Bars and Nightclubs

If you are looking for evening on the town, Shanghai has a number places to go to. Upscale establishments center on the Bund, and more personalized choices can be found at Fuxing Park and Jingan Si. Maoming Nanlu, Hengshan Lu, and Huaihai Zhonglu are all known as blue collar spots for the average Joe, where you will not have to break the bank to party til dawn.

Cloud Nine and the Sky Lounge(九重天)

Located at 88 Shiji Dadao, inside the Jin Mao Tower; to get there, take the subway to Lujiazui, telephone: 021-50491234, ext. 8098.

You need to make three separate elevator trips to get from the ground floor to the bar. The first will take you to the Grand Hyatt lobby on the 54th floor. Take the second elevator from the lobby to the 85th floor and the final elevator up to the 87th floor. Note that the bar requires a minimum purchase of 88 RMB per person, and the minimum jumps up to 120 RMB on Saturdays with an additional 15% service fee. Try out one of the bubbling cocktails. There is one called the "cloud nine" that runs for 87 RMB. A beer will cost you around 50 RMB. Hours of operation: 5pm to lam.

Peace Hote! Old Jazz bar(和平饭店爵士酒吧)

Located at 20 Nanjing Lu inside the Peace Hotel; telephone: 021-63216888 ext. 6210.

If you are willing to pay a steep cover charge for the privilege of buying drinks and listening to some corny jazz, than this is the place for you. Hours of operation: 8pm to 2am. You need 50 RMB to get in the door.

CJW

Locations: 1) 222 Yan'an Donglu on the 50th floor of the Bund Center near Jiangxi Zhonglu; telephone: 021-63391777 and 63392777; 2) 123 Lane 2 Xingye Lu on the bottom floor; telephone: 021-63856677; hours of operation: 6am to 2am. Happy hour runs from 5pm to 7pm.

If the stratospherically priced drinks and cigars do not dissuade you, then come out for the some great live jazz playing from 9pm to midnight.

Mint Club

Located at 333 Tongren Lu; to get there; take the subway to the Jingan Si station; tel-ephone: 021-62479666; hours of operation: 1 lam to 2am, open from 11 am to 4am on Friday and Saturday.

This is the site of the illustrious Green House. The Green House was Hungarian architect, Laszlo Hudec's last building on the Bund. Finished in 1938, the English-language China Daily commented in 1939 that the Green House was "the premier luxury house in the far east". Its original owner, Wu Tongwen —"the pigment king" — was a wealthy Shanghai figure. The building was outfitted with what were then the most cutting edge facilities in the world, including spring floorboards on the second floor and the world's most modem elevator. All of the house's furniture was custom made by famous American furniture makers on Nanjing Xilu. On the day the Green House was completed, Hudec turned to Wu Tongwen and said, "I can guarantee that in fifty years time, this house will not lose its modem feel. In one hundred years, this house will still be in style. It is simply a classic". To preserve his Green House's individuality, Wu Tongwen bought out all of the building's blueprints and designs and locked them away in a safe. On Christmas eve in 1948, a foreign diplomat offered to trade a ten thousand ton ship and 500 thousand dollars for the right to turn the house into a foreign consulate. Wu Tongwen refused the offer. He said, "When I die, I want to die inside the Green House." As fate would have it, in August 1966, Wu Tongwen's wish came true when he and his mistress consumed a large number of sleeping pills with their coffee and turned on the home's natural gas. They both died inside the Green House.

The Mint Club is the main attraction of the Bund's late night scene. Decorated with red and black tones, the garden is a compo-sition of colored waterfalls. Popular music from around the world pipes in from all di-rections, adding contemporary textures to an atmosphere that contrasts old and new. 11 pm is when the action really begins at the Mint Club. Ladies night is Wednesday between 9 and 11 pm, welcoming women with free drinks, hot dogs, and popcorn. You can pick up peppermint candy as you walk in the door. Other than the wait staff, on Wednesday night, the entire bar is filled with women. Salsa dance parties are held on Thursday; drinks average to about 50 RMB each.

Yanyangtian is restaurant on the build-ing's bottom floor that serves mostly mild Cantonese cuisine. Recommended dishes include papaya and silver cod, Longjing shrimp, veal with golden garlic, and spiced salt gold needle mushrooms. Expect to pay about 150 RMB per person.

