It’s time. It’s tiiiiiiiiiiiime! The biggest night of the year! The last night of the year! What you gonna do? Where you gonna go? So many options in Shanghai, from smashing face down into your couch at 8.17pm to laying in bed on your heated blanket at 8.42pm. Oh, but you… you wanna go… out? You wanna party through a countdown in a haze of bubbles, get showered in Champagne, dress up in your year’s best, get slanted with your besties? Yep. Possible. Can. There’s a lot of places to do that.

Lots of places to do everything really, from live shows, bands, Bund-watching, theme parties, underground rave caves, free-flow beer bubbles, and just quiet places to have a drink and let the new decade wash over you. We got all of them. Here’s a bazillion ideas for what to do and where to do it. Or — there’s always Sherpa’s.

DO IT ON THE BUND

First a little PSA. If you’re partying on the Bund this year, make sure to get down there no later than 10.30pm to avoid the traffic restrictions. On to the parties.

Bar Rouge, Shanghai’s clubbing foundation, suits up in gold for Champagne showers on the terrace (600rmb on the door or pre-sale). POP at Three on the Bund goes Everwild (588rmb on the door including a glass of Perrier Jouet). Newcomer Ce La Vi has multiple terraces for its Imperial Celebration (400rmb on the door or 300rmb on SmartTicket).

Mr & Mrs Bund do the long-running house party thing with La Boum (300rmb on the door with a glass of Champagne). The Peninsula invoke the Roaring 20s for a jazz-age soiret at Sir Elly’s with free-flow Perrier Jouet Champagne and cocktails (1,288rmb on the door). VUE Bar does a Champagne countdown with Mumm and views down the Huangpu (988rmb on the door or 888rmb on SmartTicket).

PARTY IT OUT

MVP Events floats up to the 91st floor of the Park Hyatt Shanghai to deliver eight hours of Disco Heaven with free-flow Veuve Clicquot (1,500rmb on the door or cheaper on SmartTicket). Kartel does its annual Champagne shower with Baron-Fuente champers and then a countdown on rooftop terrace (648rmb on the door or 548 on SmartTicket). The Cut Rooftop opens the bar for unlimited drinks (398rmb pre-sale here). Theme is the 80s. French restaurant-sometimes-party-venue-with-a-terrace seul&Seul bring in four DJs to beat it out until 4am (350rmb on the door, much cheaper on SmartTicket). M1NT puts on a door charge and parties like normal, which is to say, with big-room house music and a deaf shark (200rmb).

Highline enters the fray this year, turning into a pop-up club with a countdown party and several tiers of free-flow (688rmb for prosecco, 888rmb for Perrier Jouet Champagne). 2019 baby Perch does free-flow prosecco and/or 100rmb bottles (200rmb for the free-flow). New and Latin lounge Havana Chino Latino throws a big bash in its 1,000 square meters with Cuban cocktails and a Latin house DJ from Spanish party brand Elrow (250rmb on the door including a drink). New and moody cocktail chamber Charcohol waives the entry fee and does a deal on Barons De Rothschild Champagne (buy two for 993rmb each, get one free). If that’s not enough, they’ve got a sister nightclub upstairs.

MAKE IT A SHOW

The Pearl puts on a Deca Dance Ball as their band goes through the decades from Elvis to Lady Gaga before giving it over to a DJ for late-night dancing (488rmb on the door, cheaper on SmartTicket). Hit the Sleep No More immersive party in the McKinnon Hotel with free-flow drinks and party with the characters (499rmb, exclusive to SmartTicket). SHAKE warps into the future with a full band and a blast of that funk and soul they do so well (180rmb gets you in). Yuyintang puts together a 15th Anniversary Showcase with six bands (150rmb on the door) while sister venue Yuyintang Park do experimental electronics and DJ action (also 150rmb on the door).

At Blue Note Jazz Club, which just opened in September, guitarist Stanley Jordan channels Jimi Hendrix for a creative tribute show (180-360rmb, shows at 8pm and 11pm). Candor keeps it unreal with Drag Me to 2020, transporting you back to a time when the men were men and the girls were men, from 10pm-1am (300rmb not including booze). Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrates with an extended 10pm show by the Shenel Johns Quintet and Perrier Jouet for 1,288rmb a bottle (488rmb entry or 938rmb for two, with snacks). JZ Club has three performances with the Yusuf Quartet at 9pm, the Antonio Ximenez Septet at 10.30pm and a 1.30am show with the Alvaro Cardenas Quartet (180rmb entry).

Or for a real throwback, spend the last few hours of 2019 in the company of the world’s oldest jazz band at The Peace Hotel’s Jasmine Lounge getting sozzled on free-flow Laurent Perrier Champagne (999rmb pre-sale or 1,199rmb on the door).

