Although Sculpting in Time is a chain coffee shop, it is locally owned which is different from Beijing’s other mainstay chains.

For the most part its cafes look quite similar, apart from the Xiangshan branch which has an unusual and picturesque setting. Sculpting in Time offers middle grounds between the Wi-Fi hotspot homogenous chain cafes and the more personalized independent affairs.

The food leans towards pleasing the Chinese palate but isn’t badly priced and is quite passable to those looking for a Western food fix. The toasted cheese sandwiches on doorstep-thick sliced bread fill the gap nicely amongst other morsels on the menu. Hot and cold drinks fair well against Sculpting in Times’ competitors and are definitely not to be grumbled about. The clientele at the Renming University and Wudaokou branches are rather unsurprisingly students, although they’re clearly more the kind to enjoy some time with their laptop, a book or some quiet conversation with friends as opposed to raising hell in a dive bar. This is the “thinking man’s’” Beijing coffee shop chain.

1. Weigongcun Branch

Add: 7 Weigongcun Lu (by the south gate of the Beijing Institute of Technology), Haidian District, Beijing

Tel: 86 10 6894 6825

Opening hours: 08:30-01:00

2. Xiangshan location

Add: 50 Xiangshan Maimai Jie, Haidian District, Beijing

Tel: 86 10 8259 8296

Opening hours: 09:00-00:00

3. Wudaokou location

Add: Huaqingjiayuan Bldg 1, No. 12, Chengfu Lu, Haidian District, Beijing (west of the Wudaokou subway station)

Tel: 86 10 8286 7026

Opening hours: 8:30-01:30