If you come during the day time, you can sit in the garden and enjoy the soft wind as you listen to the sound of rustling leaves, and soak up the warm sun. Smell the fresh grass, look onto Tongren Lu, and you will understand why its owner was so enchanted with the Green House.

Malone's American Cafe

Located at 255 Tongren Lu; to get there, take the subway and get off at the Jingan Si station; telephone: 021-62472400; hours of operation: 1 lam to 2am.

This is American-style bar serves huge portions of classic American and Tex-Mex fare, such as terrific hamburgers and burri-tos. You can take comfort in the usual bar pastimes of darts and billiards, of plop down in front of their many TVs and take in a baseball game. Live music on Monday.

Manhattan

Located at 88 Tongren Lu; telephone: 13501647257; hours of operation: All hours.

The doors are always open at this noisy bar. With an old Shanghai feel and shaking tunes, this is a great place to let yourself go. The bar gets packed between three and four am. Billiard tables are on the second floor.

Blue Frog (蓝蛙俱乐部卢湾店)

Location 86 Tongren Lu. With its cool color decor the Blue Frog's bar counter on the first floor has been completely taken over by the international set. Flickering candles and a warm homey atmosphere make the second floor much more suitable a laid back evening with a small group of friends. Drinks run 30 to 50 RMB, and there are free peanuts.

Blue Frog

Located at 207-6 Maoming Lu (near Fux-ing Zhonglu), telephone: 021-64456634; hours of operation: 1 lam to midnight.

Blue Frog offers one of the best deals in town. Just stepping in the door will get you five free drinks, and their menu has several hundred to choose from. After downing your five samples, you will probably want to stick around. This is a nice place to sit, drink, and chat. Crowds here are light.

Long Bar

Located at 1376 Nanjing Xilu on the second floor of the Shanghai Center; to get there, take the subway to the Jingan Si station; telephone: 021-62798268; hours of operation: 11 am to 3am; happy hour is from 5 to 8pm.

Long bar features live jazz Tuesday nights and Sunday afternoons with a live "Five Guys On A Train" act that cannot be missed. A drink here will set you back. Do not be surprised when they tack on a 15% service fee.

Park 97

Located on the side of Huaihai Zhonglu inside Fuxing Park; you can get there by taking subway line one and getting off at the Huangpi Nanlu station. Walk over to Huaihai Zhonglu from Yandang Lu. Traveling by bus, you can take lines 02, 17, 24, tunnel line eight, 304, or 932 and get off at the Huangpi Nanlu stop. Telephone: 021 -53832328.

Established inside one of Shanghai's old-est parks, Park 97 has been at the forefront of Shanghai fashion since its first conception. Officially called the California Club, most people come here for Park 97's provocative warm colors. Geometrical in de-sign, the bar is flooded with mist, cold pink light that shines off of the mirrors, and huge freehand oil paintings of the human body. International music groups perform in the evenings, and there is outdoor seating in the summer where you can enjoy the fresh air. Expect to pay 100 RMB or so.

Langui Fang on Park 97's first floor, has also proven to be an extremely popular bar. Sharing a front entrance with Park 97, Baci Italian Restaurant serves excellent Italian food in a rich Italian atmosphere. Baci of-fers two set lunches: a 97 RMB two-course lunch and a 119 RMB three course lunch. Other menu options include Italians soups, the rabbit with salad, tomato and cheese pizza, and fried salmon.

Guandi Bar (官邸酒吧)

Located inside Fuxing Park near Park 97. Telephone: 021-33080726.

Well-known Taiwanese artist, Wu Dawei, is one of Guandi Bar's shareholders, and celebrities such as Xu Ruyun, Lin Xinru, Su Youpeng, Zhang Shi, and Xie Hui were all in attendance at the bar's opening. Lumi-nary singers such as Liu Jialing, Chen Xi-aochun, Mo Wenwei, Meng Guangmei, and Faye Wang have all staged performances here. In the blink of and eye, Guandi has become the most popular gathering place in Shanghai, and complaints about Guandi's sky-high prices have not stopped the crowds from coming in. Here you will find Shanghai's most complete collection of champagne as well as well-regarded wines, many types of whisky, special cocktails, and handmade Cuban cigars. Members are presented with a Guandi electronic door card. Swipe the door card over the sensor and the door will open for you. You do not need to ring the door bell.

