more contemporary plating, but less theatrical ceremony than Duck de Chine. If you want broader Beijing cuisine rather than a duck-focused meal, Jing or Xin Rong Ji offer different angles on upscale Chinese dining. Duck de Chine wins when the ritual and setting matter as much as the bird itself.
Book at least one to two weeks ahead for weekday dinners; aim for two to three weeks for weekends or group tables. Duck de Chine sits at ¥¥¥ pricing and holds an OAD Top 150 Asia ranking, which means demand from both locals and visitors is consistent. Leaving it to the day rarely works.
Duck de Chine is a full-service restaurant rather than a bar-forward venue, and the format is table-based — the gong-announced duck service does not translate well to bar seating. There is no confirmed bar counter option in the venue data, so assume you will need a booked table to eat here.
The venue's kitchen leads with Peking duck as its centrepiece, and OAD ranked it among the top restaurants in Asia in both 2023 and 2024, which suggests the full spread — including starters like deep-fried king oyster mushrooms and mustard duck web — is where the experience lands. If you are ordering selectively rather than committing to the full meal, you are probably at the wrong venue; Duck de Chine is built around a complete ceremonial progression.
At ¥¥¥, Duck de Chine is among Beijing's pricier Peking duck options, but the OAD Top 150 Asia ranking (climbing from #146 in 2023 to #116 in 2024) gives the price tag external validation. You are paying for ceremony and setting as much as the duck itself — terracotta soldiers, painted beams, gong service, date-wood roasting. If you want technically precise duck at a lower price, Da Dong is a leaner proposition. If the full ritual matters, Duck de Chine is worth it.
The Peking duck is the reason to be here — a Cherry Valley and local white duck crossbreed roasted over date wood. Start with the deep-fried king oyster mushrooms and mustard duck web while the duck roasts. These dishes are confirmed from the venue record; defer to the current menu for anything beyond that when you arrive.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
