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Babyface is and has been the premiere Chinese clubbing brand for the better part of the last decade; proof: its music policy and interior design is copied wholesale all over the country. Babyface's Shanghai branch is one of the most consistently busy clubs in the city thanks to their reputation and huge following among many locals. Music ranges from hip hop to house and breaks with a steady stream of int'l talent on the weekends.
Have been there a couple of nights and found it preety nice, i dunno about foreigners beaten there, I was ok, even the Chinese around me were polite for me, good Long Island Ice Tea there, service's pretty fast! And had no problems with the guards too!
I love babyface, the music, atmosphere and set up is great. However I also have found foreigners are not generally welcome. Waiters ignore you, managers make little effort to find you a table while other chinese crowds coming in after you (also without booking) are shown to a table in half the time. Ive had a waiter try and rip me off 200RMB and a bunch of other petty stuff that has made me frown. However, it is still a class club, and my best nights in SH have been with my chinese friends who've organised all the logistics and we've gone to babyface. I suppose every club comes with its up and downs, and even with all the crap ive just listed Babyface still stands as my number 1 club in shanghai.
Can confirm the review of jacob. One of the best clubs in Shanghai. Never had any problems as a foreigner! The only one negative point is that the place is too full!
Now there is a lot of say about this place, and most of my friends (westerners) have a bad perception of Babyface. Everytime I've taken them however, they've enjoyed themselves tremendously.
I myself am a foreigner, and have never been mistreated. Granted, this may be because I see myself as wanting to dance, have a good time, and not cause any trouble. There have been a few times that I've seen some really innappropriate behavior from foreigners wanting to take advantage of the local atmosphere, and frankly they got their due.
If you want to just have a good time, babyface is a regular place for me becaue the music is outstanding, i *think* it is the largest club in Shanghai, and the crowd is always A LOT of fun. I've never had so many free drinks any other place. The prices are a bit of a downer, but its to be expected for a place with no cover.
Be warned however, if you don't like crowded party clubs, this place wont be for you. Seriously, every day of the week this place is PACKED.
Hip-Hop room (that closes at 3) sucks,but the Techno (that stays open 'tillvery late)room rocks !!!Staff is freakin'nazi and rude,start speaking with a sweet chinese girl (i'm a girl too,not hitting on her,nice behavior and all)and this security dude yells at her to not talk to me and to go away from me !?!?!Jerk !Diluded drinks,very young crowd,old vicious men trying to get some fresh flesh,but still,the music was great,got me dancin'till 5 o'clock in the morning even if dramatically packed !!!
Not a first choice but can be a life saver for those who have an urge to dance.
Very disappointed, only for Chinese, westerners are not welcomed...Waiters don't even try to understand English. Drinks are really small... To finish the sound system is poor and noisy... Good point, if you're looking for a third type head counter, u might try...
Turmoil on Fri Aug 24 @ Babyface. Around 2AM outside of the club, a guy was trown out of Babyface, as he appeared to be too wasted. He was an Asian looking foreigner as he was babling in English. So far nothing special (for Babyface). However, after the usual cowardice beating of one person by too many staff, one of the Babyface staff members intentionally broke the guys ankle for no reason, as the guy was already lying on the ground! Even more disturbing was, that two cops were standing next to them and were just looking at the thing happening. When that staff member dissappeared they ussured the guy with the broken ankle to leave???? What is wrong with picture?
not as rascist / sexist a place as it used to be. still largely chinese, but ive been there three times now and its always full on weekdays which is nice. Getting a drink is a weird system, you have to ask a staff member for what u want, and they will then go and get a receipt for that while you wait (maybe 2 or 3 minutes), and then you hand that receipt to the bartender to get a drink. not a huge hassle, but i could see how it is a huge problem for people who dont know that you cant just ask the bartender for a drink.
Was there this night, 07.11. from 1am to 4am ;)
Best music in the city!!! HipHop Club as good as the main area... really the best music ive ever heard
Nice people are there too... some are little nasty but the most are ok and friendly.
