| January
2002
Shanghai: four bars
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Earlier this month, I did a round of the gay bars of Shanghai. This is my brief
report.
Like most other cities, weekday nights are rather slow, but most bars are packed on Fridays and Saturdays. The crowd tends to arrive between 9 and 10 p.m. and begins to thin out by midnight. So don't use your Western ideas of clubbing hours (very late) as a reference; you'll miss out on the best part of the fun. Another thing one should remember is that this is
China (as opposed to Sydney, Singapore or even Bangkok). Chinese is not just the
main language; for all practical purposes, it is the only language. If you want
to mingle in the bars, you must speak Putonghua. Eddy's Bar 1924 Thursday, 10 p.m. This bar is now in its third location, after vacating its Jinmao Tower premises. It's a cosy little bar, nicely decorated with a Chinese theme, though the music leans to pop. They used to have more interesting fusion music, I am told, and maybe they still do on other nights. On the Thursday night, there were just 5 other patrons in the bar, besides my friend and I, with one more customer coming in half an hour after us. However, Saturdays are normally packed – with lesbians, whom they call "la la" in Shanghai. The advantage of a slow night is that you get to
meet the very friendly Eddy himself, and see for yourself how well he knows his
regular clients. If you fancy someone else in the bar, he'll gladly be the
go-between to make things happen. Er4Ding1Mu4 Friday, 10 p.m. Located north of the Wusong River, this bar is not far from a number of universities and colleges. This may explain the youthfulness of the crowd. If you’re over 25, you're old here. The bar occupies the entire shophouse of two storeys and a roof deck. There must have been 150 to 200 people altogether, which meant that people were seated or standing shoulder to shoulder. Without exception, all were male. On the ground floor, there's a bar, a small dance floor and a long table down the centre. On this long table is a race track with radio-controlled cars. Apparently, you can send messages via the miniature cars to anyone who catches your eye down the table. But we never got a close look at how it worked since the area was packed solid with bodies. Upstairs, the music was not as loud, but almost as crowded. That's where we sat for an hour filling our lungs with carcinogens. The roof terrace was empty though, but with winter evenings hovering around minus 1 degree Celcius, we could understand why. In warmer weather, the terrace should be very pleasant. It's been divided into niches with canopied seats, so there's a certain intimacy. Most customers appear to come in groups, and there is a lot of circulation and conversation. There's a refreshingly boyish exuberance about the place; none of the self-conscious posing and cruising you find in bars with clientele 10 years older. The moment the dance music started, they rushed to the dance floor and just enjoyed themselves without a care as to what others might think. However, it's not paradise, for I could spot a
handful of moneyboys there. They were sitting alone on the ground floor, and
their eyes scanned every one who came in. They paid a bit too much attention to
new faces coming into the bar, like ours. We're not their age group, and call me
cynical, but I think I know the reason for their interest. Vogue at Kevin's Friday 11.30 p.m. The reason for this strange name is that Vogue recently took over and moved into Kevin's bar. It's on the quieter end of Chang Le Road, near the junction with Wulumuqi Road. It has a big sign on Changle Road, indicating the alley that you need to walk into. A short distance in is a bungalow with a small garden in front. That's Vogue. Singaporeans in China call it the "Taboo" of Shanghai, by which they mean it's all very poseur. Indeed, one could sniff it in the air, but not intolerably so. When we arrived, it was full, about 100-150 people all male except for 3 or 4 females. Average age 25 to 35. However, soon after midnight, people began to leave. By about 12.30 a.m., only half were left.. The bar was pleasantly furnished, but with no particular theme. Nor did the music have any theme. At times, I could only describe it as easy listening. Most people stayed within the cliques they came with; I didn't see much cross-socialising. As in Er Ding Mu, I could spot a few moneyboys in
Vogue. I make a point to say this because there have been a number of reports
about how aggressive they can turn after you have had your fun. They often
threaten violence in order to extort. Sometimes (often, I'm told) they don't
mention money at the outset, so you're fooled into thinking it's for free. If
you come from a country that sees very few commercial guys in gay bars, you may
not be alert to whom you are picking up in China. Asia Blue Monday 10 p.m. Fronted by a large lawn, it is difficult to make out whether this is the right address from the road. There is no sign at the gate. You have to walk through the garden till you get to the glass door to see the name. Asia Blue is very nicely furnished, and they played quite interesting music. It was salsa the night I was there. Choosing non-mainstream music lends character to a place. They have theme nights on many Saturdays. The Saturday I had just missed was Cultural Revolution night, and the following Saturday would be Australian night. Sounds like it would be fun, except that I would have left Shanghai by then. Weekends are said to be packed, but the Monday I
was there, there were hardly 7 customers. The bonus was that I could chat with
the very friendly staff and Andy, one of the owners, who speaks English. © Yawning Bread
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Footnotes None Addenda None
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