I haven't had much to say in this blog about the nightlife of Shanghai, and that's because the sort of things I said in a recent post about Shanghai's foreign restaurants apply double to nightlife in Shanghai – it's absurdly expensive and too low quality, in comparison to what I was familiar with in the United States. The sort of places that are popular with foreigners generally don't attract a local Chinese following, and even the top spots probably wouldn't last a week in any large Western City. It's more something foreigners do out of force of habit.That said, it's a habit of mine, there's a few spots I enjoy, and I'll have a short group of updates about them. The first will be Logo, which is something of a dive bar, on 13 Xingfu Lu – it's a little out of the way, I usually get there by taking the taxi from the Hengshan Lu Subway Station. I like to go on Sunday nights, when there's an open mic night. The music can be inane, in the way jamming can often be, but some of the individual performers are very good, and can really stand out when they need to. Even at its worst, it's fun background music.
Drinking in Shanghai is on the expensive side, but LoGo is fairly cheap, and tipping isn't expected. Most people are drinking big half-liter mugs of Carlsberg, a tasteless beer, it goes for 30 kuai (about $4.50). They also have some mixed drinks on the menu, there's froo-froo tropical drinks like Pina Coladas and Mai Tais for 35 kuai, they're better than I expected and mixed strong. There's also a bunch of mixed drinks I've never heard of, maybe that's how they mix drinks in England.
Logo often has dancing, and some performances by local bands – I'm not a huge fan of these, because aside from where the main stage gets set up, there's really not much space in the main room. Even when it's not busy there'll be a lot of squeezing, to get past people. Anyway, the club has an English-language website with a list of events. There's also larger room up front, I'm guessing it doesn't have as much sound-proofing or it would be the main room. It's chill, there's more places to sit, it's quieter, it's lit a lot brighter:
There's a foosball table there - the people who play are in a league above any foosball I've seen before.
A big problem I have with Logo, that's endemic to nightlife spots in Shanghai, is that everybody's chain smoking, and ventilation doesn't amount to much. Personally I find it gross, and by the end of the night clothes and hair will smell really seriously disgusting. Beijing (of all places) implemented a ban on indoor smoking, and I'm hoping Shanghai does the same.
