Hotly disputing with
Beijing the title of China’s nightlife capital, Shanghai
has a fast paced nightlife scene, with a proliferation
of venues. There is also a heavy ex-pat presence in the nightlife
scene, making it very welcoming to outsiders. Clubs and
Bars seem to be everywhere, however are concentrated mostly
along Hengshan Lu and Maoming Nan Lu
in the French Concession area (with offshoots in Fuxing Park and
the grounds of the Ruijin Guest House, 118 Ruijin Er Lu), Nanjing
Xi Lu (for a relaxed and more mature ambience) and Julu
Lu (for sleaze).
The larger hotels have fine high-class bars. There is no
minimum drinking age in China and drinks are not expensive,
with many bars offering a specialty of RMB10 standards. Most venues
do not even charge entrance fees and many are open every night –
there is no worry of passing a Sunday or Monday without action.
Veterans of Hong Kong or Western cities may be disappointed to find
that most venues outside Julu Lu close at 03:00 at the latest, however
most revelers will have had too much fun by the small hours to care
anyway. Most clubs and bars stay open until about 02:00
but some venues keep serving alcohol until 05:00
or later.
Information about the best venues are published in That’s
Shanghai and Shanghai
Talk listings magazines.
Bars
Face, Building 4, Ruijin Guest House gardens,
118 Ruijin Er Lu, is among the finest buildings and bars in Shanghai
– a dark-panelled 19:30s mansion filled with pan-Asian art
and a cosmopolitan group of drinkers (escape them on the outside
lawns). O’Malley’s, 42 Taojiang Lu,
is a mainstay of the ex-pat bars, with an Irish beer garden. KABB,
Lane 181, Taicang Lu, is a great terraced location for watching
the chic street crowd in Xintiandi. Bonne Santé,
First Floor, Easter Tower, 8 Jinan Lu, is a relaxing and sophisticated
wine bar, while Windows Too, 1699 Nanjing Xi Lu,
recently refurbished, is the most upbeat and sociable of the RMB10-per-drink
dive bars.
Casinos
Casinos are illegal in China.
Clubs
Rojam, Fourth Floor, Hong Kong Plaza,
283 Huaihai Dong Lu, is queen of the club scene, attracting the
cream of foreign DJs that visit Shanghai, and is a full-on clubbers’
paradise on its regular nights. BOV, 42 Qinghai
Lu, is no-nonsense no-frills clubbing at RMB10 a shot. A-Void/Buddha
Bar, 172 Maoming Nan Lu, attracts in mad punters who find
Judy’s Too, 176 Mao Ming Nan Lu, just up
the road, too tame. Velvet Underground, 608 Jianguo
Xi Lu, has a varied entertainment and music as well as steady popularity.
Real Love, 10 Hengshan Lu, is the favourite meat
market. California Club, 2 Gaolan Lu, Fuxing Park,
on the Shanghai Lan Kwai Fong strip imported from Hong Kong and
sells itself on cosmopolitan sophistication.
Live
music
Live bands perform regularly on Shanghai bar and club scene, often
at O’Malleys (see above). M-Box,
1325 Huaihai Dong Lu, offers a repertoire from local pop to reggae.
Tropicana, Eighth Floor, 261 Sichuan Dong Lu, is
a mainstay of the Shanghai Latino scene. Swing Music Café,
788 Hongxu Lu, popular with the most sophisticated clientele, and
the Filipino band Far-to-See providing the music.
Music
The Shanghai Concert Hall, 523 Yan’an Dong
Lu (tel: (21) 6386 9153), is the leading vehicle for classical concerts.
The Shanghai Municipal Performance Company is connected
with both it and the Majestic Theatre, 1700 Beijing Xi Lu (tel:
(21) 6217 4409). The Shanghai Grand Theatre, 1376
Nanjing Xi Lu (tel: (21) 6372 8701), is a major venue for concerts
and theatrical performances. The Shanghai
Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra performs here. The Jing
An Hotel, 370 Huashan Lu (tel: (21) 6437 1888), has a well-respected
series of chamber music concerts performed by various local and
touring ensembles.
Opera is naturally a Shanghainese favourite,
especially the Chinese variety. The Shanghai Grand Theatre
and the Majestic Theatre frequently stage modern
and traditional Chinese operas but the purist’s
venue is Yifu Theatre, 701 Fuzhou Lu (tel: (21) 6351 4668).
Theatre
Despite official censorship and propaganda productions, theatre
aficionados are splendidly catered to in Shanghai, with many high-class
venues. Shanghai Grand Theatre (see above) stages
official prestige productions by visiting ensembles, which include
some Chinese opera. The Dramatic Arts Centre Theatre,
201 Anfu Lu (tel: (21) 6473 4567), is much more purely dramatic,
eschewing musical and operatic productions. The Experimental
Theatre of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, 670 Huashan Lu
(tel: (21) 6248 2920 ext. 3040), presents more experimental student
productions.
Dance
The Shanghai Grand Theatre (see above) hosts both
the National Ballet of China and the Shanghai
Ballet Company, and visiting ensembles. To see traditional
acrobatic dance, the Shanghai
Acrobatics Troupe performs regularly at the Shanghai
Centre Theatre, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu (tel: (21) 6279 8663;
fax: (21) 6279 8610).
Film
Raise the Red Lantern (1991) and films like it
may have proven to the outside world that China has a thriving film
culture but the government allows a maximum of ten foreign films
per year – due to rise to 20, after China’s accession
to the WTO in 2001. For locals, the staggering number of pirated
VCDs and DVDs in circulation prove a mockery of these limits, however
cinema-going in China is inevitably poorer for them.
Classic hollywood films like Josef von Sternberg’s The
Shanghai Gesture (1941) or Orson Welles’ The
Lady From Shanghai (1948) may have played to the Western
idea of Shanghai as the ultimate Oriental flesh pot of vice, however
native film culture of the time was much more diverse and sophisticated,
the latest global hits debuting almost at the same time as they
hit American screens. Post-war, Shanghainese film has been as dull
and sparse as general cultural activity in the PRC. Shanghai
Triad (1995) by Zhang Yimou, the wunderkind of modern Chinese
cinema, only touches on the glamour of 1930s Shanghai at its infancy,
in spite of its title.
Movie houses are the Golden Cinema Haixing, in
the Haixing Plaza in Ruijin Nan Lu (tel: (21) 6418 7034), and Studio
City at the Westgate Mall, 1038 Nanjing Xi Lu (tel: (21)
6218 2173). The Shanghai Film Art Centre, 106 Xin
Hua Lu (tel: (21) 6280 4088), is the closest the city has to an
arts cinema. The Shanghai
International Film Festival is the city’s regular prestige
film event.
Cultural events
The Chinese New Year, which is celebrated either
in late January or early February, is the most important
annual festival in the city. The build-up and anticipation
to the festival is as frantic as Christmas is in
the West, with parties, exchanging of gifts and houses and streets
decorated with lights. Most Chinese celebrate the beginning of the
New Year with their families. The Mid-Autumn
Festival, in September or early October, is celebrated
by displaying lanterns of various shapes, such as animals, and by
eating traditional moon cakes made of ground lotus, sesame and egg. |