Cya there for many times ;)
I noticed by reading the reviews that the majority of foreigners don't fancy this place. I think its a great and exotic spot where the real roots of chinese clubing can be found. Ofcourse you need to keep on the background because face it guys: This is china not your home town! What do you think if you go to a local clubs in Bangkok, Athenes, Istanbul or even London. Its the same almost every where. Babyface as great music+instalation, decoration and a lot of pretty girls who are spoiled, bored and want to find a cute guy.
Keep your heads up guys and enjoy the adventures vibe!!
Nils Minken
This place was recommended to us by a cute girl at the hotel. That was the worst mistake ever. As soon as we got in, we could see that there was no westerners there and it didn't take time to understand why. People there are extremely racists and barmen and waiters won't take any order from you. People were pushing us all the time and would tell us to leave after 5 minutes there. This somewhat reminded me of some clubs in Singapore, one of the most racist nation in Asia...
Anyway, this place sucks and it is a rat hole where mafia members gather.
I don't recommend this place to anyone that is not Chinese...
Whether the owner likes it or not, without the westerners in ASIA, whether it was 30 years ago, ten years ago or whatever, they wouldn't have a clue what a night club is, nor many other entertainment ideas. Well, Asia does have their KTV and their Dice games.
Its ironic the owner despise foreigners ( not sure that is true) but if it is, he probably speaks english, lived in Europe, USA or some other country oh...yea..HK was also a western colony before :) so there u have it. Long live baby face and their many International DJ's foray in the future!!!!
i went there last night (tuesday) and it was pretty packed
i stayied in the room with the hip hop music.its sure they many locals but they were quite few foreighners as well
the bouncers can be a bit annoyin sometimes passin in front of you all the time butthey didnt touched me
it place good music till about 1
after that it plays cheesy crap
its nice ot go if you got nowhere else to
this is the worst club that i have ever been after mint.
but this is much more worse.
i dislike the bouncers very much, the crowds, and the music.
the dancefloor, is real small , and can't move , cant breathe.
its flooded with bunch of people.
jeeez..
it's a real bad experience..
I am foreigner and was in a fight with their doormen. My wife and I had left to go another bar and returned 1 hour later to pick up our jackets, but without our tags. While my Chinese wife was argueing with one guy, he pushed her and I let him have it. About 5 or 6 of their people attacked me including using the stainless steel crowd dividers. After a hail of punches I got away, came back for my wife, got into a fight again, ran away came back for my wife and by then the police arrived. Spent 12 hours in the police station. Babyface owner was there and his hatred for foreigners showed through in every word he spoke. The police wanted to charge me with assault. They have a very close relationship with the local precinct on Hauhai Lu, which of course means they pay money to some of the officers. Finally, in order to just get it over with and get out of the cold room, we agreed to pay 4000 RMB to one of the bouncers who I first hit and gave a black eye and a cut on head (amazinngly I was relatively unmarked save for minor nicks - but upon furhter exam at home I had bruises all over and a perfectly round black circle on my leg where someone rammed me with the stainless pole - I was sore for long time - luckily my wife was ok). Bottom line, the owner has given instructions to his workers to not take any crap from foreigners whatsoever, and if an altercation breaks out, everyone jump in and help out - it will always be the foreigners' fault.
Too bad, because their resident DJ, Frenchie Giles,(formally of Pegasus of old) is the best spinner in town. GET OUT OF THERE GILES.
I think this club is alright actually. The deco is good and the music is decent. I can't believe that they treat foreigners that way though. Being one myself I find that messed up. Maybe they only want a local crowd there. One huge problem though, they tend to overcrowd their events like a mofo. DO NOT go if they are hosting any of the big name dj's. It's ridiculous! I went to Tiesto and I couldn't even move. It was so bad that I only realised I was buzzing after I got out and was sitting in the cab on my way home. Their management needs to be shot!
Literally the worst club i have ever been to.
