What is the most venerable bar in Shanghai? No, it is not the bar in the Peace Hotel, nor is it the wood-encrusted bar in the basement of the Metropole Hotel on Fuzhou Lu. It is the Manhatten Bar on Huashan Lu opposite the Hilton Hotel!!! Have you ever been there, my darlings? I hope you didn't all go at once. Anything more than four people in the place and it begins to feel claustrophobic!!
Apart from being easily the smallest bar in Shanghai, it is also the only surviving contender of the first crop of cars to open up in Shanghai outside of a hotel since 1949. There was a little bar in the old Jinjiang Hotel as early as 1979, but it was 1988 before the little bars started opening up opposite the then-new Hilton Hotel. Most of them didn't survive the fallout of the little spot of trouble that occurred the following year. But the Manhatten did survive with its unique combination of cosiness and sleaze!!
Why am I telling you all this? because the Manhatten is about to move!! It's all part of the "imminent destruction of life, the universe, and most of Yan An Lu". The good news is the bar is not closing. There was a wonderful party at the bar's new venue at 905 Ju Lu Lu just a few minutes south of the original location. And there's another party on June 5 at the original location at 231 Huashan Lu to allow everyone to say goodbye. See you there, but most probably on the sidewalk NOT inside!!!
It is getting increasingly difficult to ignore the World Cup soccer tournament which isabout to begin in France. I don't know about you, my loves, but I have very little interest in most ball sports. But not supporting a team at all seems to be unacceptable. I have therefore decided to suppirt the team that loses the first game, in the hope that it gets knocked out of the tournament as early as possible. I can then spend the remainder of the contest paying only minimal attention!!
The weather, boys and girls, the weather!!! Hot and muggy! Muggy and hot!! Relief, please! But of course this is the beginning of summer. Without which Shanghai would not be Shanghai.
Byeeeee!!!
Boys and Girls! Please forgive me!!! I have been neglecting my duties, but I have a good excuse. I went for a visit to Huangshan, the mountains somewhere over there that are always being painted. And with good reason. Classical scenic beauty. Only one flaw from the perspective of the late 1990s -- I couldn't get online!!!
But I'm back in Shanghai now, and I had a meeting with a very close friend of mine, Mr Mita, who is one of the most eligible Japanese gentlemen in town. I asked him how the Japanese business community is weathering the financial crisis that seems to endlessly swirl around our borders. He said there was little effect on Japanese companies so far, BUT, the effect on nightspots catering to Japanese clientele has been profound!!
Japanese salarymen and even their bosses are just not spending as much as before out on the town. I understand the same is true in Tokyo. So all those miniscule hostess clubs scattered around Shanghai which specialise in the Japanese trade -- very often with no name on the outside -- are hurting. Some have closed. I don't know too much about the Japanese side of nightlife in Shanghai, and nothing at all about the Korean night world, although I know it exists. But I'm hoping that Mita-san will show me some places.
He promised to take me to Caesar's, a nightclub on Nanjing Lu which has cabaret shows just like the Golden Age, but slightly higher class, he said. I can't wait!!! I'll pass full details on to you, my darlings, as soon as I've been!!
I have received another message from that well-known prestigious university in the United States, which makes me think there may be hope for the future of the Ivy League after all.
"Hi May-May, I've been reading your daily column for a few months now and let's just
say that if this thing continues like it has so far, you are going to the single most important and influential critic on Shanghai's nightlife! (Okay, you're pretty darn close already...) I'm writing to ask you a favor on behalf of all your readers: can you take sometime to update the regular bar/club/etc... section? It seems that lots of joints
had come into and gone out fashion since the regular feature section went up on the internet and it would be really nice to have an update at this point. I know one could get the latest info by going through all your daily columns, but I think for newcomes and even for regular
readers like us, it's not the ideal thing....Thanks in advance! Cheers, Jiahua Lu (a fellow Shanghainese about to graduate from college...). P.S. Just out of curiosity, how many of your internet readers have spotted you in clubs?"
Well, Jiahua, I hate to be immodest, because I know how it upsets some people. But we must seek truth from facts, mustn't we?? I am unquestionably the most important and influential critic on Shanghai's nightlife. There is nothing to match my report in either English or Chinese, in any medium at all. I write this report in Ebglish, but I am at the moment looking for a way to extend my reach into the Chinese language world as well. I feel much happier writing in Chinese. I would love to have my column published in the Xinmin Wanbao. I'm sure the guangda Laobaixing would enjoy my rambling writings. But I may have to approach this goal by a slightly circuitous route. More information as things develop!!
On the bar section -- you are quite right, and I have spoken firmly to the people at Shanghai-ed and told them to update that section immediately. My God!!! Here I am, pounding the streets at all hours, losing sleep and spending a FORTUNE on taxi fares to keep everyone up to date and the base information is not being transferred over into the bar guide. Really!! But one thing I have found about the lovely people at Shanghai-ed. If you point something out to them, they tend to respond quickly. They are so busy keeping track of our city. Poor dears!! So JUMP!!!
Byeeeee!!!