TAKE IT TO A CLUB

These were SmSh’s most popular nightclubs in Shanghai in 2019. Party on the sofa!

TAKE IT TO YOUR HOUSE

House party! But where you gonna get the booze? Here's some delivery options.

THE COOL KIDS

SHFT takes over club Eraa with French bass producer Habstrakt, plus more bassssssss from Warz, Kingchain and Freeza. (200rmb pre-sale). Wonky Kong does Dada with that bassssssssss and NO COVER. Alter. takes over three floors at the Shanghai EDITION (388rmb at the door). Double Future rave is at Elevator with the basement rave cave all-stars (50rmb before 11pm and 100rmb after). Shanghainese vocalist/MC Charity from the Genome crew headlines ALL, and, yes, they have Champagne there (100rmb entry). 3NTRY, the successor to The Mansion, offers DJs in bulk, a 100rmb door charge and openly encourages you to bring your own booze. Or party in the oil tanks of Tank Shanghai, where they'll be throwing a big rave called Follow the Future with a bunch of names you'd usually associate with ALL, including Asian Dope Boys members Chen Tianzhuo and Baby Chinayu, plus Scintii, Laughing Ears, HYMN and a bunch more (200rmb).

THEME PARTIES

Great Gatsby at 1515 West (300rmb pre-sale here) and at Liquid Laundry (888rmb with all-night free-flow). Same theme as last year. Guys? Winter Wonderland at Calypso with free-flow bubbles (398rmb pre-sales here). Jazz countdown at Piano Bar in the Grand Hyatt with free-flow Mumm Champagne (388rmb). UP Shanghai throws it back to the 70s hedonism of Studio 54 (300rmb with a glass of Champers).

THE OTHER BUBBLES: BEER

Stone Brewing does its craft beer and hops, hops, hops thing with free-flow on selected beers and house wine for four hours and disk jockey Heatwolves on the digital decks (388rmb on the door). Boxing Cat does a 250rmb free-flow on house beers (and more) at Sinan Mansions starting at 7pm. The BREW has a dance-all-night disco countdown party with free-flow craft beer until the stroke of midnight (298rmb). And finally, The Rooster puts on its popular free-flow for three hours (200rmb with prosecco, wine, beers, house pours or 300rmb with craft beer).

NO COVER

Uva. Dada. The Nest and Cannery (will be crowded). Bird and Bitter are throwing a sparkly neighborhood bash with deals on Champagne-method sparkling wine Veuve Ambal (one bottle for 248rmb, four bottles for 598rmb). Or here’s a real tip: the lovely bar at Café Gray Deluxe has no cover and a Champagne happy-hour from 5pm-midnight on the entire list. Only catch is they close early; last call at 12.30am. Or maybe try…

A QUIET PLACE FOR A DRINK

Looking to brick yourself up somewhere quiet and celebrate the new year with a quiet, fastidiously made martini? Try Ars & Delecto, ARCH, Suzu, OJI and Senator Saloon. They won't give you any free-flow deals, but odds are good that the bartenders will undo their bowties a little as midnight draws nearer.

A ROWDY PLACE FOR A DRINK

Cages charges a cover but includes two Budweisers, the original sparkling beverage (100rmb). Inferno is charging 100rmb for 4 shots of Fireball and reveling unapologetically in NU METAL all night. Specters is charging no cover, and there'll be guest DJs and "shitloads of free booze flyin around". Just quoting from the flyer. Roxie is charging 150rmb on the door for a shot, a drink, and sparkling showers (the fiscally responsible cousin to Champagne showers), with raincoats and everything.

FIVE STARS

Do it up at the fancy hotels, fancy-style. At the Shanghai Centre, the Ritz Carlton Bar themes it after “Ye Shanghai” and an opulent 1920s theater with a free-flow option on Moet & Chandon (188rmb for entry only, 538rmb for the bubbles on SmartTicket). The Bvlgari’s Il Bar, with that view from the 47th floor, is doing bookings by the table for the 9.30pm-closing slot (3,000rmb for a table of 1-4 people, 6,000rmb for a table of up to 10, including a bottle of Perrier Jouet Champagne). The Waldorf Astoria's historic Long Bar has three options for their countdown shindig, serving Perrier Jouet (688rmb for two glasses, 1,288 for free-flow and 2,020 with free-flow Champs and unlimited oysters).

The Grand Hyatt is releasing 10,000 balloons into its atrium from the 56th floor with free-flow Mumm Champagne (668rmb on SmartTicket). The St. Regis is a little more sedate for their countdown masquerade (288rmb including a glass of Champagne). And The Sukhothai’s ZUK Bar does the countdown from 10pm to midnight with a free-flow deal on wine and some cocktails but no bubbles, though Billecart Salmon Champagne is 50% off (238rmb for the free-flow wine and cocktails).

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Or see all of the parties listed on SmartShanghai right here!