Showing posts with label Shanghai. Show all posts

One Night in Shanghai

Not only one week after my trip to Shanghai, I was about to visit that city once again, but this time just for one reason: Party.
Our friend Ana was leaving for her summer vacation so we all had a goodbye party since some of us wouldn't see her again after she'd come back.
We were 8 people on the train and we had a lot of fun pre-gaming and playing Never Have I Ever.
When we arrived in Shanghai and checked in at our hostel, we continued our pre-gaming. We had already decided upon a club, which would be Mint Club.

In this post, I will introduce some clubs I have visited during my 10-month stay in China.

Let's start with our pick for the night:

1. Club Mint

 Situated close to Nanjing Dong Lu (East Nanjing Road), it is quite central and easy to find (not at least for the huge building which reads M1nt on it).
This is a very fancy club with a dress code. Men can't wear sneakers or short trousers. By that, you can expect to find expats working as models and chinese new riches alike in this club.
The most famous characteristic of this club is its shark tank though. That was the reason for us to go there in the first place as well.
Source: luxus.welt.de

Another good side about this club is the service and its drinks. Some of them might be a bit too strong, and some might be too expensive, water for example, but most of them are excellent. On the main floor, the music is either electronic or a mix of party hits. On the lounge floor they usually play R'n'B or Hip Hop.

2. Bar Rouge

 This Bar/Lounge which turns into a club in the late night hours, can be found right at the Bund. This club is famous for its view on Pudong and its fancy, but wild parties. Another treat for me to come back to this club are the delicious cocktails. Again, they are a bit more expensive than in usual clubs in China, but considering the location and the quality, I am always willing to pay for 1 or 2 drinks here. The music here is usually a mix of party hits.
Source: bar-rouge-shanghai.com

3. Club Fusion

This is one of the smaller clubs in Shanghai, but nonetheless popular, especially among young people who just wanna have a good time. The location is not quite central, so be prepared to take a taxi there (and don't forget to have the chinese adress ready). The music is a mix of famous radio and party hits and electronic music.
smartshanghai.com

4. Myst Club

 This club is another small-room club which is popular for its Star-DJ's that perform in this club. Again, taking a taxi to this club might be better if you're staying in the city centre, although it is not very far away. The music is a good mix of party hits, and of course, electronic. The audience is mostly chinese than expats, especially when compared to other clubs like Mint or Bar Rouge. But the people are all very friendly and intend to party and dance.
Source: evilyoshida.com


This was my short wrap-up of the clubs and bars I have visited in Shanghai, not in one night of course. Of course, you can combine 2 or 3 of these clubs and bars in one night if you are adventurous enough :D
My favourite Bar is definitely Bar Rouge. Next time I go to Shanghai, I will surely go there again.
Bar Rouge Blogger China
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Shanghai - Biggest city in the world

In that week I was anticipating my first trip to Shanghai. I should be meeting an old friend of mine there who I used to know from uni. He studies chinese and was just doing his study abroad in Beijing. For his last few days he would be staying in Shanghai together with his girlfriend who came to visit him in China.
I was really excited since it would be my first time in such a big city, to be exact, one of the biggest and the most populated city in the world as I found out.

Friday, July 24th: 
After I left work at 4pm, I quickly left for the train station. Since it was still new to me to travel by train in China, I was a bit nervous that I would miss the train, but I didn't.
I finally arrived in Shanghai when it was already evening, so the streets were all lit up, and crowded. I can't describe how positively overwhelmed I felt when I first had a glance at this bright, colourful street of Nanjing Lu. I was nervous and a bit anxious, but at the same time I was so excited to spend time in that gorgeous metropolis.
After appreciating the view, I started to look for my hostel called Captain Hostel. It wasn't hard to find since it was close to the shopping street and to the Bund. I had to share a dorm with other people of course, but it was really comfortable and the people kept to themselves.
My friend texted me already and told me that they were at KTV and I should take a taxi and join them. I actually wanted to, but I was really exhausted and wanted to take a shower (which I had to give up in the end, because they didn't have slippers at the hostel and I forgot mine). So instead, I checked out the hostel's rooftop bar which was supposed have a great view over Pudong and the Shanghai Skyline and I can assure you that it didn't disappoint. I took my camera and got upstairs. And it really was breathtaking. Look at that:



I have seen many pictures of different skylines around the world, but I never imagined that they could all look so boring and dull compared to the colorful, bright skyline of this city called Shanghai. I immediately fell in love with the view and couldn't wait for the next day already.
After lingering there for about 15 minutes and just enjoying the sight, I went to my room again and fell asleep immediately.

