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Good bars/lounges for twenty-something expats in Shanghai?

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st3vie

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Joined: Nov 19, 2009
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Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 12:42 AM
Post subject: Good bars/lounges for twenty-something expats in Shanghai?

Hi, I'm currently living in Shanghai and a few friends are coming over from abroad to visit for their winter breaks and I was wondering if there are any good nighttime hotspots for young expats in Shanghai that I could bring them to?

I've been to the smartshanghai.com website and will browse it a bit more, but I was hoping to get some good bar/lounge suggestions from this forum.

Thanks alot!

aLeGna

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Joined: June 12, 2008
Posts: 452
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Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 12:22 PM

Velvet, Mesa and Manifesto, Cottons (all in French concession)
Sin Lounge also looks quite alright. M1NT still has something to offer too. Oh, and Latitude.

If you want clubbing (hiphop, RnB, house, electro), Muse 1 and Muse 2, Club G+, Sky, The Shelter, Lost Heaven (Bund area), Vault Bar at Laris, and many more. JZ Club for jazz. Brown Sugar, too, in Xintiandi, is nice.

If you want something with a taste of local, try Babyface, Paramount, J's Club, and Soho. Club G+ and Sky are also "Chinesey".

>>>ugh, I suddenly missed clubbing.

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st3vie

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Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 12:54 PM

hey, thanks! they all sound great.

are they all pretty pricey/high-end? i'm hoping not to have to drop ridiculous amounts of money on cover or drinks, haha.

thanks again!

Forbidden

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Joined: Nov 10, 2009
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Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 01:11 PM

Bund and Xintiandi might be pricey. Sin is also not the cheapest place.
Muse, MT, Club G+ is a bit cheaper.

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aLeGna

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Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 11:45 PM

I think drink prices are about the same in those places, but the quality might be different.

Velvet, Mesa and Manifesto, Laris, Cottons, JZ Club and M1NT are of the same price and similar quality alcohol (from what I could tell by what I had there) for mixed drinks/cocktails. Laris has 2 for 1 deals on Thursdays and Fridays. No cover in these places.

Sin Lounge has cover sometimes (the most was 100 rmb, and didn't even include a drink) when they have events. Shelter also has 30-50rmb cover (no drink) depending on who's playing/what's on. Babyface, I remember having a door charge with drink, maybe 50 rmb.

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nrgfink

FooJay

Joined: July 20, 2009
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Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 11:58 PM

Aren't drinks dirt cheap at shelter though? I haven't made it over there yet...

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fWerrF

FooJay

Joined: Aug 31, 2009
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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 12:29 AM

for 20's, do not go to m1nt.
i am surprised no one mentioned ricky's, want a happening place with local flavor thats the place to hit.
most of places only have cover on weekend. and sometimes do include drinks.

nrgfink

FooJay

Joined: July 20, 2009
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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 09:57 AM

how have i not heard of this "ricky's"?

Thought I'd heard of everything by now...

I think M1NT is ok for 20s... I'm 23 and didn't feel weird. Not necessarily my style, but my friends all like it a lot

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Swiss-James

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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 11:03 AM

All the places mentioned (except Shelter) are pretty classy and moneyed up. Expect to pay 50RMB+ per drink, party with french guys wearing suits, air-kissing each other.

When I was 21 I wasn't paying 70RMB for no Apple Martinis, or wearing Gucci shoes.

For somewhere a bit more down and dirty try Windows Scoreboard (on HuaiHai Lu) or Windows Underground (on Nanjing Dong Lu).

Then there's a whole strip of bars on Xingfu Lu that anyone who's into underground music would like:

Logo- good reggae (and I normally hate reggae) and electro music- big sofas, smoky, cool people, cheap drinks.

Dada- like a mini-Shelter really, film nights on Tuesdays, crowd of the types of people who would argue about whether electroclash is dead.

Anar- odd arabic type bar that's good fun sometimes

Away from there, the open bar deal at Mural on Hengshan Lu is popular with the younger crowd, as is I Love Shanghai when they have drinks deals.

YuYingTang is a gig venue that's always interesting, although obviously you take pot luck with the bands. Still, it's a lot more real Shanghai than standing next to a damn shark tank at M1nt.

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aLeGna

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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 02:11 PM

Oops! I just remembered that there is 30 or 50 rmb cover in JZ...

Mural is also nice. ILS - hmm, I go there only when it's the meeting place (not really my type), and I could forget about Logo.

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fWerrF

FooJay

Joined: Aug 31, 2009
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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 02:24 PM

nrgfink wrote:

Ricky's is right next to Party World KTV in Fuxin park.

