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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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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On the wall of this smoky no-nonsense bar notoriously hangs a framed letter. Issued by the consulate of New Zealand it warns readers about Kiwi Pete, the proprietor and a true Shanghai character...

Little more needs to be said, but the often anarchic atmosphere of this place makes a welcome change from the soporific tone of others in the area. And the beer's better priced too.

35 Yongjia Lu, south end of Maoming Lu. Nearest metro - Shanxi Nan Lu (line 1) Tel: +86 21 5466 6066

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Not everyone likes the dingy cavern setting of this often very crowded nightclub; more, however, appreciate the 100RMB entry tax on a Friday which includes free drinks all night. Live music and DJs too.

697 Yongjia Lu, Tel: 6433 5023 Nearest Metro station - Heng Shan Lu (Metro Line 1). www.muralbar.com

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In a city with a very commercial - yet often rather dull - bar scene, this is quite a find. In the smoky lobby area, guests loll on cushions in opium-den style, while the main bar really gets going when the ska does. It's the regular live ska band that makes this bar, though the general feel of illicit pleasures in darkened chambers gives you quite a blast from Shanghai's past.

85 Huating Road, corner of Huaihai Road - right on Changshu Road Subway, exit 1.

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