Shanghai’s Gay Bars: Here and Queer for 20 Years

Contents:

• THE 5 BEST CHA GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS CHA
• THE BEST SHANGHAI GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SHANGHAI
• [THE LIST]: GAY BARS IN SHANGHAI
• THE 5 BEST HONG KONG GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS HONG KONG
• CHA’S TOP 10 GAYT CI
• SHANGHAI GAY TRAVEL
• FOR A NSERVATIVE CY, BEIJG HAS A REMARKABLE GAY NIGHTLIFE
• BAR GAY PARIS : L NTOURNABL
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• BEIJG GAY BARS & DANCE CLUBS

THE 5 BEST CHA GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS CHA

All thgs to doBars & ClubsWe BarsBar, Club & Pub ToursDance Clubs & DissJazz Clubs & BarsCoffeehoKaraoke BarsBlu Clubs & BarsCigar BarsComedy ClubsCountry & Wtern BarsGay Clubs & BarsPiano BarsHong Kong IslandWan Chai / Cseway BayCentral DistrictShng WanCentralJg'anPuxi (Downtown Shanghai)Jiangng Lu (Jiangng Road)Good for CouplBudget-iendlyGood for KidsGood for Big GroupsHoneymoon spotGood for Adrenale SeekersHidn GemsFree EntryAdventuroGood for a Ray Day7 plac sorted by traveler favorWhat travelers are saygHKGELLONHong Kong, Cha37 ntributns....... Gay Clubs & Bars ShanghaiTraveler favorThgs to do ranked g Tripadvisor data cludg reviews, ratgs, photos, and populary.

Traveler rankgHight rated attractns on Tripadvisor, based on traveler thgs to doBars & ClubsBar, Club & Pub ToursWe BarsJazz Clubs & BarsDance Clubs & DissCoffeehoComedy ClubsCigar BarsKaraoke BarsCountry & Wtern BarsBlu Clubs & BarsGay Clubs & BarsJg'anPuxi (Downtown Shanghai)Jiangng Lu (Jiangng Road)Good for CouplBudget-iendlyGood for KidsGood for Big GroupsHoneymoon spotGood for Adrenale SeekersHidn GemsFree EntryAdventuroGood for a Ray Day1 place sorted by traveler favorSee what travelers are askgFom posts were selected by lookg for fom tl askg specific qutns and takg the top showtopic page by total pageviews as the optimal everyone, We are gog to Shanghai for work, and plan to do cloth and sho shoppg, we are om US - 2 women late 20's, and wanted lol, Che (or Japane, but not Wtern/European! You’ll see this place immediately om the mass of gay men spillg out onto Panyu Lu soaked sweat, and some tears. They also have a long booth area between the bar and a dance floor where faghags are soberg up and pouty gays are wag for their lost boyiends.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the place fills up wh a mix of foreigners and lols chattg at the bar, dancg to gay-tun on the small dance floor, or jt chillg at the tabl.

THE BEST SHANGHAI GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SHANGHAI

For a long time, they rented out straight clubs like Obama, Dubai, and what's now Arkham to host gay parti lled Angel.

Flashg strobe lights, pulsatg mic om a afeng sound system, and heavy hand drk pours make for a fun night, but not one that will happen often unls you’re good at nvcg your expat gay crew to venture out that way for jt dancg.

[THE LIST]: GAY BARS IN SHANGHAI

Special thanks to Jonathan, bebek, leeliboi, TSCDlover, traveligh, Viet, davidhunghk, wally4, samandjet, thierrym, garybucks, labello27, ecyc02, marcelprot, airb777, Demand, stepup16, dutchy, Loneranger, InDeeper, TAO, beijgguy, songtangay, sgslave, h2008bj, wiyhut, zense, HappyFella, Coolmeiguore, Conrad, Lyndon L., Ntor, Darren, Christoph, David, geek_boy75, Ntor, Maquis, Steven and John! More Beijg Listgs: General Informatn | Hotels and AcmodatnMassage and Spas | SnasCha Gay & Lbian Rource Listgs by Cy:. There is no official data on homosexualy  Cha, the world’s most populo untry, however amics timate that Cha now has about 40 ln homosexuals.

A survey by a Che gay (“Tongzhi” Che) webse created a list of the top 10 gayt ci Cha and a short scriptn of gay populatns each cy.

THE 5 BEST HONG KONG GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS HONG KONG

Everyone knows Chongqg is famo for s lots of betiful girls and handsome boys; However, Chongqg is also known for boastg the greatt populatn of homosexual men around the untry.

The nsy of gays Shanghai is not the hight among the 10 ci, but Shanghai has que a large populatn and th owns many gays too. There are all kds of gays here, such as migrant workers and lnair, thiev and scholars, male prostut and celebri. The many years of patronage form a special chapter my was around 1995 that Shanghai’s gay male populatn began to “migrate” om parks and public rtrooms across the cy toward bars and clubs.

Before then, plac where men uld meet like-md “ras” — a slang term for gay people — clud a ltle garn on the wt si of Jiangxi Middle Road central Shanghai’s Huangpu District, as well as the roadsi newspaper gallery on nearby Nanjg East Road. Asi om a handful of women whom the bar owner ved as “beards” — ctomers whose prence ncealed the fact that was a gay bar — the overwhelmg majory of s patrons were men. This was perhaps the first gay bar maland this time, a group of relatively well-to-do gay men beme more receptive to the ia of meetg partners private tablishments, as opposed to public cisg spots.

CHA’S TOP 10 GAYT CI

This change mentaly among gay Che men, bed wh the enuragement of queer expats livg Shanghai, ensured that the bar was able to operate whout any fancial difficulti.

