Best bets

Beijing Garden Expo Garden

Daily: 9 am-5 pm

Night show: July 19-Sept 20, 9 am-5 pm; 6 pm-10 pm (every Friday and Saturday)

Place: Fengtai District, Beijing

Price: RMB 70

The Beijing Garden Expo Garden is located at the west bank of Yongding River. The park, which occupies an area of 513 hectares, including an exhibition area of 267 hectares and a 246 hectares of lake area, is a large city garden integrating garden art, cultural landscape, ecological recreation and science-popularization education.

Swan Lake by Moscow Ballet Theater

Aug 8: 7:30 pm

Venue: Century Theater

Swan Lake is well-known to Chinese audiences, but this year's offering is very different, and critics are betting that the Moscow Ballet Theater's Ice Ballet Swan Lake will provide a unique artistic experience.

Ticket price: RMB 180-580

Website for tickets: www.en.damai.cn/events/tickets_67482/

Ellie Goulding

Aug 14: 7:30 pm-10:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Exhibition Theater

Elena Jane "Ellie" Goulding is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actress. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended player, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding. Burn and Lights are among her most popular songs.

Ticket Price: RMB 280-480

Website for tickets: http://en.damai.cn/event/tickets_68997/

Maksim and his band China Tour 2014 in Beijing

Nov 28: 7:30 pm

Venue: Workers' Gymnasium

Born in 1975, Maksim Mrvica began learning piano at age nine. By 2000, he had become one of Croatia's most famous pianists, and has since released nine albums. A large part of his appeal is his new take on well-known classical pieces, which has gained him a large international following in recent years.

Ticket price: RMB 280-1,280

Website for tickets: http://en.damai.cn/event/tickets_69138/

2014 Beijing International Triathlon

Sept 14: 7:30 am-1 pm

Place: Fengtai District of Beijing

Olympic Distance: 1.5km Swim: 40km Cycle; 10km Run

Sprint Distance: 750m Swim; 20km Cycle; 5km Run

The Beijing International Triathlon is the only qualifying event for the notoriously tough Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in Asia. The 50 top finishers across all divisions will qualify for entry into the 2015 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco.

2014 Shane Filan You And Me Tour Live in Beijing

Sept 23: 8 pm

Venue: Beijing Workers' Gym-nasium

Filan was a member of the Irish boy band Westlife until the group disbanded in 2012. After the split, he released his debut solo album You and Me in 2013.

Ticket price: RMB 380-980

Website for tickets: http://en.damai.cn/event/tickets_68653/