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SmartShanghai's Essential Guide to

Nightlife & Clubbing in Shanghai

By Morgan; Last updated June 2, 2008

Shanghai By Night

The majority of bars and clubs in Shanghai, like many other Southeast Asian metropolises, are grouped on bar streets and nightlife districts, and sometimes a night out can entail bar hopping up and down a given street to several different venues in an evening. This tourist mentality to nightlife, originating in the Shanghai nightlife boom in the mid 1990s, is fading somewhat, as the industry matures, local tastes change, and more and more young expats are adopting Shanghai as a semi-permanent residence. The current clubbing scene is characterized by a handful of staple clubs -- both large and small -- which have staked their claim on a given night and demographic. Also in recent years, the clubbing scene has become more events-based, as competition-conscious club owners and promoters try to stay one step ahead of the pack, offering new theme-nights, international or local celebrity DJs, more elaborate one-off parties, and better drink deals.

These factors have contributed to a nightlife scene in which the avid club-goer must stay well-informed to suss out the best party on a given night. With few exceptions, a club could be rammed one night and completely deserted the next, and the question to ask is not "where" to go, but rather "when" to go. Click here to be redirected to our events listings for the latest information on Shanghai's clubbing events.

Hang the DJ

Shanghai is one of the world's most frequented cities for "Top 100" DJs. In the past year Above and Beyond, Deep Dish, DJ Dan, Sven Vath, Carl Cox, Tiesto, and John Digweed, to name a few, have all played sets in Shangers. If big name international DJs are you're your thing, check out who these clubs have booked: G Plus, Bar Rouge, Muse, M2, VIP, Babyface, and Bonbon. Newer upstart clubs: Lounge 18, Club Sky, The Wall.

Bund Life

Arguably the face of Shanghai clubbing is presented by Shanghai's Bund district and the handful of upscale venues located therein. Catering both to tourists looking to sample what they've been told is the epitome of Shanghai nightlife and local moneyed residents, the spectrum of nightlife options on the Bund tilts to the high-end with the standouts being The Glamour Bar and Bar Rouge. The former, located in the Shanghai-famous "5 on the Bund" building is more of a mature cocktail lounge -- Cuban/art deco in theme -- with drinks to match. It pulls in a swanky, older crowd on the weekends, but also check out their Sunday afternoon cultural events which include book launches, guest lectures, and table discussions.




Other points of interest include the newly opened Hamilton House, popular both for its dining and cocktails, and Vault Bar at Laris, especially on Thursdays, their two-for-one martini night, which attracts that jet-setting, metrosexual crowd that Shanghai is known for. Don't forget your pointy shoes. And why don't you go ahead and unbutton that fake Armani shirt a few notches while you're at it.

And of course, there is Bar Rouge, which is indeed red. Bar Rouge is the most famous bar in Shanghai and offers a camera-friendly backdrop for clubbers resident and visiting, looking for their Shanghai "memories." Recently, they've stepped up their DJ booking game, and host well-known European DJs for their increasingly discerning crowd. Check out the newer, classier Lounge 18 in the same building if you're looking for something similar but more low-key.

New kids on the block? A Beijing-import, LAN Club offers a massive all-in-one environment, and opulent world famous franchise M1NT has also just set up shop. Only time can tell if bigger in indeed better for Bund clubs.

After Hours

Most clubs and bars in Shanghai have a loose closing time of 4am but usually stay open as long as people are in them buying drinks. In terms of clubs that pickup when the others leave off, despite many pretenders to the crown, Dragon Club has been, for the last couple years, the go-to destination for clubbers looking to get serious with their nights out, and keep them going well into the next day. Another noteworthy mention is MAO, a relatively newer and larger club that stays open and hopping late. If you're looking for a ritzy all-night crowd, stop by Velvet Lounge -- another venue that never stops. Other places that keep things going, perhaps because they are cheaper and good ways to cap off the night, are LOgO and The Shelter.

Bars/Pubs

As an alternate to the thump-thump-thump intensity of Shanghai's clubs, Shanghai's pub/bar scene is fairly well-developed in terms of offering a few long-established staple pubs and an interesting mix of more idiosyncratic dives and bars. The city caters to the pub crowd quite well, in the form of the standard UK and American imports. Bars and pubs in Shanghai are separated by country genres and the type of clientele that frequent them. In terms of the classic British pub, Oscar's on Hengshan in a safe bet, as is the British Bulldog. Also in that area is the Blarney Stone, The Beaver, and Abbey Road, all of which are fine for pints. In terms of the student crowd (and then some) Windows Scoreboard on Huaihai Lu is great for a no-bullshit cheap drunk with a big group of friends. If you're looking for a sports bar, the Big Bamboo on Tongren Lu is the reigning king of all things sports-related, but also try Malone's down the road a bit for an American slant.

