New Indoor Play Place BE1ST Taking Beijing by Storm

BE1ST (pronounced “Be First”) is the latest indoor play place to set up shop in Beijing, having opened two branches in the capital city in the last six months – one in the west Xicheng district and the other in Chaoyang’s very own Joy City. Since the mall is just a stone’s throw away from my home, we decided to check it out during the recent CNY holiday.

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Located on the fifth floor of Chaoyang Joy City, BE1ST is set up similarly to other popular indoor play places like Bom Bom Space, albeit on a smaller scale since Joy City is much closer to downtown Beijing. It offers the usual indoor playground with ball pit, slides, trampolines, cave exploration, rock wall, aerial obstacle course, plus more! One activity at BE1ST that stands out is the human Whack-a-Mole where kids scramble through “underground tunnels” and pop out of holes to steal (fake) corn from the farmer, who uses an inflatable bat to whack them. It’s rather therapeutic for parents to take on the role of the farmer…

Blending in augmented reality (AR) games like those at VS Sports Park, BE1ST also offers HADO, an AR game where players don AR glasses and battle against each other in simple fist-punching and shield-wielding combat. The instructions are straightforward: Aim and punch with the hand that wears the motion detector band. You want to take out your opponent while dodging their shots. You can also charge your shield by pointing your fist down and raising your arm quickly overhead when the green bar is full. The shield can only take so many hits before it breaks, though! Each round of HADO’s AR combat lasts about five minutes, so players don’t have to wait long to play, and it’s definitely fun for parents to play versus the kids!

BE1ST seems to want to get everyone moving, even the adults. One of the stations sees stationary bicycles set up for a race with the actual cycling avatars on a race track so you can spot your progress! Another cool modern feature is the Smart Mirrors that allow parents to sneak in a little five- to 15-minute free workout of their choice by simply scanning the QR code on the mirror and choosing from yoga, HIIT, Chinese dance and more. It’s both a smart advertising move as well as a great time-killer for guardians who have to accompany the kids for the three-hour period each ticket allows.

BE1ST doesn’t have an attached restaurant on site, but it does have a juice bar that serves fresh juice as well as other refreshments. For RMB 20, you can get a refillable cup at their soda fountain that offers iced tea and soda. For more dining options, simply walk into the mall and you’ll find familiar names like Baker & Spice, Tubestation, Moji (not to be confused with Muji), Saigon Mama and more. There’s also an outlet of The Tree for those of you craving Chinese cuisine.

Right now, a nice perk of visiting BE1ST at Chaoyang Joy City before the end of the CNY holiday (Feb 25) is that you’ll get a shot at their red packet lucky draw when you purchase a package card (RMB 1,880 for ten parent-child visits). The red packets contain ticket and cash prizes – my kid walked away with RMB 50 in hand!