As we enter the second half of 2024, Shanghai’s nightlife is experiencing a remarkable revival after a brief period of silence.
The resurgence of EDM culture, fueled by the reopening of large nightclubs, has taken the city by storm. Hip-hop clubs are packed to the brim every night, while underground scene enthusiasts spread the word through word of mouth.
Every young person can find their own corner of indulgence in Shanghai’s vibrant nightlife. The latter half of 2024 serves as a grand stage for numerous nightclub brands and groups to showcase their prowess.
The boundaries of nightlife are expanding infinitely, and we have carefully curated this “2024 Shanghai Clubbing Guide” for you.
TaxxShanghai
Taxx is an addictive puzzle, a love-hate relationship that one cannot escape. Going to Taxx is a symbol of status in the social circles of Shanghai’s youth.
The trendy men and beautiful women who associate themselves with Taxx find their lives filled with glory.
Sharing your location at Taxx on social media at night is a testament to your active nightlife and a topic of conversation.
If you haven’t been to Taxx yet, the second half of the year is the perfect opportunity to experience its new era. If you have been there before, you may not be able to return to the past, but you can always go back to Taxx.
Hood Worldwide
Generally speaking, Shanghai’s nightclubs are usually full by 8 PM. The sales staff will tell you with a hint of regret and a touch of pride that the tables are fully booked for the night, and if you wish to make a reservation, please do so well in advance.
Generally speaking, Shanghai’s nightclubs are usually full by 8 PM. The sales staff will tell you with a hint of regret and a touch of pride that the tables are fully booked for the night, and if you wish to make a reservation, please do so well in advance.
In terms of size, Hood is considered a medium-sized nightclub. The design resembles a football field, with artists battling it out in the center every night. The entire venue has no distinct front or back, and the dance floor, surrounded by three electronic screens, is closest to the main stage, along with the bar.
Apart from the central dance floor tables, the gradually elevated design provides a good view for the back rows, allowing them to overlook the entire venue.
After entering the club, the entire crowd is simultaneously immersed in the celebration, and although the prices are high, the joy overshadows the taste of money.
HOOD is a community that belongs to the trendy, where the wild and artistic converge. It is a music scene that transcends perception, an existence that breaks free from mediocrity.
As for why Hood is so popular, you’ll have to discover that for yourself.
Chance Club
As the third venue in the brand’s three-line integration, Krush has undergone another round of renovations after operating for some time. The new brand, Chance, is said to be making some experimental attempts between Bounce and EDM, which is currently kept under wraps.
With this, the large-scale entertainment complex on Julu Road, consisting of three top-tier venues, is now complete. In the second half of the year, if you get tired of clubbing at Taxx, you can play some hip-hop at Hood and then go to Chance to get hyped up, offering a brand-new approach to nightlife.
SPACE PLUS Shanghai
SPACE PLUS Shanghai is undoubtedly the most fitting recipient of the crown for being at the forefront of the nightclub scene. They always seem to be able to discern what Shanghai’s nightclub-goers are missing.
Two years ago, their Pudong branch was like an experimental art piece. They were also the earliest practitioners of the now-popular small-room culture in Shanghai, with a highly popular Techno music experimental area on the first floor of their old Pujiang branch.
While enjoying your drinks, the combination of the visible Bund river view and the high-tech electronic screens makes you realize that this nightclub is truly extraordinary.
Those who enjoy going to the old branch will deliberately get off at the back entrance and walk through the space between the two buildings.
From afar, you see the brightly lit Bund, and up close, you encounter the dazzling lights of SP, giving you the feeling of entering a heavenly realm as you step inside.
Many people who have been to SPACE PLUS say that it feels like their first time at a nightclub.
It reminds them of a time before they experienced the intricacies of human relationships, the resentment between bad boys and girls, a time of innocence and purity when the synonym for nightclubs was still “waiting for love.”
Therefore, the newly reopened SPACE PLUS is highly anticipated and considered one of the strong contenders for the second half of the year.
