The Shelter is a dark tunnel that is currently beating all nightclub competition in the city by a mile.

Hip-hop, dub, techno and d'n'b all sound good in this underground spot where the drinks are reasonable, people smile while they dance and the pretentious need not apply.

No chrome, no flashy lightshows, no rolling dice, no sparklers in Champagne bottles, great music. A breath of fresh air (despite all the tobacco smoke).

5 Yongfu Lu near Fuxing Xi Lu.
Line 1 Changshu Lu Station
6437-0400

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This bar might appear a trifle tacky, but the great live music, good drinks and friendly service more than offset the dubious visuals. Here, one can enjoy good clean fun. Beer starts at 20RMB.

13 XingFu Rd near FaHuaZhen Rd
logoshanghai.com

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Not to be confused with its sister bar in Mao Ming Lu, Windows Too is Shanghai's prime budget dancefloor bar. Yeah, so it's a meat market, but with beers at a third of the cost of other clubs (plus a couple of free drinks included in the cover charge) it's by far the best place for a night of good, clean fun.

Right inside the plaza at Jing An Temple Metro Station (Line 2), 1699 Nanjing Lu if you're walking

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Shanghai is all about the petty things in life. What you do, who you're with and where you're seen. Never who you actually are. And nowhere sums up this decadent philosophy more than Park 97. Without question THE place to be when the sun goes down, it's a restaurant, it's a bar, it's a nightclub and it's a statement.

2A Gaolan Lu, Sinan Lu, near Fuxing Park. Too cool even to be dropped off by taxi, you really need your own chauffeur. Tel: 00 86 21 5383 2328

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Funny how some places just seem to pack them in while the rest of the city is comatose. More a club than a restaurant, at weekends after 11pm, this place rocks. Folks even get up and dance on the bar (though they tend exclusively to be drunk American students). And check out ladies night on a Wednesday for the free - yes free - margheritas. Arriba!

5 Hengshan Lu, behind Sasha's bar-restaurant on the corner of Dongping Lu Tel: +86 21 64746166 www.zapatas-shanghai.com/

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