Shanghai Nightlife, Food, and Sights

Constellation Bar in the French Concession.

Very. Good. Ice.

lefty

What kinda places are you lookin' for here?

http://www.m-restaurantgroup.com/mbund/home.html http://www.m-theglamourbar.com/home.html After the 'Sightseeing tunnel' from The Bund to Pudong (without asking anymore, seriously - just follow the signs on the boardwalk) and then once on the other side up the Oriental pink Pearl TV Tower . . . If you choose to swim back it would be understood ...

When you going? I'm there March 6-13. If anyone wants to grab a drink sometime then, let me know. I don't know the town very well - I've been to a bunch of spots but would welcome the local knowledge, as I usually just stumble over something and my results are mixed.

won't your office gf go bat crazy while you're away?

The bar at Captain Hotel (its a hostel but really a hotel) has an awesome view of the Bund skyline at a third the price of everywhere else.

For music, events, bars, etc. check out Smartshanghai.com

The bar at Captain's Hostel does have a good view, but isn't that great of a crowd. Bar Rouge is a lot better, but more expensive.

For really good cocktails Constellation is alright, but El Coctel just opened and is better in both drink quality and atmosphere.

What type of nightlife are you looking for? Expensive bars with great views, 100 RMB all-you-can-drink bars...Chinese clubs where you can drink Johnny Walker and green tea?

Classy: M group, as mentioned. M1NT is well-loved by a lot of people, but I find the place is filled with social-climbing dicks, so, y'know, YMMV.
VUE Bar is worth stopping in at, just for the view.
Bar Rouge usually has something going on.
I guess maybe SiN can be entertaining?

I'm more down with the C's, LoGo, Dada, Not Me type stuff, which is a lot dirtier and the drinks aren't offensively overpriced. Shelter's in similar company, and it's worth sticking your head in to see the admittedly cool location, but I find it stale and uncomfortable.

Of course, once you're done with wherever you are, you should go to Dragon Club.

Be wary of the 100RMB all you can drink, as some places tend to, err, take liberties with their alcohol.

Really, you should be reading cityweekend, smartshanghai or enjoyshanghai to get a feel for what's going on; they're a good jumping off point but they tend to circle jerk over the same places over and over again.

Any clubs to go? Electro or House or something hip/funky would be dope.

I heard from a friend Muse is cool.

How about Xintian Di? Its a fairly new developed area with great night life.

my favorite place to eat is the Whampoa Club

I was in Shanghai in late 08 for two days and went to a club in the mall/plaza right by Louis Vuitton (near Pu Xi Hilton Hotel). I forgot the name of it but that club was pretty nice, full of europeans, beautiful people. I was having a great time with a hot ass russian girl but too bad I had to fly back to Beijing right after... Shanghai is a fun place, I'm looking foward to going back soon.

Flambeur: it sounds like you could stay on the Bund the entire time you're here and be very happy with the result. If you've got the scratch, it's not a bad idea, I guess, but you'll end up missing a good deal of flavor, like going to a Chinese bar where shots are free since they're so stoked to see a white guy instead of a laowai club or eating at a tiny hole in the wall xiaolongbao place. If you do want to spend money on xiaolongbao, though, I recommend going to Dintaifeng in Superbrand Mall in Pudong. Best xiaolongbao in the city despite being 10x the price anywhere else, AND has a great view of the Bund. Glamour bar (mentioned already) is currently hosting the Shanghai Literary Festival, but that's mostly on weekend; see also M on the bund. Other Bund spots include 3 on the Bund, 5 on the Bund, Laris - go wild, the place is loaded, but the boardwalk itself is under construction so the vista loses something. Muse is alright (M2 moved, or something?) but it seems like there's a fight every time I go there. Brown Sugar and JZ club both have good jazz, although I hear bad things about Brown Sugar's barstaff. I can vouch for JZ being a nice, laid-back place, though, and at least one of the musicians there is a super nice dude. Southern Barbarian is supposed to have good Yunnan food, but I've never been. South Beauty has some pretty excellent Sichuan food. Xintiandi and Tianzifang both have a nice collection of boutiques and restaurants that aren't too classy but aren't dive, either. Tianzifang is slightly less touristy than Xintiandi but is also a little dingier. That's about all I got for classy, which is pretty much just surface stuff. When I go out, I go out with college students, a group for whom upscale is a little bit out of reach. EDIT: Forgot the whole point of posting was to share this cool map: http://sh.edushi.com/