First-X
First-X is the lingering warmth of old nightclubs, the slowly setting sun that appears warm due to their persistence. Old-timers who have experienced the previous round of nightclub shuffling are all familiar with First-X.
Affectionately known as “FX” (pronounced as individual letters), the nightclub gained popularity when it first opened by playing the theme song of the anime “Slam Dunk” and music from childhood cartoons.
Of course, ChainSmoker’s live performance at the venue after their concert in Shanghai is also an unforgettable memory for many.
FX can be said to have pushed the design language of nightclubs to the extreme during those years, with its ceiling height, lighting, stage, and number of tables surpassing others in that period.
Many venues have changed their strategies after the impact of the pandemic. In 2020, they all pursued the concept of small venues with big clients or small venues with full capacity, hoping to replace high hardware and space costs with more hyped-up music performances.
However, First has been quietly persisting as an EDM space, and it can even be said to be the only one that has persevered. When EDM nightclubs were everywhere, you might not have thought much of it.
But when you remember FX one day, it seems to still stand tall in western Shanghai, waiting for you to come and find happiness.
Master
Master, the rising star of experimental music who once brought an entire cello orchestra into a nightclub, has taken the social media by storm since its inception.
With advanced lighting control based on electronic spotlights, the overall effect of the EDM hall perfectly aligns with their name, “Light and Shadow Art Experience Space.”
Located on the fifth floor of the Huaihai TX Youth Power Center, Master has been popular alongside this shopping mall that has been in the spotlight for the latter half of 2020.
The nightclub retains the design of a large dance floor, and the overall layout resembles the former MODU at Sun Plaza, with a quality comparable to an indoor electronic music festival.
However, the current situation looks grim. Going to Master is a daily choice for mainstream players to unwind, with many regular customers, but its appeal is slightly lacking compared to other nightclubs.
This is a natural cycle in the lifespan of a store, but those who have been touched by Master’s bold innovation in the past will still choose it without hesitation.
Whyfri
Whyfri, which was once hard to get a card for, is actually the hip-hop room of Master. A few VIP seats are scattered along the long corridor, where you can drink while enjoying the bustling nightscape of Huaihai Road outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Inside the corridor is a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.
It’s especially easy to spot artists from “The Rap of China” here, as the former organizer was a fighter among Shanghai’s OGs. So it’s really easy to run into a few rappers you like; they might also be there to have fun, and when they get in the mood, they’ll pick up the microphone and take the stage.
This is why Whyfri is so popular: the close interaction between rappers and players, where performances are no longer aloof but a joint celebration with the audience.
Mass
Along with Master, Mass also entered people’s field of vision. For a long time, people wondered if these two stores had some fundamental connection, as they always became popular together.
What makes Mass praised is that it has brought the sunrise culture of nightclubs in Seoul’s Gangnam district to Shanghai, not at 4 am or 6 am, but at 12 noon.
Partying and playing until the last bit of energy is exhausted, pushing oneself to the limit of happiness, and letting the party never end is the original intention of Mass’s sunrise party.
Mass’s slogan is also interesting: “all we have is mass,” a play on words. It not only points out that our revelry takes place at Mass but also indirectly expresses the players’ inner thoughts: “Abandon all life’s troubles and indulge in wild celebration.”
It particularly caters to the needs of metropolitan crowds under high-pressure environments, working hard during the day and playing hard at night.
In addition to the sunrise culture, Mass not only has the most expensive Skybox in Asia but is also a gathering place for beautiful girls in Shanghai.
Every weekend, you’ll marvel at how there are so many pretty faces in Shanghai, and they’re all at Mass on weekends.
AKOMA
“Those who do things are young people, so those who come are young people,” is how AKOMA’s director describes his nightclub.
Treating performances as content and managing events as projects, each landing idea is more novel than the last, and those who follow AKOMA will sigh at how daring this nightclub is.
rom selling sneakers to invitation marketing and Singles’ Day lonely hearts parties, AKOMA’s play is not limited to co-branding with brands and trends or that delicious Chung Sui Cake.