Completly racist against westerners. No limit to how many people go in. I went for a second time to see tiesto thinking they would sort it out as he is an international DJ.... They probably let in 4x too many people, one bar man (not joking) and he doesnt even serve westerners. Over 15 of my various friends did the same as me that night... left after 20 minutes forgetting the 220 rmb just to get in without a drink.
Will try to be more narrow minded from now on
Incredible! This spot really sucks!
Some of my friends told me not to check out this club because of its rude staff and the "special treatment" of foreigners.
Dispite of all these well-meaned warnings we (3 foreigners/3 locals) decided to check out Bastian Bates' performance on Saturday 5th. A bad decision!
Problems started in front of the entrance when the young ladies didn't want to take our money and tried to ignore us. When we "unfortunately" began speaking Chinese they let us in. Noticing that we didn't get the drink coupons unlike the locals our displeasure occured for the first time. Following the second one. Extreme bass and loudness so that you can't understand your own words.
Some minutes later the evening hit it's peak. Serving no drinks was not as impudent as rejecting our stuff we wanted to place at the checkroom. Two jackets and two handbags were refused by the staff while an amount of locals was giving its stuff to the staff.
Half an hour in this club was enough to remark never supporting this location again. 80 RMB for a complete scam.
Maybe locals like this club. The location is basically nice but how they treat foreigners - inacceptable.
Like some of you said before I would flee from this location if I was a foreigner!!!
A group of my non-local friends were punched n kicked by the bouncers here 'til bleeding from ears and nose and had to stay in the hospital. They thought that my friends initiated a fight, whereas the ones that fighting were the locals among themselves !! This was absurd. And when the police came there, no one really care. This might be the number one club for the locals, but for you foreigners try to stay out of this place as you might be treated differently.
This club is a near total disaster. A friend and I showed up Saturday Sept 10 2005 at around midnight. We are white early 30s, the club is near exclusively Chinese/Asian in their 20s. That we were not welcome is an understatement. There was and 80 rmb cover which is fine, but no drink is included (for us it seemed that other people had some sort of ticket). Door staff were not the most gracious, and gruffly pointed to for us to pay. The club is divided into two sections, a large front room playing loud techno and a smaller back room playing really dated hip hop (circa 1993 California love remix. The club is designed for table service only, there is absolutely no place to sit or stand once inside. Getting a table is not possible if you just walk in, no matter what funds you have available. Assuming you can get a table, they are tiny and wedged in so close that the feeling is one of unease, especiaaly with the rude staff that contiunes pokes, prods and directs you around. We did manage to get two drinks in the back bar ( seats at bar side are also reserved with bottle service, a rude and agressive staff member basically had teh bar tender throw two drinks at us because we would not leave the bar until getting served. At one point we walked upstairs into a smallish lounge seating area (all table), where there was a degree of civility until we where accousted by a large staff member who vigoroulsy waved his hands in our face and physically challenged us to move back into the chaos downstairs. There were about 5 non asian clients (2 of whom were somewhat overeweight eastern european working girls with local guys) There were some cute thin well dressed local girls, but not really available to speak to. Forget this mess and head elsewhere like Rouge.
Really interesting club.
A lot of Singapore/Taiwanese People here,
and really nice music. Actually, I just went there
after being lost while I had no Idea where I should go.
"Babyface". Sounds nice. lets have a look.
Well, 5 hours later that look ended :)
I went to Shanghai Last February, I visited the Babyface Club, I really liked it, it's very nice and the vibe is great, Shanghai people are great. Now let me tell you this, obviously I was looking for a girl, several girls walked on to me, but I'm pretty sure they were all prostitutes, how can I avoid them to come on to me? Is there any club that won't let them in? I'll be there in Shanghai next week, are there any pointers you can share with me?
Thanks a lot and BR
Rodrigo
I don't like the door policy, boys won't get in unless they look like they can buy a lot of Chivas bottles so you'll only find rich guys from HK or Taiwan. The resident Gilles spins some of the best music in town, probably the best !
yesterday the house was completel packed. resident gilles and a guest dj from cheesebeat played best progressive house music and made the whole club dance....!!!
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