Shanghai has the best drinking culture in mainland China and the fastest turnover of venues to match. A bar list written a year ago is a list of places that may not exist. The districts are the durable unit, and they are what the taxi needs anyway.
The five areas#
| Area | Chinese | Where it is | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bund Source / Yuanmingyuan Road | 外滩源 / 圆明园路 | 上海市黄浦区北京东路31-91号 | Line 2, Nanjing East Road (exit 6) |
| Xintiandi | 新天地 | 上海市黄浦区太仓路181弄 | Lines 10 and 13, Yidahuizhi·Xintiandi |
| Anfu Road | 安福路 | 上海市徐汇区湖南路街道 | Lines 1 and 7, Changshu Road |
| Yongkang Road | 永康路 | 上海市黄浦区，东起嘉善路 | Lines 9 and 12, Jiashan Road |
| Tianzifang | 田子坊 | 上海市黄浦区泰康路210弄 | Line 9, Dapuqiao (exit 1) |
What each one is#
Bund Source. The restored 1920s block behind the northern Bund, around Yuanmingyuan Road. Rooftops, hotel bars, cocktail lists with prices to match the view. This is Shanghai at its most expensive and most photogenic — go for one drink at sunset rather than for the night.
Xintiandi. Restored shikumen lane houses turned into a polished dining and drinking complex. Safe, international, busy, and criticised locally for being a sanitised version of what it replaced. It is nonetheless a genuinely pleasant place to spend an evening, and the metro runs right underneath.
Anfu Road. In the former French Concession, part of the Wukang Road–Anfu Road quarter that Shanghai's own culture and tourism research institute has studied as a case in street-level regeneration. Small bars, natural wine, coffee places that keep serving after dark, and a crowd that skews young and local. The best area in the city simply to walk between drinks.
Yongkang Road. A short street with an extraordinary density of cafés and small bars — locally nicknamed the coffee street. It runs east from Jiashan Road. Quieter and more neighbourhood-scaled than Anfu Road, and easy to combine with it.
Tianzifang. The Taikang Road lane complex is a craft market by day and turns into a warren of small bars and terraces after dark. Touristed, cramped, and good fun early in the evening.
Julu Road deserves a mention without a table row: it runs 2,290 metres through Huangpu and Jing'an and has been one of the city's main bar streets for years. I could not confirm a specific station for it from a source, so it is described rather than listed.
Practical notes#
The metro closes before the bars do. Last trains run well before the Concession empties. Use DiDi and set the destination in the app before you leave.
Pay by phone. Alipay and WeChat Pay work everywhere, including small hutong-scale places.
Rooftops need booking. The Bund rooftop bars take reservations and turn people away at the door on busy evenings. Book rather than arrive hopefully.
The Concession is for walking. Anfu Road, Yongkang Road and Wukang Road are within a short walk of each other, and the walking between them is the point. Plan an evening on foot rather than a list of destinations.
For where to base yourself, see where to stay in Shanghai; for dinner first, where to eat in Shanghai.