The Chinese metropolis has never had a club culture before, but as RA's Sanjay Fernandes explains, that's slowly changing.

Nice read! Proper respect for the people behind the Void parties.

Wicked music in Shanghai last year. Big thanks to The Ice Cream Truck, Gareth from Subculture and Dingdong disco. Particularly memorable were the TICT roof parties on the bund, Shackleton, Kode9's Burial set, 2562, Bicep and Daniel Wang. Lots of love from England x

Really good read, thanks. The relationship between Chinese culture and electronic music has interested me for a while, and this is one of the better articles I've read on the subject.

On a trip to LA 5 or so years ago, we went to see Stefan Bodzin in the Avalon. The crowd felt about 70% ethnically Chinese. Although, this may have more to do with the ABC phenomenon that was referred to in the article, I automatically assumed that Chinese people must be really big into techno. I guess there are cultural barriers in place that I can't fully appreciate.

Fascinating, about the "da kou" CD's. I studied in Kunming, China in 1994 and those were the CD's you could buy at any random music stall. That's where I first bought/listened to Jazzmatazz/Guru, and Enigma. Pink Floyd was also everywhere then

A really well-researched quality article, nice one Sanj

@Franckiie thanks a lot, Void goes from strength to strength

I'm curious how the local behave at those parties, especially the shelter. It's the norm to go home and hang with the parents and then bed? I wonder what type of people are showing up to the parties then..

I lived in Shanghai for 4 months in 2007 and there was a lot to like, but still a lot to be desired. Shelter is definitely the place to go to get that gritty atmosphere, I love that contrast, because as the article says the contrast couldn't be larger to clubs on the Bund like Bar Rouge and Mint. There were a couple of other venues that was ok, Mao Bar and Bon Bon (I think that one is closed?). And it's true most people visiting these clubs and actually dancing are expats. An other thing that has a big impact is the non existing drug culture, to my knowledge at least, and the harsh punishment for any use of drugs. But I do think Shanghai to have the potential to create an exciting scene in the future, some people are gonna get tired of that shiny and soulless exclusive clubs and try to dig deeper in to electronic music. After all there are over 20 million people living there.

That's so interesting and a bit ironic considering the massive amount of designer chemistry being exported from China.

On a side not, I'd like a few cubic tons of vinyl for a pittance.

The Shelter is the bomb - quite literally. Had a great time at Void last year when Neil Landstrumm was playing live. Was made to feel very welcome by the Void crew.

Understand why this might seem appealing but I honestly think that there a lot of better and more interesting uprising scenes around the globe and even here in Central America.

its a shame, they didnt interview me 囧
I think is feature just point of view by LAOWAI.

Pretty good read Sanjay, but I would question a few points:
-Can people really be at all credited with trying to build a scene for locals if they're not learning the language or even advertising in Chinese?
-Are the promoters in question taking an interest in how to accommodate local culture and music taste in an open dialogue? By ignoring 'brandy and dice games' are these people not engaging in quite a nasty kind of cultural imperialism? "I'm living in your country, but rather engage with your culture I want you to fully assimilate to mine, so that my white man lifestyle can continue uninterrupted."?
Don't take these thoughts as an attack though, as I am living in China and am fully guilty of doing all these things myself!

Thanks for the feedback! I went through exactly the same thought process writing this, and there's a lot I could write in response. I don't think there's anything imperialist in picking and choosing what you want from a (sub)culture - that's the world we live in now. I also think what I've quoted above shows your exaggerating what i've written. in the brief time i spent with them, i don't think the shanghai promoters actively try to assimilate chinese culture.

to flip your questions: i think it's more racist to assume that electronic music scenes are 'white man lifestyle'. Take the Chicago and Detroit scenes as the first of many powerful examples.

i think your insecurity about 'cultural imperialism' actually undermines the efforts of producers like MHP and ChaCha who are doing wonderful things in shanghai.

hey,does anyone really talked to chris lee,kenny,or even nicole?clubbing scene started from early 90's,and used to be a very good scene,and actually the djs used to play in underground clubs mostly moved to run big commercial table clubs(as they only have tables without dancefloor),and then zip the scene down.the city has no dream,no inspiration to keep cool people running their dreams coming true,i have respects for ppl who runs shelter,but where else now?

hey,does anyone really talked to chris lee,kenny,or even nicole?clubbing scene started from early 90's,and used to be a very good scene,and actually the djs used to play in underground clubs mostly moved to run big commercial table clubs(as they only have tables without dancefloor),and then zip the scene down.the city has no dream,no inspiration to keep cool people running their dreams coming true,i have respects for ppl who runs shelter,but where else now?

btw,if we killed all the french garage living in shanghai,the scene would be cleaner too.

Gonna check out that record shop this weekend off the back of this article. I live an hour away on the train and have always wondered what kind of scene there is in Shanghai. True about the kids having no life and exposure to a decent youth culture like many in the west.

Again, nothing personal! An interesting piece which I enjoyed reading, and seems like a fair look at a scene.

Don't worry, my loose, jokey phrase 'white man lifestyle' basically just contrasts European/UK/American culture with Chinese. [And please don't call me racist in a public forum as that's defamatory.]

My point is that I sort of take issue with the assumption that there's some innate good in getting people from a very different culture to emulate the European club set-up, and in fact sounding a bit sniffy about the clubs that did take pains to compromise with the local vibe.

Interesting topic, haven't long returned from Shanghai! Was more interested in the culture and craziness that i never even thought about the nightlife!

we have been out there twice, it is a tough place to promote. From my experience, you need to really push and rely on the expats, however have had amazing parties with lots of locals. Shelter is a great club, so is dada and was logo... Had a great time out there with Heatwolves at their love bang parties and TICT crew

hope the underground keeps going hard!