Shanghai Entertainment

As well as a fast developing economy, Shanghai probably has the best all-round entertainment of any city in China. The last few years have seen a huge expansion in the number of options available, from the seedy backstreet bars to fashionable and chic restaurants. There has also been a healthy upturn in the cultural and arts scene.

Nightlife

Shanghai is developing a reputation for a lively nightlife, with many Western-style bars and clubs. The Xin Tian Di is a fashionable and popular place, especially around South Huangpi and Xingye roads. There is a good choice of themed restaurants, coffeehouses and open-air bars, attracting locals and visitors alike. Shanghai's first bars were opened in Hengshan road, and it's still a good place to head to with a convenient location and a bustling atmosphere.

There are some good Western bars in the Huaihai Lu area, some of which are also suitable for dancing. The greatest concentration of bars can be found around Julu Lu and Maoming Lu, and the area around Fudan University is also worth visiting.

The city's club scene is expanding rapidly and new clubs are opening all the time. The vibrant club scene accommodates most tastes including commercial dance tunes and hip-hop as well as more specialist nights such as indie and trance. Some of the clubs host international guest DJs, and these normally sell out quickly. The scene changes frequently and a place that may have been popular one week, can soon find itself out of favour. Bar and club listings can be found in the Scope section of the English language Shanghai Daily.

Theatre and music

Cultural entertainment is once again thriving in Shanghai and the city boasts several good venues for theatre and the arts. The impressive Shanghai Grand Theatre is aiming to be a world-class venue for opera, ballet and classical music. There are several halls capable of staging a wide range of productions. There is also a new theatre in the Shanghai Centre on Nanjing Xi Lu that hosts internationally-acclaimed concerts, ballet and operas. The Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe has nightly performances, which include juggling, tumbling, magic shows and some impressive balancing acts.

There are many cinemas throughout the city showing a wide variety of films. A lot of the older places tend to have films with dubbed soundtracks, but there are a growing number that play English-language films including all of the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

Fans of classical music should head to the Grand Theatre, which has regular concerts. Another good place to try is the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, near the Changshu Lu metro station. It was formed in 1927 as a college for talented young musicians and has weekly concerts.

Festivals

Some of the festivals worth looking out for in Shanghai are:

• Spring Festival in January/February. Otherwise known as the Chinese Lunar Calendar New Year, this festival is the most important in the Chinese calendar. The Lunar Calendar names years after animals, which according to legend, were summoned by the Buddha before he departed from the earth. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on their personality. The festival activities may last for a whole month, and the Longhua Temple is usually the focus, as local people arrive to toll the bell to celebrate the coming New Year.
• Tomb Sweeping Day in April. This is a day when people worship their ancestors by visiting their graves and burning ‘ghost money’ in their honour. In Shanghai, the meaning has changed as tens of thousands of people pay tribute to martyrs who died in wars against foreign invasions and the Kuomintang regime.
• Shanghai Tourist Festival in September. This annual festival provides a wide range of traditional and not-so-traditional entertainment at venues throughout the city. The programme changes year to year, but you can expect float parades, markets, concerts and firework displays.
• International Art Festival in October. A month-long arts festival that has a comprehensive programme of more than 150 performances. As well as the usual arts and crafts fairs, it includes dance, opera, symphony orchestras, a piano competition and an Asian music festival.