Enjoy heritage views and contemporary brews at a new Beijing café
JM Café, White Pagoda Temple by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio nods to the history of the Xicheng District while injecting a shot of vitality

A new Beijing café and bakery adjacent to the city’s White Pagoda Temple is one of many new ventures among large-scale urban renewal plans for the city’s Xicheng District. Known as a hub of the Chinese capital’s ‘citywalk’ trend – the promotion of walkable routes that tour key historical, cultural and commercial sites – the area is tapping into locals’ appetite for café culture.
B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio introduces JM Café, White Pagoda Temple
The café’s rooftop terrace
JM Café, White Pagoda Temple delivers a delicate balance between the district’s historical heritage and recent commercial and residential developments, ‘establishing a sense of place in a broader urban context’, as described by the project’s architects at B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio. The multi-level space is contemporary in essence, but its modest palette of white and grey complements rather than jars with the storied Tibetan pagoda, the largest in China.
As you approach through an alley, a large stainless-steel façade eventually emerges within an open square – a frosted front mirror reflecting incoming and outgoing guests. The coffee shop offers a semi-outdoor space as well as an indoor dining space on the ground floor, which integrates the kitchen and bakery display area alongside an additional alfresco, stepped seating area at the back. Upstairs, a rooftop terrace is equipped with its own, sculptural white ’pagoda’, a mini geometric counterpoint to its historic neighbour.
The layered, fluid interiors at JM Café, White Pagoda Temple deliver a dialogue between the organic textures of stone and brick and the sleekness of stainless steel. Irregular windows and frosted acrylic light boxes fill the space with brightness, while three original wooden structural columns have been transformed into sculptural forms.
‘We expect that this combination of old and new will not only preserve the depth of the city’s history but also become a part of it, providing it with a new landscape and vitality,’ says B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio.
JM Café, White Pagoda Temple is located at No.30, Dongcha, Gongmenkou, Xicheng District, Beijing, China; @blue_architecturestudio
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Sofia de la Cruz is the Travel Editor at Wallpaper*. A self-declared flâneuse, she feels most inspired when taking the role of a cultural observer – chronicling the essence of cities and remote corners through their nuances, rituals, and people. Her work lives at the intersection of art, design, and culture, often shaped by conversations with the photographers who capture these worlds through their lens.
-
A stripped-back elegance defines these timeless watch designs
Watches from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex and more speak to universal design codes
By Hannah Silver
-
Postcard from Brussels: a maverick design scene has taken root in the Belgian capital
Brussels has emerged as one of the best places for creatives to live, operate and even sell. Wallpaper* paid a visit during the annual Collectible fair to see how it's coming into its own
By Adrian Madlener
-
Move over, palazzos. Performances were the biggest trend at Milan Design Week
This year, brands brought on the drama via immersive installations across the city
By Dan Howarth
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the world
Celebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
By Léa Teuscher
-
Prada and Wong Kar-wai dream up a cinematic restaurant in Shanghai
Prada partners with Wong Kar-wai to bring Mi Shang Rong Zhai to life, a dining experience influenced by the arthouse director’s seminal oeuvre
By Sofia de la Cruz
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy design
There’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
By Sofia de la Cruz
-
China’s Alila Shanghai hotel is a stylish hub of idle tranquillity
Alila Shanghai, the brand's first urban resort in Greater China, is a serene bolthole amidst the pulse of the Jing'an district
By Daven Wu
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this year
From the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
By Sofia de la Cruz
-
Travel back to the Ming dynasty at Beijing’s new Mandarin Oriental hotel
Mandarin Oriental Qianmen merges traditional culture with contemporary needs in a 600-year-old historical building complex
By Kee Foong
-
Inside Palazzo Versace Macau, a lavish, mosaic-rich hotel
Palazzo Versace Macau, the brand’s first hotel in Asia, continues to preserve Donatella Versace’s swanky hospitality vision
By Sofia de la Cruz
-
Wander Hotel in Beijing is an ideal escape for serene moments of introspection
Renovated by Fon Studio, Wander Hotel adds organic symmetry to the adjacent Great Wall of China
By Tianna Williams