One of my best friends, Anna, is unfortunately leaving Shanghai, so this had to be 'mourned' in the most serious possible way: a girl's nite out in Shanghai!
We started off with dinner at A Future Perfect, followed by some cocktails at a fairly new bar that is called Kiitos (Kiitos means 'Thanks' in Finnish, however, I really wonder if the owner is Finnish coz this place had a huge Japanese crowd and the bartenders also spoke Japanese.... anyways). That Kiitos place is quite nice, not a place to party really, but more like a small, intimate, chill-out place where you can round up a date with someone special. And the bartenders know their stuff.
After Kiitos we felt we needed a more lively place, and decided that instead of going to the pretentious Bund places, that we'd head to something different and more Chinese, like Muse Nightclub (Yuyao Lu near Xikang Lu). This turned out to be the best choice of the evening; I had one of my best nights out in Shanghai ever! This place was everything but pretentious, and the crowd was mainly Chinese... (which is an opposite from places on the Bund where the crowd is mainly western) and they sure knew how to party. We were invited to join a friendly group of young Chinese girls and guys at their table (one of the guys had apparently a huuuuuge crush on my friend Anna they later revealed) and then followed a crazy night.
When people ask me if Chinese people drink I normally say 'no, not really.'
Well now I have to take those words back, because this group of people were bigger drinkers than a bunch of Finns in a sauna (and trust me, to be able to drink more than Finns in a sauna is quite an achievement!) Their table was just like a table at a Chinese restaurant -full of different things, only this time there weren't any spicy tofu or beef with chillies, this time there were bottles of Brandy, Bailys, Vodka, shot tubes and everything else you can think of, drink wise. And how those guys drank?! Geez, we couldn't keep up (no true vikings in us). It was 'gan bei' 'gan bei' 'gan bei!' (bottom up!) all the time, until almost all the booze was gone... and then they ordered more?! I felt like I was on some sort of high school party, where everybody was competing about who could drink the most. Obviously we didn't 'gan bei' as much as they did, and I guess that also showed. By 1am they were all either gone, or too drunk to stand up. Me and Anna (responsible drinkers -and simply not that good at shotting) on the other hand stayed on and danced until dawn with some other people. Whatta night!
Anna's admirer (to the left) and his friend.
Extensive drink selection
Ladies (all wearing shorts -the absolute 'must wear' a.t.m)
9 comments:
Are they syringes in the jugs?!
Hey there, and greetings from Paris. Love your site. Great to learn about China and what's going on there from someone on the ground.
You in the fashion or art business?
Matthew Rose
http://homepage.mac.com/mistahcoughdrop/
The Muse is run by a Hong Kong movie star who's married to another hot movie star Tony Leung.
There were probably lots of Chinese celebrities at the club.
Oops...a little late on this one:-)
Are you kidding me? My husband and I say that there is more pressure to drink at a Chinese Business dinner than a college frat party, "gen pei!" I hate those words:-)
dylstra -shot tubes of some kind... I didn't try 'em.
Matther rose -I used to write for a fashion mag but not a.t.m... Nice page/blog... although I didn't understand so much from your french posts?
Anonymouse -Chinese celebs?! Didn't see any. I think the place was kind of low-key, that's why it was so great.
njd -yup, there sure was pressure to drink?! Mad. Never seen Chinese people party like that. Especially not girls.
Jonna, this is the standard way for Chinese to party! Chivas Regal Whiskey with green tea, Johnny Walker Black with green tea ... those syringes are harmless fruity cocktails but are great fun to "inject" other people with (you rarely inject yourself with those).
Muse is and has been for over a year, one of the "in" places to party in Shanghai. It's different from places like Babyface in that it is less "mainland Chinese" in it's style, partly because of the HK influence. So it's where the more sophisticated Chinese crowd go and has a nice balance of Chinese and foreigners (by that I mean not too many!).
Part owned by Carina Lau Ka Ling, long time gf (and now wife) of Tony Leung Chiu Wai. She's originally from Suzhou!
Wow -thanks woai -I am learning so much from u :)
Do u often go here? I would def go back! Much better than those bund places.
Jonna - Last summer I practically LIVED there but this summer, due to my old age and my network of party friends busy with other things, I haven't been there much.
The normal practice is to book a table and ALWAYS order by the bottle, NEVER individual drinks. But if you order a dozen beers, a bucket of syringes and a bottle of vodka or whiskey, everyone should be covered. It's just the same as eating. You don't order your individual dish. Someone does the ordering and everyone takes from the selection on offer.
I once had a Shanghai girl get in a big tantrum and eventually leave, because we weren't able to secure a table to sit at, but that's a bit off topic!
As a hot blooded male, I have to say the other great thing about it is the women and the outrageous outfits they wear. It's almost as though the place has a "no ugly people" policy!
I'll be honest, I like Glamour Bar and Vault at the Bund. It's totally different, a little more chilled out when I am not in the mood for clubbing. But isn't that why Shanghai is so great - the diversity.
Yeah definitely! That's why I love going out in Shanghai. There's just an endless amount of options -and always something that fits your mood.
I have to admit -I like Glamour Bar too, but after a night at Muse something tells me I won't go back there for a while. I guess it all depends who you're out with.
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