Cocktails and connection: China’s ‘home bar’ trend

On a blustery spring evening, over 60 youngsters cuddled up in a snug living room framed by vintage décor and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Beijing’s central business district. The projector played old songs, while guests lounged on the sofa or sank into bean bags interspersed among several coffee tables cluttered with half-drunk cocktails. As the ice in the glasses slowly melted, the conversations drifted from music to personality types, to everyday frustrations at work, as well as life’s pleasures. It was the one-year anniversary of KO Home Bar, one of the earliest “home bars” in Beijing. For this special occasion, KK Zhang, one of its three owners, set up a flower wall and a faux lawn bench at the entrance, and prepared barrels of cocktails along with trays of pastries. As its name denotes, home bars are spaces converted from part or all of a personal residence for small social gatherings. They welcome strangers, and are run as businesses. Paying a flat fee ranging between 100 RMB to 300 RMB ($14-$41), guests can enjoy as many drinks and activities as they like during the open hours, which are typically 7pm and 2am. Different from high-energy traditional bars, home bars offer a homey, intimate ambience where introverts find it easier to connect. Since first appearing in Shanghai at the end of 2023, the format has quickly become popular among lonely young people seeking to unwind and socialize. From Shanghai to Beijing: The spread of home bars In Beijing, hundreds of home bars sprung up within a few months. On Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), the hashtag #homebar has garnered 62 million views and 482,000 posts to date. KO was born after Zhang’s apparel startup, set up upon graduating as a fashion design major, experienced setbacks. “Due to the economic downturn, fewer people would buy clothes,” she tells Jing Daily. She learned about this nightlife trend in Shanghai in early 2024 and published a post on Xiaohongshu looking for partners. To her surprise, a stranger and an old friend reached out. Within one week, Zhang found an apartment in a busy area, decorated it “dopamine style,” and stocked up on barware, while applying for business licenses. The investment stood at around 100,000 RMB ($13,671) for the first three months, a modest amount compared to most other businesses, but earnings have been equally slim. Zhang buys fresh lemons for her signature lemon tea and other fruits to make classic cocktails, house specials, and mocktails. Guests can also order takeout or bring their own refreshments. A home away from home Starting at 8pm, Zhang takes on bartending while leading games and activities for her guests, largely young professionals born between 1995 and 2005. “Most work in law, finance, and tech in nearby office buildings and come here after a long, exhausting day of work to relax. Among the patrons are also editors, artists, and freelancers from across the city. They are lonely, eager to seek out this new social experience,” Zhang says. Many of her patrons have become friends later on. She even organized a self-driving tour for a few of her guests to Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia last June. Jia Yu, born in the 2000s and now studying in the U.S., used to visit KO every three weeks, mostly on her own. “Each time I met new people. Lonely and anxious, we gradually became friends. It started to feel as comforting as coming home,” she says. The loneliness economy: A generation seeking connection Loneliness has emerged as a notable trend among China’s younger generation since the late 2010s. In 2019, a survey by China Youth Daily found that 97.2% of respondents aged 18 to 35 working in big cities reported feeling lonely. The pandemic compounded the issue. “The streets were eerily empty at night and people felt estranged from one another. There was no sense of trust,” Tian Xia tells Jing Daily. Given the suffocating atmosphere, she wished to create a space where lonely people could gather, drink, and talk. After finding a studio to lease, buying an ice maker and renting a projector, she posted on Xiaohongshu to gather her first batch of guests. “I was caught off guard when many people expressed an interest,” she says. “I felt like we were pushed into a corner by fate. Everyone was living in a state of uncertainty.” The entry fee at Xia’s Hutong Screening was a cocktail of 30 RMB ($4.10) and each night was capped at 10 guests. Buying a drink gave one access to the space for a night to see a movie, discuss a book, play a Jubensha (script murder), or just talk about work, life, and policies. When China lifted pandemic restrictions in January 2023, Xia secured a job in Shanghai and gave up the bar, which had been struggling. A flash in a pan, or a long-term fix? Isolation and stress amid economic volatility, in addition to the cost of maintaining friendships across long distances in big cities, have fueled this casual pastime. According to China’s latest national census in 2020, the country is home to over 125 million single-person households, accounting for over a quarter of the total. The number of single individuals in China reached 240 million in 2023. This has given rise to a massive loneliness economy. Urban Gen Zers in China are spending more on companionship and spiritually fulfilling activities, according to the 2024 McKinsey China Consumer Survey. Imbibing among a bunch of strangers in a cozy setting fits this emotional landscape. As Gen Z shows a growing preference for low-alcohol beverages, cocktails have emerged as one of the top three choices among young drinkers, according to a 2024 report by the Houlang Research Institute. For Yu, KO sits somewhere between her family home and a social venue such as a traditional bar. Guests must abide by a set of house rules. For example, a reminder on the wall reads: “If you feel uncomfortable or experience any inappropriate behavior at any point, please tell the owner.” Tiaohai Village, which began as a community pub and has grown into a subculture brand, placed an anti-sexual harassment handbook in each of its 30 bars. Besides safety concerns, another challenge is staying afloat. Many home bars shuttered in the first quarter of this year, some due to issues with operating spaces (in certain cities, home bars are now only allowed in mixed-use buildings), others because of repetitive and boring events. “The quality of the social experience at a home bar often hinges on the owner’s charisma,” Xia says. Zhang found several of her event ideas being copied by new competitors. “Now, it’s ultra-competitive,” she says, adding that her biggest challenge is designing events that not only entertain but help people discover shared interests in a free-spirited, laid-back space just like home.

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Cocktails and connection: China’s ‘home bar’ trend