Cotton Club(棉花俱乐部)

Located at 1428 Huaihai Zhonglu (at the intersection of Fuxing Lu). You can get here by taking the subway to the Hengshan Station. Telephone: 021-64377110. One of the best live music places in town completely composed of local clientele with a pretty good atmosphere — a must see. Expect to pay about 65 RMB per person.

West Side

237 Hengshan Lu (near Gaoan Lu) Tel-ephone: 021-64724327.

If you are after a little peace and quiet, than West Side is the place for you. Al-though West Side's cocktails have received mixed reviews, most agree that it is a good place to sit back with a drink, talk with friends, and listen to music. The house singers are always open to requests.

Mural Bar & Restaurant

Located at 697 Yongjia Lu (near Heng-shan Lu); telephone: 021-64335023 and 64339671.

Shanghai pub dwellers love this base-ment-level establishment. When you are heading in this direction, keep your eyes peeled because Mural's sign is not exactly eye-catching. As you come down the steps, you will discover that Mural is a different world. Usually Mural has an entry free of 50 RMB; however, 100 RMB will not only get you in the door but give you all you can drink on Fridays. Once you pay for a ticket, you will get a stamp on your hand. The bar is usually so busy that the bartenders are in a constant state of motion. Mural's four walls are covered in ancient writing and Buddhist relief sculptures. It feels just like walking through a Buddhist stone grotto. Mural's boss is a handsome young Frenchman and he has arranged the pub with couches and beds, making it popular with people who want to indulge their laziness. Eclectic performances are common and attract a crowd of international students.

O'Malley's Irish Pub

Located at 42 Taojiang Lu, (one street over from Hengshan Lu); to get there take the subway to the Changshu Lu station; tel-ephone: 021-64370667 and 021-64744533.

A typical Irish pub with a beer garden and live music Irish music that gets cranking at 8:30 every night except Sunday. Hours of operation: 11:30am to 2am.

Amber

Located at 184 Maoming Nanlu (near Yongjia Lu); telephone: 021-64665224.

This is a nice place to come and talk with friends. According to legend, in the old days China's Shanghai-based foreign correspondents used to gather here. There is a movie projection room on the bottom floor and people occasionally come here to see films. You probably cannot find any reporters here any more, but there are still plenty of internationals who flock here in droves.

1931 Pub

Located at 112 Maoming Nanlu (near Nanchang Lu); telephone: 021-64725264. Old style gramophones, old Shanghai movie star posters, an old style telephone on the wall, dusky lighting, and service women in black cheongsams, this pub will transport you straight back to old Shanghai. While you are here, you should try a glass of their salt soda water and have an assort-ment of Shanghai-style snacks (fried won-tons, spring rolls, lobster slices). You can skip the main dishes here, which are some-what mediocre. Try not to let the service staff's less-than-professional attitude get to you. Just sit back and enjoy the ambiance. Expect to pay 100 RMB per person.

Yelaixiang (夜来香)

Located at 58 Maoming Lu on the third floor of the Okura Garden Hotel; telephone: 021-64151111 ext. 5217.

Yelaixiang is the prince of Maoming Lu and is rich with European ambiance. Night-fall is the most ideal time to come, when you can sit outside and gaze upon blooming flowers in the French garden. Prices here are on the expensive side.

Wynn Win Club

Located at 1266 Nanjing Xilu (near the Shaan Xilu intersection) on the fifth floor of the Plaza 66; telephone: 021-62886222; hours of operation: 8:30pm-4am.

A new establishment, the Wynn Win Club is full of 1980's style hippy extravagance. It has a somewhat retro-modem feel. An awesome DJ spins the tunes.

Glamour Bar (魅力酒吧)

Located on the seventh floor of the Bund's building number five (near Guangdong Lu); telephone: 021-64319390; hours of operation: 5:30pm-late.

Soft comfortable tones and a great bar-tender make Glamour Bar — the sister bar to M on the Bund — definitely worth a visit. Look out from Glamour Bar's glass windows to the beautiful night scenes out-side. Music concerts and song and dance performances start at 5pm and last late into the night. Expect high prices.

Dance Clubs & Discos

Due to barflies' lazy nature it is a good thing bars and the dance clubs are clustered together in groups, and it is not necessary to have to walk very far to get to one. Shanghai clubs are part bar and part dance floor, so you can be get your drink and groove on all in one place. Many clubs now are inviting a lot of on foreign DJ's which adds variety and spice to the Shanghai nightlife .So, sharpen up your moves and go join the locals on the dance floor.

