I made up for me working through Friday night by partying like a hamster on Saturday night. Armed with an extensive list of bars and discos, I worked my way through the many venues of Shanghai. Shanghai was still a bit dead after golden week, obviously people had not recovered financially from whatever glorious holidays they've been on.
Two parts of the night stood out. First one was in California Club in Fuxing Park. Although it was almost completely empty, I was impressed with the energy of the music, how it mixed very dark beats with high tides of yummy build ups. But what really made this part of the night special/hilarious was the DJ and our reaction to the DJ. You see, the DJ just happened to be the most gorgeous woman ever. After a long spell staring mesmerized at her and wondering how such cool music can eminate from someone so beautiful, I looked around: the place was full of men. No, it wasn't a gay bar... that would not have been half comical. No, the entire place was full of straight men completely in love with the DJ. Now and then a couple of girls would come into the bar and shake about a little. No amount of shaking or grinding would catch anybodies attention, as all eyes were fixed on the DJ, so the girls would get bored and leave quickly. Hilarious.
Now, the second interesting part of this evening happened at Bar Rouge. Bar Rouge is an absolutely beutiful venue, overlooking the futuristic Pudong across the Huangpu river. As i'm mingling about and marvelling at the lack of hip-ness in this place, I suddenly get three blocks of ice in my stomach. Who's standing there if not Anna, from Hong Kong. Like my friend the Propaganda Meister says: "you know you've been here too long when you start to bump into people you know from other cities"... I hung out with her and her friends for the rest of the night, being drawn into all kinds of Hong Kong style dramas that I realize I miss (in moderation, of course).
Right, I understand it's going to be a bit empty just after golden week. But still... i get a feeling that there's all this supply (lot's of cool venues, great music) but very little demand. The Chinese prefer their karaokes, and the westerners are here for business, not hedonism. Maybe things will change.