Looking for more sports bars? Read our write-up on what Shanghai has to offer here.

The Local Scene

Visitors to Shanghai might be surprised to discover that the vast majority of clubs are filled with expats and tend to be western in theme. Even though you're in China, on a given night you could walk into a diluted version of an Ohio State frat party, an Ibiza rave, a London pub, a New York hipster dive, or a French lounge. With the local Chinese, KTV is king (as the saying goes) in terms of nightlife recreation, and the amount of KTV (Karaoke TV) bars dwarfs any other genre of club. KTV caters to a vast demographic, from couples, to business colleagues, to friends, and even families -- groups not necessarily interested in consuming vast amounts of alcohol and narcotics

In recent years, though, clubbing has caught on somewhat with Shanghai's youth and new-moneyed middle class, and the specter of the "Chinese club" haunts Shanghai's nightlife. "Chinese clubs" tend to be generic in character, serving up house/hip hop hits from the late 90s, replete with décor envisioned as futuristic by someone living in the 1970s: lasers, red velvet, cheesy strobe lights, and often a dry ice machine pumping fog out onto the dance floor. The most popular "Chinese" club by far is Babyface, a club franchise with several venues in China and frequent appearance by world famous DJs. Another club popular with the local Chinese crowd is Guandii, and the newer Bling, which are hip hop venues. Check out Muse and M2 for a more chic crowd, and one of the MT venues, which are basically one-step removed from KTV, for the ultimate experience.

Sounds from the Underground

A reaction to the perceived commercialism of Shanghai's Bund nightlife and larger clubs, a few select, smaller, grungier venues have carved a niche in the market catering to a new class of (mostly-expat) "discerning" clubbers. These bar and clubs are almost always music-orientated and a given party is usually focused around a particular genre of dance/electronica depending on the independent or in-house promoter throwing the party. The two standard-setting venues for what can provisionally be termed the "underground" scene in Shanghai are The Shelter and LOgO, both of which have embraced the local independent promoter/DJ crew scene. The larger of the two, The Shelter, is always packed on weekends, and hosts DJs and MCs from the electronic/dance/hip hop/funk spectrum. Although, monthly one-offs also go down almost every weekend, and international bookings of cutting-edge and experimental performers are frequent. A new home for the Chinese alternative clubber is Anar bar, and you might want to swing by there as well if your looking for the brash and the new.

With a strong following among the European, in particular the French community, LOgO is another bastion of what can provisionally called the "underground" scene. Always a safe bet on the weekends, LOgO also has an interesting weeknight parties and is a good place to go even if you don't know what you'll get.

As independent promoters and DJs forge out new grounds, other venues around town have at times played host to their parties, including Shanghai's favorite dive bar C's and, at times, The Hut. As parties at these venues are more infrequent, check out the events listings to see if anything is going on before going down.

Punk's not Dead

Well, yeah it is. Wait, no it's not! Yeah, it pretty much is. Especially in Shanghai, a city more known for its electronic/dance scene -- a city that is forever playing catch-up with Beijing, which boasts a (comparatively) thriving live rock music scene. Although, every month or two, expat media (SmartShanghai included) publishes a state of the union-type article about the "live scene," live music in Shanghai still struggles to find a foothold both commercially (live venues shut down and reopen frequently) and creatively (only a handful of bands in Shanghai of any genre even exist).

One thing Shanghai does have going for it is a fairly well-developed social network of promoters working overtime to put bands -- any band -- in front of an audience. Although separated by cultural and language differences, younger Chinese audiences share with their expat counterparts a deep-seated fondness for live music, and it works to spur the "scene" onwards through some hard times. Adding to the problem of an underdeveloped live music scene, is the measures taken by city regulative bodies to keep live music marginalized. Strict licensing regulations add to the commercial instability of live music and keeping your ear to the ground is necessary if you want to catch innovative live music -- or any live rock music -- being performed on a Shanghai stage.

As of this writing, here are the venues consistently putting on live music are Yuyintang, Live Bar, The Melting Pot, and 021 Bar. The first two are stalwart in putting on local and touring Chinese bands, and both host shows every Friday and Saturday, and often during the week as well. Both also lean towards the new rock end of the spectrum whereas the later cater to a wider array of genres -- Chinese folk most notably.

Other clubs double as live music venues when the need arises and often LOgO will host a band, as will Anar Bar. The odd larger concert also takes place at Zhijiang Dream Factory, which is currently the only venue that can and does host rock shows that expect a capacity of more than a couple hundred people.