Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026: Hope & Sesame in China’s Guangzhou takes top spot

For the first time, a mainland Chinese bar has taken top spot at the Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards.
Guangzhou’s Hope & Sesame was the big winner at the 11th edition of the awards, held at the Wynn Palace resort in Macau on July 28, ending the two-year reign of Hong Kong’s Bar Leone.

It also scooped the Best Bar in Mainland China Award.
Its co-founder, Hongkonger Andrew Ho, won the Bartenders’ Bartender Award last year.
“We started with four people, now we’re [a team of] over 100,” said Ho, who...