Supposedly the local party goers there are rather hostile towards foreigners, looking to pick fight, I heard stories about that place, me and my foreigner friends nearly got into a fight this April on a Monday night, so prolly thats why your friends never recommended it to you.

From my M1nt experince, i would say the average age in that place is prolly close 35-40.

Swiss-James

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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 02:39 PM

fWerrF wrote:

Supposedly the local party goers there are rather hostile towards foreigners, looking to pick fight, I heard stories about that place, me and my foreigner friends nearly got into a fight this April on a Monday night, so prolly thats why your friends never recommended it to you.

So why did you recommend it?

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nrgfink

FooJay

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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 02:40 PM

Richie? Richy?

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Swiss-James

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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 02:46 PM

Ah Richy

http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/3134/Richy_shanghai

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Lacrimas

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Joined: Oct 15, 2009
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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 02:47 PM

It's "Richy's", right next to that dreadful KTV-place in Fuxing Park. Good times... Smile

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ariannef

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Joined: Sep 12, 2007
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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 02:58 PM
Post subject: Agree :-)

aLeGna wrote:

Completely agree, a typical night out for me starts at Mesa/Manifesto and finishes at Velvet. For Jazz I hit up Brown Sugar if I feel like going out-out or Cotton Club if I just want to chill & listen to music. JZ is where I stumble to when the live music ends at Cotton Club.

Am not a fan of the Muse franchise. Sin & M1NT are cool and worth going to but sometimes the crowd just gets a little pretentious for my taste so I tend to space out those visits.

There's also a recent thread on Tara 57, also a good place to get pre-club drinks.

Shelter is theoretically great but if you're the least bit claustrophobic it's the scariest place ever...

For guests the Lounge 18, Bar Rouge and Glamour Bar trifecta are usually a must see but otherwise never rated high on the "fun" meter though they're pretty & posh.

fWerrF

FooJay

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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 05:36 PM

Swiss-James wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

So why did you recommend it?

cuz i actually thought it was fun that things were getting heated up Laughing

our group did not mind getting our feet wet. i just was not sure if we were fighting the other group or the whole damn club Laughing

but then we settled it before sh1t really hit the fan. so it was nothang but a banana.

maybe he will find the same excitement, who knows.
or maybe he won't have any problem cuz ppl there will like him.

stephhh
Lurker
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Joined: Nov 01, 2009
Posts: 32

Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 08:03 PM

Swiss-James wrote:

Logo- good reggae (and I normally hate reggae) and electro music- big sofas, smoky, cool people, cheap drinks.

is this the one thats entirely taken up by a bar in the middle with about a 2 foot gap to walk around in? impossible to move, or find a seat? smoke:oxygen ratio off the scale?

each to their own i guess =P think its one of these places you either love or you hate..!

(i know, i know, im a sucker for mainsteam music, nice furniture and pretty people. and i MISS the smoking ban..!)

aLeGna

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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 08:40 PM

^^ think you got that right!

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Dazza
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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 10:01 PM

Babyface, Laowai friendly.... NOT.

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El-Jeffe

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Joined: July 11, 2009
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Posted: Nov 22, 2009 - 04:53 AM

I Love Shanghai, Mural, Windows Scoreboard, and Shelter are best for 20 somethings. Babyface, Bar Rouge, M1NT are bad calls and those recommending those to a 20 something should really check their ID's (must be 40+ years old)

Swiss-James

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Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 09:51 AM

stephhh wrote:

Swiss-James wrote:

Logo- good reggae (and I normally hate reggae) and electro music- big sofas, smoky, cool people, cheap drinks.

is this the one thats entirely taken up by a bar in the middle with about a 2 foot gap to walk around in? impossible to move, or find a seat? smoke:oxygen ratio off the scale?

Well there's also a dancefloor and an entire second room, but yeah.

stephhh wrote:

im a sucker for mainsteam music, nice furniture and pretty people. and i MISS the smoking ban..!)

*Shudder*

Enjoy!

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viv_part

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Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 11:30 AM

stephhh wrote:

Swiss-James wrote:

Logo- good reggae (and I normally hate reggae) and electro music- big sofas, smoky, cool people, cheap drinks.

Ah man, you could literally cut the smoke out with a knife over there...and most of it was from the funny cigs too! Would never go back.

Buzz

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Joined: Aug 26, 2009
Posts: 33
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Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 04:14 PM

I think it depends on the night at M1nt. Two weeks ago (on a friday), it was packed wall-to-wall with 20-somethings. However, last Saturday it looked like an AARP convention.

Smart Shanghai has quality recommendations and Mural is always a standard fall-back if you want a cheap sh*t-show night with a fair amount of people.