They are just a group of enthusiastic and curious young people who want to play hip-hop nightclubs in a different way.
If you want to experience the nightlife of young people, you must queue up at the entrance of AKOMA.
Owner Circle
In the blink of an eye, OC has also been around for two years.
When it first opened, it was the era of EDM’s popularity. There were only two nightclubs, OC and LB, that featured hip-hop as their main music, of course, Ninja also had a share, but the latter also had a lot of underground music.
OC has always persisted in the hip-hop route, sending batch after batch of hip-hop artists to the stage over the past two years. Boldly using new artists for live performances is OC’s specialty. In the early days, hip-hop musicians also realized through OC that the nightclub scene would become the main performance venue for hip-hop music and the main battlefield for future competition.
Peaceful, enthusiastic, and fun, that’s OC’s style. No matter how stormy it is outside, those who like OC can always return home in time.
QT Club
QT, also known as QUANTUM.
This store is very special; the boss is said to be a beautiful woman who just graduated from university. Many nightclubs target a group of users’ wallets, then use products to attract users to consume and sustain themselves.
QT, on the other hand, is a nightclub that a group of playful international students from the US, UK, Australia, and Canada chipped in to create, where users create the product and then consume it.
The entire nightclub is made up of circles of students studying in these four countries, and students from several classes before and after like to come and play here, always running into overseas classmates.
It can be said that this is also the home of international students in Shanghai.
Made 2.0
Those familiar with the scene know that the old Made is the former Modu, which was known for its indoor electronic music festival-style events and top 100 DJs performances.
You’ve loved too many of the top 100 who have graced its stage, such as Martin Garrix, Marshmello, Snake, and Timmy Trumpet… These familiar names truly outlined a panorama of nightlife at MODU.
After transforming into a Bounce venue, Made has not compromised on quality. Made is still a nightclub with strong hardware support, only now it has shifted from being a laboratory for top 100 EDM to a Korean-style party venue.
To be honest, this courage to let go of the past and be reborn is commendable. So although Made is currently undergoing renovations, when Made 2.0 returns, there will definitely be pleasant surprises. After all, this is a nightclub that dares to innovate and reinvent itself, which is rare.
Couple
Frankly speaking, Couple is a nightclub that evokes a sense of regret. It had everything going for it – the right timing, location, and connections – yet it struggled to thrive.
Couple’s timing was perfect. When it opened, large, traditional clubs were on the decline, and many partygoers were hit by the pandemic, unable to afford table bookings. But the big spenders still had deep pockets, so choosing to be a bounce club where one big brother could sustain the entire venue was the right move.
The location speaks for itself – Hong Kong Plaza, the former site of Myst and Beehive, a place where countless people would fight tooth and nail to get in. This section of Huaihai Road has seen the infinite glory of M2 and the golden afterglow of Linx, a natural resting place for high-end nightclubs.
The connections were inherited from G+, Fusion, Beehive, and even Myst. The international student groups who love EDM were loyal supporters of Fu and BH, and even earlier players learned to rave at G+.
So Couple, with all three factors in its favor, won’t easily exit the stage. The venue is currently undergoing renovations and adjustments, and we can expect to see the new Couple in November.
Conclusion
This “Shanghai Rave Guide” has actually left out many nightclubs, including the well-known Ninja, our frequent feature in nightlife news Elevator, All-Club, T&T Club, CD-project, and so on.
We have focused on a batch of currently popular mainstream clubs, and Shanghai’s nightlife scene will be even stronger in the second half of the year, rivaling New York, Dubai, and Tokyo. In October, the world-class brand 1OAK will also come to Shanghai. It’s not hard to notice that some of these clubs have grown from small venues into giant whales, while others have been undisputed kings from beginning to end…
Whether it’s large-scale entertainment complexes or small gathering spots for international students, Shanghai’s nightlife is beginning to develop in a positive direction. Consumption and entertainment, passion and respect, have reached a delicate balance in the new era.
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