Judy's Too

Located at 176 Maoming Nanlu; telephone: 021-64731417; hours of operation: 8pm-late.

Once located right beneath a police hall, Judy's Too has been in operation 11 years, and was one of the first foreign-owned bars in the city. With a look that is clearly nostalgic for 1980's music and culture, Judy's Too serves German beer and frequently attracts both internationals and people from China's literary and art circles. It can sometimes be a tight squeeze because space here is limited. This is especially true on the dance floor. Red is clearly the bar's overlying tone and the entire structure is designed around the red door, and the old Shanghai storefront. Old Shanghai streetlights can be found shining in the comers, and revelers dance on top of the round Judy's Too's symbol painted on the middle of the dance floor. A beer will set you back 20 RMB during happy hour and 40 RMB on the weekend.

M-FACTORY

Located at 170 Maoming Lu (near Fux-ing Zhonglu); telephone: 021-64151088; hours of operation: 8pm-6am.

Long and narrow, this warehouse style bar has only a slim strip for a dance floor, but this does nothing to damper its popularity. Do not feel too bad if you step on someone's foot when you are dancing, because when you consider the space, it is almost unavoidable. The strange thing is that live bands also squeeze onto the narrow dance floor, sharing space with the dancers and making for a tight fit and a rather chaotic scene. When you begin to feel too claustrophobic, you can escape to the half courtyard-half patio outside where you can look out upon the city lights. Expect to pay 50 RMB per person.

Pegasus Club

Located at 98 Huaihai Zhonglu, on the second floor of the Golden Bell Plaza; to get there takes the subway to the Huangpi Nanlu station; telephone: 021-53858189.

One of Shanghai's most popular clubs known for bringing in DJ's from around the world. Hours of operation: 6pm to early morning.

100 Degrees CLUB

Located in the Xujiahui District at 10 Hengshan Lu just underneath the Zhenai Lou.

Split into the performing arts bar and the disco, the 100 Degrees Club plays some rockin' heavy metal and throws in a little hip-hop for good measure. There are a total of eight DJs at the club who switch in and out to keep the music fast and fresh. Expect to pay 70 RMB per person.

New York New York Disco

Located at 146 Huqiu Lu; telephone: 021-63216097.

Come see what a Chinese club is all about as young locals shake it while just standing still. You have to see it.

Bourbon Street

Located at 191 Hengshan Lu; telephone: 021-64737911; hours of operation: 7pm-2am.

Brimming with American-style enthu-siasm, this three-storey wooden structure cannot help but attract crowds of disco-loving young people. Bourbon Street has American-style food and drinks, American music, and American-style service. Lively dance performances are the norm. As its reputation among tourists grows, however, Bourbon Streets reputation among locals falls. Expect to pay 80 RMB per person.

ROJAM Disco

Located in the Luwan District at 283 Huaihai Zhonglu on the fourth floor of the Hong Kong Plaza. To get there, take sub-way line one to the Huangpi Nanlu station; telephone: 021-63907181.

Personally created by the Japanese god-father of music, Komuro Tetsuya Rojam is at the vanguard of Shanghai's disco scene. Inside you will find two completely different dance floors, a variety of differently-styled bars, and over a dozen different karaoke rooms. You can enjoy a buffet with beverage for 38 RMB Monday through Friday and 60 RMB on weekends. Lady's night falls on the first day of every month. Women enjoy free entry that day. Rojam's Birthday Night is on the last Saturday of the month, and anyone celebrating a birthday that day is allowed free entry and receives a small gift.

Shanghai Tempest SOS Disco

Located in the Xujiahui District at 1111 Zhaojiabang Lu on floors five through seven of Metro City; telephone: 021-64268333.

Tempest SOS is Shanghai's largest disco with a total area of 2,100 square meters and a capacity to hold 2,000 people. Come for the eccentric parties on the weekend.

KK Super Disco

Located at 558 Kaixuan Lu; telephone: 021-62127318; hours of Operation: 8pm-3am.

Located on the north west side somewhat outside town, KK is a nice place to go if you live in the area. Here you will find the latest western and Chinese techno. Cover charge: RMB 30 on weekdays, RMB 40 on weekends.

Hit House

Locations: 1) in the Wujiaochang district at 2069 Siping Lu (near the Guoding Lu intersection). 2) Near Jingan Si at 384 Yu Yuan Lu.

Cheap drinks, fine atmosphere, and dancing. This place really gets going after midnight.