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

Contents:

• [THE LIST]: GAY BARS IN SHANGHAI
• THIS IS THE STATE OF GAY NIGHTLIFE SHANGHAI
• SHANGHAI GAY BARS & SPAC
• SHANGHAI GAY TRAVEL
• GAY SHANGHAI: WHERE TO GO OUT CHA'S BIGGT CY
• THE BEST SHANGHAI GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SHANGHAI
• THE BEST SHANGHAI REGN GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SHANGHAI REGN

[THE LIST]: GAY BARS IN SHANGHAI

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. 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. Origally lled Happs 42 until 2019, when changed to HUNTbar, this small spot to om the owners of the former unrground gay bastn Shanghai Stud.

Part of the very earlit generatn of LGBTQ+ bars Shanghai, Asia Blue is the cy’s olst gay bar still currently operatn. So while this list is very much jt a snapshot of a moment time, and any of the bars and parti uld disappear whout warng, I’ve tried to provi all the tools you might need to embark on your own gay odyssey to the sordid, fierce, rilient world of Shanghai LGBTQ+ nightlife. The one, the only – Luc 390 is the first name Shanghai gay nightlife and the place that any newbie queer to the cy should h up first.

THIS IS THE STATE OF GAY NIGHTLIFE SHANGHAI

It’s the most reliable optn on any given weekend, wh a mic policy of techno and gay pop anthems om Brney through Gaga and eher drag performanc or gogo dancers every Friday and Saturday night. Luc also ocsnally holds muny events durg the week, and somehow retas a welg ra whout too much of the meat market vibe that n plague mastream gay nightclubs. The worldwi cle lbian bars has been well-documented, and n be hard for queer women to feel like they have a reliable place to go, even major ci wh a flourishg gay nightlife scene.

Unapologetilly sexual s promotnal materials and events, wh pole dancers, traffic light parti and sgl nights, Roxie embodi a proud, bched, mpy hedonism that’s the norm at gay bars like Luc but rarely, if ever, found at their lbian equivalent. In the fall of 2019, the iendly gayborhood bar formerly known as Happs42 rebrand unr the name HUNT, after the party promoters who now own . HUNT, meanwhile began life as a party promotn pany back 2011 and is one of Shanghai’s most tablished gay promoters, curatg an eclectic roster of events that now have a permanent home at the bar.

SHANGHAI GAY BARS & SPAC

We’ve always had a soft spot for the muny vibe of Happs42, and bg forc wh HUNT’s diverse, amb event planng mak this an excg gayborhood space that’s very quickly g to s them on WeChat: HUNTShanghai. Owner Andy buted the first versn of Asia Blue back 2000, when Shanghai nightlife was a very different animal and openg a bar tered to gay men was a trailblazg enavor. One of s founrs, Jg, went on to lnch plastic., which siarly provis an alternative to hook-up foced gay club nights, but wh a smaller, iendlier feel (and no ver charge!

Intertgly, there are almost no referenc or signifiers of any kd their promo material that uld classify Calori as an LGBTQ+ party – Jefey, who lnched Bonbon along wh -founrs Jacky & Yel, scrib as a “muny for all global cizens to fully embrace their inti” – but Bonbon has a built- dience of gay men who fahfully attend their events.

However, as one of the olst gay party promoters Shanghai, Angel has survived many a fallen club – Shanghai gays of a certa vtage may remember their home base at ICON a few years ago, and their regular nights at Obama club before that.

SHANGHAI GAY TRAVEL

I list all known gay venu below, and addnally list a uple of gay iendly plac that ter to a predomately larger number of gay clientele than most.

There are probably more than 300 or so other gay-iendly spac, bars, ffee shops & rtrants Shanghai that I do not list drawg gay clientele.

Quick Jump88 Cafe & Bar ?️‍??☕️Moon Bar ?️‍????ManGo Bar ?️‍???Roxie (Lbian) ⚢????Hiro Bar ?️‍??☕️Rik (Gay-iendly) ⚢????Q Bar ?️‍??Ten Club ?️‍???Asia Blue ?️‍??A+ Hoe Bar ?️‍???Reborn Club ?️‍????HUNT Bar ?️‍?????44kw Club (gay-iendly) ????The Palace ???Rice Bar ?️‍????Swag Candy Club (Lbian) ⚢??Inclu Whisky & We ?️‍???Atlas Corner (Gay-iendly) ???Tahi Pub (Gay-Friendly) ??Wet Bar @ W Hotel (Gay-iendly) ?Cotton’s (Gay-iendly) ???+ Closed (past) Spac+ Gay Cha Not+ Gay Shanghai Not + Gay apps+ Che Gay HistoryShanghai Gay Spac:. Insi the Junfeng Internatnal Fortune Plaza Hongkou (see maps and photos), ManGo pris self providg a space that nnects olr gentlemen wh their younger admirers, ak to a large fun gay beer hall wh a super iendly crowd that is very, very, lol, and bt on Friday and Saturday between 8:30 PM and 11:30 PM.

GAY SHANGHAI: WHERE TO GO OUT CHA'S BIGGT CY

A safe, versatile space for the lbian muny (and their gay iends) providg a place to hang out fort everyday of the week. A lol and very gay bar wh mp r and massive bar unr an umbrella of high-tech LED rods, across the hall om TEN Club and gets ridual benef of TEN Club ctomers pg the boppg. Asia Blue is the cy’s olst gay bar brand (havg origally found self on Gaolan Lu 20 years ago, and re-loted many tim) still currently operatn.

