Shanghai is an expat- and foreign traveler-friendly town. Bar owners have figured that if a place catches on with foreigners, it will attract a good crowd of locals who follow Western trends.
The wide variety of happy hours, entertainment, and good atmosphere provide foreigners and Chinese alike a great way of meeting people from other cultures. One more bit of good news: Shanghai is incredibly safe so don't worry about personal safety here. The only people who might give you trouble are the foreigners and most of them are middle-aged engineers or bankers.
Blues and Jazz Garden Bar
Cypress Hotel, 2419 Hongqiao Lu
Tel: +86-21 6268-8868
Since it's located near the airport, it's a long way to go during weekdays. But it is one of Shanghai's best kept secrets, well off the tourist trail, and well worth the trek. Located on the grounds of what was one of the most fabulous private homes in Shanghai in the 1930s, the bar features a private lake, acres of trees and grass and blissful peace and quiet. Especially popular with Europeans who come for the jazz and blues on weekends (preceded by a barbecue) it is also a great place to catch some rays and read a book on a summer afternoon. Click here to see the map.
The Cotton Club
1428 Huaihai Road
Tel: +86-21 6437-7110
Shanghai's tribute to the Harlem original and home of the best jazz found between Beijing and Hong Kong. Partly owned by Greg Smith, an American blues guitarist, the club is open from cocktail hour until the wee hours. The Jazz starts at around 10:00 p.m. and is consistently fine, featuring a mixture of international musicians and local phenoms from the nearby Music Conservatory. Smoky and intimate, the club features a different mix of musicians most nights except Monday when they take a break. Chelsea Clinton, Madeline Albright, and a dozen secret service guys walked over from the nearby American Consulate last summer and spent a few enjoyable hours there. Click here to see the map.
Dublin Exchange
2/F, Senmao Bldg.
1010 Yin Cheng East Road, Pudong
Tel: +86-21 6811-2052
The Dublin Exchange is an Irish pub/restaurant in the wilds of Pudong, where lots of people do business but where no one stays to party. Still if you are in Pudong at night, it's an authentic Irish pub. Click here to see the map.
Judy's Too
176 Mao Ming Nan Lu
Tel: +86-21 6473-1417
Another of those places that appeals to everyone-young and old, foreigner and Chinese and certainly men and women-this place is legendary in Shanghai for wild shenanigans. The staff keep things lively with Salsa and ladies nights on Wednesdays, student nights on Thursday, and barely controlled mayhem on the weekends. Features a DJ and the best glimpse of wild Shanghai. Open 6:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. In the heart of the old French Concession which, incidentally, is a great place to do a trolling bar hop. If things don't appeal here, check Zoobah just down the road. It was THE place to go last summer. Click here to see the map.
Keven Café
525 Hengshan Lu
Tel: +86-21 6433-5564
A quiet and relaxed little bistro that also serves good food. A group of chefs from big hotels decided they would strike out on their own and this is what they came up with. A little patio adds to the charm and its location on Hengshan Lu is smack in the middle of the old French concession for that old world charm. A bit of trivia: One of the black tie-clad waiters, a friend of the owners, is a former professional soccer goalie who has more than a few expatriate women sighing wistfully and providing good business to the owners.
Long Bar
2/F, Shanghai Center
1376 Nanjing Xi Lu
Tel: +86-21 6279-8268
Not a hotel bar but awfully close. Located in the Shanghai Center opposite the Ritz-Carlton, the Long Bar has gone one better than Malone's. The watering hole has a daily happy hour from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.. A great selection of Scotch and cigars makes this the kind of bar that's all but been outlawed in the more politically correct West. Click here to see the map.
Malone's
255 Tongren Lu
Tel: +86-21 6247-2400
Malone's is an American-style bar/restaurant spread over two floors, with satellite sports on the TV, a barber's chair to drink shots with your head back, and good music. Just around the corner from the Shanghai Centre off Nanjing Road, it hit on a good formula (Western guys and Chinese girls) and deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for all of the good feelings it has created between these two cultures. Click here to see the map.
O'Malley's
42 Tao Jiang Lu
A better bet at night is sister pub O'Malley's, Shanghai's original and still most faithful to its Irish roots. Set in the grounds of an old house near the Consular district off Huaihai Road, the front walled courtyard is one of the finest places in Shanghai to find yourself on a warm night. The bartender is Irish and so are the musicians who visit for gigs from the Auld Sod. Guiness is the drink of choice here, as is the impressive array of Irish whiskies. Click here to see the map.
Paulaner Brauhaus
150 Fen Yang Lu
Tel: +86-21 6474-5700
You'd think you were in Munich in October with three full floors of German music, beer, and food. Popular with the guys who work at Volkswagen in Shanghai, the bar is famous for brewing its own beer to the highest Bavarian standards. A Filipino band gets people dancing around the giant beer vat in what could pass as a pagan festival. Plans include an outdoor beer garden to take advantage of Oktoberfest. Someone spent an awful lot of marks to get this place right. Click here to see the map.
Peace Hotel Jazz Bar
Ground Floor, 20 Nanjing Road West
Tel: +86-21 6323-3555
The Jazz Bar is famous for its band, octagenarians to a man, who have been plying their trade in public (and behind closed doors during the Cultural Revolution) for along time. They are spirited but slightly robotic, as if they learned the music but not the moves. The best thing about this place it is in what is easily the most historic, oldest hotel in town-The Peace Hotel. The hotel itself has a wonderful Art Deco feel and great touches like a 'hung' (a suspended dance floor) in the ballroom and a grill on the top floor that hasn't changed since 1936. Between sets in the jazz bar, explore the hotel's nooks and crannies (pretend you're looking for your room). And don't miss the roof top, which has a bar in summer, for a panoramic view of old Shanghai. Click here to see the map.
YY's (Yin Yang)
125 Nan Chang Lu
Tel: +86-21 6466-4098
Shanghai's contribution to the international club scene. The place gets going once all the other places wind down, particularly the upstairs bar where energy is regained before heading off to the downstairs disco which goes until dawn. Not a place to go if you have a big meeting the next morning but a fine place to finish off a week. Click here to see the map.