Upon learng that their property was beg ed as a gay bar, many landlords would send tenants and patrons packg regardls of whether or not the lease had expired. The send reason was that as an creasg number of rival gay bars opened their doors, proprietors would move elsewhere as soon as their bs began to 1997, the Che ernment abolished the crime of “hooliganism, ” whose loose fn clud homosexual activy. The velopments, which are generally viewed as symbolic of the crimalizatn and stigmatizatn of homosexualy Cha, cid wh a shift Shanghae attus toward different sexual 2002, Eddy’s found a stable lotn where would ntue to serve the gay muny for the next 14 years: Huaihai Middle Road, Shanghai’s premier shoppg street.

This reflects chang the environment which gay bars and gay men themselv prevly stggled to though I have equented gay bars ever sce they first arrived on the maland, I don’t rell any particularly unpleasant experienc wh homophobia.

SHANGHAI GAY TRAVEL

One eveng 1998, the owner of a recently opened gay bar and s patrons, myself clud, were taken to the lol police statn.

A group of loyal patrons at the popular bar Asia Blue had put together a set of rmal sks reflectg some of the more amg aspects of gay life. Shanghai’s gay bars began to evolve to clubs, addg live DJ sets, dance floors, and themed the same time, beme gradually easier for Che people to travel abroad. Gay Shanghae who traveled to Southeast Asia or to Wtern natns disvered that Shanghai’s gay nightlife had begun to rival that of other world-class ci.

FOR A NSERVATIVE CY, BEIJG HAS A REMARKABLE GAY NIGHTLIFE

Themed parti anized by gay clubs Shanghai ntue to attract not only the maland’s “ras, ” but also party animals om Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and even further afield.

They have pletely transformed om simple hookup spots to tablishments where sexual mori revel their 2016, Shanghai’s origal gay bar, Eddy’s, shut down, as did the In Club, whose queer dance parti on the weekend were once the lol LGBT muny’s most popular event. Meanwhile, followg a shift attus and the advent of gay hookup apps such as Blued and Aloha, LGBT people no longer need to rely on tradnal gay bars as a means of meetg like-md people. From large, boomg clubs to quiet speakeasi, all kds of gay bars and clubs now have a chance to succeed Shanghai.

To a certa extent, Shanghai has even veloped s own gay district near the Jiao Tong Universy subway often say that Cha’s queer ras live unr the burn of societal prsur and discrimatn. While this is te, I want to emphasize that the more than 20 years sce Shanghai’s first gay bar opened s doors, I have personally wnsed the admirable perseverance of Cha’s LGBT muny.

BAR GAY PARIS : L NTOURNABL

Cha’s gay bars have blossomed om homogeno, unrground enti to diversified, stable stutns; like LGBT issu Che society more generally, gay bars have bee more visible on our streets. Below I will start wh what Shanghai’s gay scene is like, followed by tips for where to stay, rtrants, and gay nightlife. Shanghai’s gay scene may not be as vibrant as that of Hong Kong, but there are fun lol gay bars to meet lols and other travelers, pl the ocsnal massive gay party.

If you’re wonrg why onle rmatn about gay thgs to do Shanghai is so sparse, there are a number of reasons for this. Combed wh the language barrier, this rmatn disnnect mak difficult for travelers to fd rmatn about Shanghai gay events, attractns, and other travel advice.

I spent the remag time a tourist apartment rental wh walkg distance to the gay bars so I wouldn’t have any issu wh late-night transportatn.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Some gay travel s classify the eastern part of the Changng District or the French Concsn as the Shanghai gay neighborhood. Gay bars Shanghai are cltered one area of town, which is on the borr of the Changng District and the French Concsn. Sce so many gay travel webs list mentn Luc 390, this is one of the few gay bars where you’re likely to fd another gay travel buddy.

Some traveler iends of me mentned that the cy’s gay bars were much ls crowd than they had anticipated durg their trip. From then, Che society progrsed toward treatg homosexualy as taboo, eventually reachg today’s state of ambiguo tolerance. Between 1994 and 2009, the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn applied repeatedly to be a member of the UN Enomic and Social Council.

Those married overseas n exercise certa legal rights that would otherwise not be available for a gay uple Cha.

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

There has been some excellent rearch to the emergence of gay and lbian inti Cha, cludg how the have been shaped by ro-Amerin ias of “gay sensibily” and characterised by “dividualy, difference, sophistitn, liberatn and morny”. One 2018 study tailed gay bars Shanghai that rivalled those of any wtern pal, the anisatn of “pri” events and the tense ntexts which “queer” film ftivals and wir cultural productn and activism occur the face of ntued regulatn by the thorarian state. Inspired by those experienc, for the past eight years, I have been rryg out rearch wh gay men the regn and, 2018, pleted a PhD this explorg gay liv Haan.

BEIJG GAY BARS & DANCE CLUBS

I wanted to fd out how gay liv are lived on the margs of global LGBT polics and activism, away om ci imaged as smopolan centr of morny.

My rearch explor how gay men Haan unrstand themselv, build muni and negotiate the prsur to nform to the heterosexual life script of marriage and reproductn. I looked to how gay liv are figured out everyday teractns, how they are shaped by the spac which they unfold and how this plays out over time.

“When we get there, don’t say any gay stuff, ” Ah Tao warns me as we approach a shop the cut-out rner of a buildg at an tersectn wh an even narrower alley. When I first beme volved gay muni Haan back 2009, I was taken by iends to the sole gay bar Haikou, the provcial pal. In the island’s biggt ci, Haikou and Sanya, there are gay bars and tablished cisg areas certa parks, centrally loted yet variably beyond the view of the wir public.