Saturday, July 25th:
I woke up early that morning to go and find slippers for the shower. I was feeling so disgusted. You have to know that it was in the middle of summer, and travelling always ended up to be a sweaty activity. I was optimistic that I would find a pair of slippers right away, but I was wrong. When I left the hostel, it was about 8am, but the shops were all closed, and there weren't any street vendors either which I saw the last night when I arrived. I was desperately walking around Nanjing Lu, the main shopping street with all the malls and stores. Although I was feeling a little bit stupid, I managed to discover Shanghai a little bit more. When I realized that most shops would open at 9.30 the earliest, I decided to get breakfast at Starbucks. There was one with a rooftop sitting space where I could enjoy another view of Shanghai:



In the end, I did manage to buy slippers and take a shower in the end. Finally, I was ready for the day so the first thing on my list was to see the Bund. It was quite a nice day, sunny, but a little bit foggy, though. Still I was able to take some really nice pictures:



It was also insane how many chinese tourists wanted to take a picture with me. I thought it wouldn't be that extreme in Shanghai because there are also many foreigners living there, but it seems like the amount of chinese tourists in Shanghai is bigger than the amount of foreign tourists :'D
After my little tour alone on the Bund, I prepared to meet my friend at about 3pm at the People's Square. He described me the place and I went there. Because I still had some time, I stopped at the Korean cosmetic shop Etude House which was close to the Metro Station in Nanjing Lu. I bought a Mascara there (which is pretty amazing) and some face masks.




It felt really funny to meet an old friend from back home in that huge metropolis after some years. It also felt really weird to be speaking german again.
We walked around the People's Square a little bit which is a little park famous for its old-fashioned dating platform run by single people's parents attempting to find a good match for their children. It was fun observing the people and "reading" the signs :D




After that small entertainment, we went to Nanjing Lu and ate Sushi in a quite luxurious mall. But they gave us a red bean dessert for free so the high prices were acceptable.








When we came out the mall, we realized that it was raining cats and dogs and none of us had umbrellas. We bought some cheap ones and walked around the street a bit more. We decided to buy some alcohol for our little night out later in a club called Mint which had a shark tank. But I still haven't been at the Bund during the evening, so we went there, took some pictures and headed to my hostel to get ready and have some drinks on the rooftop.


The old buildings of the Bund


The huge mass of people in China is reality


Soon, another friend joined us as well and we headed to the club.

When we finally entered the club, we had a first look at the shark tank. My friend was a bit disappointed because the sharks were quite small, but I liked it.



If you go to Mint, you have to make sure that you look nice. Plus, you should probably turn down your thirst a little bit, since the drinks are not the cheapest. There are 2 floors there, one main floor which usually plays electronic music, and one lounge which is more relaxed with hip hop and r'n'b tunes. I really enjoyed the latter one, but only towards the end of the night, when there were not many people.
At past 3 am the club was getting emptier already. Don't expect to have a crazy night out in this club. You probably won't find alcohol corpses, but chinese new riches and bored-looking foreigners. It is a good club if you want to have a relaxed night.

When we left the club, I was already feeling sad that I had to leave the next day. I realized that I really enjoyed Shanghai.

Sunday, July 26th: 
I woke up a bit earlier that day, considering that I had a night out the day before. Before I checked out from the hostel, I realized that they were sending out future postcards if you bought one. So I did it. I wrote a postcard to my future self and put my card on the shelf of may 7th. That is such a cool idea, that I had to do it, and it was quite cheap as well. Now, I can't wait for my postcard to arrive in Germany this year :)



The one on May 7 is mine :)


Anyway, I headed out to the Metro Station and went to Liujaizuo, the financial district which has all the famous skyscrapers there. I though I could walk around the Oriental Pearl Tower and maybe find the Disney Store. I found both. The Orient Pearl Tower was too expensive to get up to, and too crowded. You would have to stand in line for 5 hours probably. Since I didn't have the time, I first visited the Disney Shop which turned out to be a bit expensive as well.

Oriental Pearl Tower
Liujaizuo

Liujaizuo


I decided to just go to the Jin Mao Tower to the Observation Deck to get a view over Shanghai. I paid around 160 I think but it was worth it.

Jin Mao Tower


The elevator was pretty fast, too. Actually, that was an interesting fact about that tower as well. When we arrived at the top, it was pretty narrow to walk around. There were many people taking photos, so it wasn't hard to ask someone for pictures, plus, look at the view:


That was the elevator tunnel

The Bottle Opener a.k.a. the World Financial Center

After around half an hour I went down and had a breakfast in a little cafe.



I didn't have a lot of time left in Shanghai anymore, so I met my friend for the last time and we walked around the Greenbelt - a park in the middle of the financial district. It was nice to have such a beautiful green oasis in the middle of some of the world's highest towers. If you go to Shanghai, make sure to visit this place full of contrasts:







Although it was only 2 days, I was happy to be able to spend some time with an old friend and meet some new awesome people on the way. The trip was way too short but that was not the last time in Shanghai for sure.

Final rating:

Sightseeing: 3/5 - Offers interesting places, but Shanghai is more famous for its city life.
Food: 4/5 - You can find anything you want, but you have to consider the high price, too.
Shopping: 5/5 - All the shops you know from home, and more. 
Clubbing: 4/5 - There is yet a lot to explore in this city's nightlife, but be sure to bring money.
Transportation: 5/5 - The best metro system I have seen. 
Asia China Expat
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