A topic that will be of interest to a lot of you out there, and also a topic that offers a lot of interesting aspects to get into, seeing as the nightlife in Shanghai is as multifaceted as the city itself.
Let me start by saying that the nightlife there is unlike anything you'll ever experience, for a variety of reasons, beginning with the price of alcoholic beverages and ending with the awesomeness of the people you can meet in Chinese clubs. There is literally no other place on earth where partying is in itself a voyage into another world like it is in Shanghai; seeing the city by day and then comparing it to what you see at night comes close to trying to compare fruits to vegetables. It's incredible how the vibrant day-time energy of this metropolis is just fused into those Friday and Saturday night extravaganzas, how exhilarated the people are when partying, and how the togetherness is really brought back to the city folk in those long, drink-fueled weekends.
But let us begin with a broad overview of the nightlife in Shanghai is like. Imagine driving about thirty kilometers in a cab for only about eight Euro, already in a cranked up mood, and then getting out near a huge skyscraper whose windows are banging against their frames because of the heavy bass from the building that seems to be emitting the music you can already hear on the other end of the street. You then walk to the entry of the club, where you're greeted by bouncers; and normally that's it, seeing as there are no degrading strip searches, and, unless you look like you're thirteen, you won't have to show your I.D. either. You proceed to enter an elevator, go up a number of stories, and are then looking at a black square filled with laser and stroboscope lightning, which after a second of adjusting your eyes turns out to be the entrance, through which you go after having paid about ten Euros for an all-night open bar. Upon entering the venue, you will quickly be invited to sit down at a table by someone, or be invited to a drink, dance, or a cigarette. The people are extremely open-minded and looking to make new friends for the night, which is why you could easily go out alone and still leave the club drunk, happy, and with a bunch of newly-met people.
And there's more; there are barely any fist-fights or your typical annoying, angry asshole. They exist of course, and there's always a risk of getting in an altercation, but it's so much less common than in European clubs. It's just a generally more cheerful scene, with a sense of togetherness lingering in the exhilarated atmosphere, encompassing each and every individual in the disco, unifying the party-goers in dance and happiness. It has happened to me on numerous occasions that I stumbled out of some downtown venue, realized I didn't have any cash to get home, and still got to share a taxi with complete strangers that were kind enough to take me along even though I was entirely out of cash. And there have also been a couple of times that I was so drunk I had to resort to sleeping on the sidewalk, and was not robbed or anything. Try doing that in Berlin, or New York. It's possible, but much less likely to leave you harm-free and non-mugged. Generally speaking, going out is a lot less of a health hazard in China than it seems to be to me in Europe and America. and the clubs themselves are a lot bigger and more futuristic when compared to their Western counterparts, especially when taking the price class of these venues into account. You can go to a huge-ass disco filled with the newest lighting technology and audio equipment, and pay only about ten Euro for entry and drinks. Try doing that in Europe or America.
I am not trying to belittle or demean the Euro-American party scene here though, I have myself been active for almost a year as an event reporter for a German party organization and therefore seen that partying can also be of the utmost exhilaration in the Western world, but there are still those minor details that make the nightlife in Shanghai that extra little bit better; starting at the bouncers, that are just not your typical, bald, mean-looking guys, but nice people that you of course wouldn't want to mess with, but that at least don't have this unfriendly approach to guests as their European counterparts, and ending at the sheer endless amount of invitations to drinks, seats, and smokes, which just do not exist in Europe. For that to happen, you have to know the underground localities which are only accessible to hardcore heads whilst in Shanghai that feeling is still prevalent even in mainstream venues, and that is just awesome if you ask me. The people still go out to actually have fun, and not just to prove to everyone else how cool they think they are or just how much they can drink. As if that's of interest to anyone. We should be going to parties to meet kindred spirits and like-minded souls, so that we may all benefit from this pastime to some extent. Selah.
Mark.
No comments:
Post a Comment