Shanghai Nightlife

May 17, 2010

The Bund

Chinese nightlife is quite different than American nightlife. The Chinese do not like dancing. They like sitting at tables and paying for expensive bottle service and being seen.

Chinese clubs in Shanghai reflect this cultural difference. The clubs have a very small dance floor if any at all. They are filled with tables and stools. If you don’t reserve a table at which to sit, there is no place for you to stand. Waiters, ayis sweeping the floor, security guards, and other club-goers will be bumping into you all night. You simply don’t matter if you haven’t bought an inflated bottle of black label.

88

Once at a table, Chinese people like to order their favorite type of whiskey – Johnny Walker and Chivas are popular choices. The waiters will bring pitchers with ice and several bottles of cold green tea. The whiskey, ice, and green tea is mixed in the pitcher and then served. Whiskey lovers everywhere scoff disgustedly. While drinking, Chinese people usually like to play the dice game featured in Pirates of the Caribbean 2. They will also be served a platter of watermelon triangles and cherry tomatoes.

Phebe

The atmosphere of the clubs is incredibly loud and in-your-face. They are decorated to the max. There isn’t an inch of empty space on the walls. There are lights blinking and blinding you. The music the clubs play is almost exclusively top 40 pop and hip hop, and every song is played for about 30 seconds.

Another common sight at Chinese clubs is go-go dancers. Both boy and girl dancers will get up on stage with coordinated outfits and do choreographed or sexy spontaneous dancing. Sometimes they lip-synch to the music; sometimes they sing. Sometimes they are only wearing a thong.

Soho