Talk of spring is in the air, but in much of China if you're out for a night on the town, it's still plenty cold outside. Finding a bar serving up hot mulled wine still seems like a pretty good idea.

Fortunately, even as they introduce their new spring menus, bars have kept plenty of warming offerings on offer. Beijing's Tiki bar can still draw a crowd for its flaming volcano bowls; a Q-Mex mulled wine comes topped with a flaming sugar cube soaked in absinthe; the George bar in Parkview Green has a killer hot chocolate with a boozy kick.

But you don't need fire or even a hot drink to make you warm inside, says O'Bar cocktail guru Attila Bailint at the Nuo hotel.