Still offers drk specials and lol gay bears focsed on providg a safe and fun environment for non-pretent, down-to-earth bears and monkeys to drk, play dice gam and enjoy a night away om the other gay spac. The owner is Charl Guo, a fashn photographer om Beijg, so ’s only natural he has attracted a fashn-dtry heavy crowd, and ’s gay followers.

THE BEST SHANGHAI GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SHANGHAI

A lol and upsle cktail bar on the 2nd floor of the buildg opened 2021 by owner Zhuai Zhuai who has been the gay bar scene for well over a and is always extremely joyful and nsirate. Hip street-ont cktail bar which stays open late and is often packed after dner time wh a mix of gay and gay iendly patrons of all genrs. Great for dner and drks wh iends a relaxed garn environment unr the nopy of well-l tre, wh a mix of gay and gay-iendly mostly very good staff.

Gone, closed, bankpt, kaput, shut down… but remembered, some of the major gay venu Shanghai my time, no particular orr… Lollipop, In195, Luc, Club Deep, M Cafe, Hunter Bar, Eddys, Shanghai Stud, No.

19% (218k people) not rg, but some gay Che THINK they face what they believe to be a social stigma, particularly wh their parents who are expectg fay heirs.

THE BEST SHANGHAI REGN GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SHANGHAI REGN

Fet the ever growg long strg of letters “LGBTTQQIAAP+” etc… — nearly all Che simply, polely, e the word “gay” for anyone non-hetero, which is an upgra om the proliferatn of nfg hidn lloquial terms such as “passn of Longyang” (lóngyángpǐ 龙阳癖), “the passn of the cut sleeve” (duànxiù zhī pǐ 断袖之癖), or “the divid peach” (fēntáo 分桃). The formal morn word for “homosexualy” is tongxglian (同性戀); ‘same-sex relatns/love‘) or abbreviated to “tongzhi” (同志) which means “ra“.

Prepare to be nfed by a somewhat enarg trend gay social circl of cross-referrg to iends as brothers, sisters, uncl, mums and dads etc… As gay iends meet, they often create their new social fay circle of adoptg the words to refer to one another, and typilly, oppose genr rol. For example, an olr gay man be referred to as the ‘mummy‘ to a ‘sister‘ which is actually a slightly younger gay man, who have a younger iend they regularly go out drkg wh that they ll their ‘dghter‘. Lerally meang ‘eats potato, ’ this refers to a gay Che person who has a se of whe boy/girl fever, and th tends to only date Csians.

There are also numero gay dance halls meetgs, KTV’s, sna, gyms and other siar meetg plac, but sce the vast majory of the are equented by 99% Che only, or jt vers for sexual hookups, so I won’t go to tail. Surprisgly (and joyfully), you CAN fd good drag performers and shows some smaller ci such as Nanng and Chengdu – both of the ci, I’ve also wnsed real sgers (not lip-syncg) drsed hilar drag, providg great fun for their gay bar dienc.

(thk ep voic, hairy armps, lipstick smears, 1 boob danglg out, 1 eyelash upsi down, and a sassy edic personaly as they s on the bar wearg a massively oversized hat wh a miature of their cy on , and ll out fun gay vulgari ( a mix of Che, Thai, Japane and English) throughout the night. The vast majory of the Shanghai gay muny avoid the gay scene entirely and nnect wh each via apps, or circl of iends dited WeChat groups, and typilly vis private hom or rtrants / ffee shops to meet and get together. The most popular Che gay app, by far, is Blued, which has 24 ln ers Cha as of 2020 (Blued also offers WeChat-like tomatic translatn).

There are also a huge array of WeChat groups dited to certa aspect of LGBT life, rangg om profsnal bs groups such as WorkForLGBT to Che only GayLife groups or which there are hundreds Shanghai alone. To this day, same-sex love is known Cha as eher gay or “the passn of Longyang” (lóngyángpǐ 龙阳癖), “the passn of the cut sleeve” (duànxiù zhī pǐ 断袖之癖), or “the divid peach” (fēntáo 分桃).

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. 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. 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. For ntext throughout the remar of this article, jt know that Luc 390 is the cy’s most popular gay nightclub, and Roxie is the cy’s most popular (read: only) lbian bar/club. Though this is changg more and more recent years, there’s a several block strip Changng district around Panyu Lu and Fahuazhen Lu that has a reputatn as Shanghai’s “gayborhood” thanks to s beg the lotn of almost all the cy’s major LGBTQ+ bars and clubs.

Newer spots have cropped up elsewhere the cy recent years, and lbian bar Roxie is a pletely different neighborhood north Jg’an, but the few blocks rema the epicenter of Shanghai gay nightlife. Luc 390 will have a performance or two peppered throughout the night nearly every weekend, while other gay bars like Hunt, Roxie and newer SAOxHAUS, along wh recurrg queer parti like Msa, also regularly showse performers. The are signifintly more expensive than a night out at the gay bars and n n you as much as 300–400rmb, but n be worth the ocsnal splurge for the productn valu and the variety show experience, where you n drk several hours of fierce performanc wh different genr of drag rather than a sttered lip sync here and there at the club.