Shanghai Yummy

As promised, this is the Disco Report.

First, some general observations:

The dancing is... well, let me just put it this way: at least everyone tries. I don't pretend to know how to dance, but usually I at least try to move my feet every once in a while instead of just bobbing around and swinging my arms. Still, everyone's cool about it, and unlike pretentious clubs in NY or LA, nobody cares what you're wearing or how stupid you look. That's right, there's no dress code in Shanghai discos for the most part. Nothing wrong with looking good, though, so I at least make some effort. Oh yeah, and in the rest of the world, they are called "Discos" but in the US everyone calls them "Clubs." Just a point of clarification, because if you ask for a "club" in Shanghai, you're going to end up at a stuffy wood-paneled dark establishment where old men go to drink expensive brandy and cognac.

Here's the scouting report for establishments I've visited:

Rojam - This place has been the defacto standard for years now, and it's still a pretty fun place to dance and hang out. The sound and lighting system is probably the best in Shanghai, and the dance floor is larger than most. Like most discos in Shanghai, there are a large number of seating areas, though when my friend Leo and his brother were here a couple of weekends ago, we discovered that you actually had to pay just to sit down. Being that we were there to dance, we said screw dat! And moved on. The music here is your basic techno; fairly dance-able music and often they have a guest DJ in da haus. The crowd is mostly local Chinese, though there's a good mix of foreigners there occasionally. The only major drawback is that the place closes at 2 AM. Atmosphere: 7/10 Music: 7/10 Scenery: 6/10

California Club at Park 97 - I dubbed this disco the "meat market." The first time I was there, within literally five minutes of walking in and getting a drink at the bar, I was propositioned. The way this happens varies, but most of the time, some girl will come up to you and say, "Yi qi wan?" which means, loosely, "Care to play together?" Some are even more straightforward and just blatently demand that you give them money to buy them a drink. To its credit, this disco is absolutely packed well into the wee hours. And not everyone there is a hooker... some of the ladies there were actually quite attractive. The problem is that all the guys were losers. They were either middle-aged white guys with Asian fetishes or Asian guys trying to strike a pose. Not a lot of real dancing going on due to the place being too packed, and the music was a mix of old techno and house. Atmosphere: 4/10 Music: 4/10 Scenery: 7/10

Pegasus - Excessive use of strobe light! Music needs some serious waking up. Which is a real shame, because the crowd here was really pretty cool. Everyone seemed into it (somehow, despite the utterly poor music) and excited (maybe it was the strobe light causing micro-seizures...). Okay, I can DJ at this club because I know how to put a ten second loop of music on repeat for 10 minutes too. I mean, seriously people. And that strobe light is cool when you put it on for 30 seconds every 15 minutes. Not the other way around. Nice thing about this place is that it's right up the road from Rojam, so a good "after hours" thing to keep the vibe going. Again, a bit too packed to do any real dancing, but the scenery wasn't all bad. Atmosphere: 5/10 Music: 3/10 Scenery: 7/10

Duomo - This new club should be rockin', but it's not. The whole place is modeled on a cathedral theme, complete with pseudo-stained-glass windows and all. It's just a cool space. With two dance floors on two different levels, there is plenty of space to dance. Only no one is dancing, because there's no one there. It's frickin' DEAD as a dead horse. I think if they got themselves a good house DJ and advertised more, they will come. At least I hope so, because it would be a shame if this space went to waste. Atmosphere: 9/10 Music: 4/10 Scenery: 1/10

Galaxy - I shouldn't make a full report on this place, because I was only inside for a minute. They were charging some exorbitant cover (well, exorbitant for China standards, meaning about US$12.50) and I just went in to see if it would be worth staying. It wasn't.

So there you have it. If there are other places to dance and meet beautiful people in Shanghai, don't keep it a secret. Post a comment or something.