D.D's Club

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China’s new rich, as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley might say, are big, big, big, big, big. Investors with projects to fund want their money. Schools looking for endowment money want their children. Foreign governments want to sell them passports and residence cards.

And then there are ambitious souls looking to marry up with China’s newly well-off. Marilyn Monroe dished up lighthearted advice in the 1953 comedy,”How to Marry a Millionaire.” If you’re a gal, what’s the best approach to finding yourself in China in the admiring gaze of a Robin Li or Victor Koo (both married)? Is it better to be an er nai (concubine) or chase the fuerdai (well-off second generation)? And what are the prospects for guys in pursuit of older Chinese millionaire ladies?

We exchanged with Mina Hanbury-Tension, author of the new and coldly calculating book, “Shanghai Girls: Uncensored & Unsentimental: How to Marry Up & Stay There.” Excerpts follow. (Click here for a link to the complete 2011 China Investment Guide in English or Chinese.)

Q. China’s rich, as Chicago Mayor Daley might say, are big, big, big, big, big. How would you categorize the burgeoning numbers of new Chinese rich to pick from?

A. One thing that’s true about all of them is that they are new money, since most of their money’s been made in the last decade or two.

There are two obvious rich types in China–the provincials and the city dwellers. The provincials have made their money doing anything as unexciting as selling livestock and frozen meat or even cheap electronics, whereas the city dwellers have made their money in manufacturing, property and investments. These two are very different–and require different tactics. Furthermore, there is a rising class of fuerdai, the second generation wealth–young men in their early to late 20s who are due to inherit their parent’s business, and have gotten used to spending a huge sum of it already. They are the ones driving around in the Maserati’s and Ferrari’s in Beijing and Shanghai.  I asked the the young kid 20 where he was going to go for college and his reply “are you stupid, my father has more money than he can ever spend in his life time, more than enough for my life time and my kid’s life time”.  All I could say was “O”.  These are the young kids opening 10 bottles of champagne at a time in the night clubs every night, driving the Astor Martin’s. Oh the kids the coal miners owners son.

Q. What’s the best way to approach each group?

A. The older generation, the first generation of wealth, is all married. Most of them have second or third mistresses, or even second or third families spread out over different cities. As one billionaire property developer from Hong Kong advises: “Why would you want to marry one of these Chinese billionaires? He’ll have 10 girlfriends!” For some of them, 10 girlfriends might even be a conservative estimate.

So for ambitious girls, the only way to approach the first group is to be ultra-practical: realize you will be one of the many, if not scores, of girlfriends (think er nai, xiao san) and accept the fact that you’ll probably never dethrone that first wife, no matter how unattractive or old she may be. However, being one of the ten girlfriends has its advantages: you might get an apartment, a sports car, a credit card, and gifts of the ilk that you might not afford on your own salary.

The second generation, the youngsters, seem like great ones to nab–after all they are young and rich and drive a sports car, but in fact they are so spoiled and used to getting what they want and surrounded by starlets and flatters, and very hard to hook one’s finger into. For the fuerdai, the best bet is to befriend his parents, or his extended family, and get them to believe that you’re the perfect girl who will save him from a possibly irresponsible, dissipated life.  The odds on that is small but why not.

Q. How does trying to land a rich Chinese husband differ from other places?

A. It’s completely different here. The Chinese are very used to the idea of mistresses, and what one must do to keep them happy. The wives are also more tolerant of mistresses, and often look the other way. There is a silent code, however–you do not go in the same grounds with your mistress that you would go with your wife. This is why many of the ‘girlfriends’ often live in other cities–a business trip, combined with pleasure. So, if you’re a pretty girl and manage to get close to that billionaire, he and many of his cohorts will immediately click with the idea that you might easily become the next girlfriend. The rules are a bit more clear here: as one married Taiwanese man said about what his girlfriends expect of him: “Apartment, car, and if necessary a job.” His requirements in exchange? Simple. “She picks me up when I arrive at the airport, and spends all her time with me, and she drops me off at the airport. What she does with the rest of her time, I don’t care.”

Q. What’s the best way for a Western guy to marry up with a mainland Chinese lady?

A. This is a great, great potential area for marrying up. I know so many wealthy Chinese ladies in their forties and fifties worth a fortune, and divorced. She doesn’t need you to be rich, but she does need you have some semblance of accomplishment, i.e., degrees, suave world-wise knowledge, etc., and the devotion to cater to her needs without acting like a doormat. Remember that she will set certain traps to test whether you’re out for her money, and the key to winning the heart of she-millionaire is to pass muster.  That idea is some what sound, but if you have no job and your an English teacher, don’t bother.

Q. What are the risks in marrying a rich Chinese? What’s best way to avoid buyer’s remorse?

A. The risks are that he’ll have 10 girlfriends. The best way to avoid remorse of any kind is to go in with your eyes open. If you think you’re going to marry your Prince Charming and live happily ever after, then you’ll have remorse. One woman I know arrived home with her husband fresh off her honeymoon, only to find a woman with a baby waiting for him at that airport. I don’t need to tell you who was the father of that baby.

Q. Say you pull in a rich Chinese and are looking for an exit. Then what?

A. Why would you look for an exit? If you played your cards right, you should have money, status, and access to a lot of great business opportunities.

On the other hand, if it’s really not working out (there can be zillions of reasons for this), then the key is leveraging up. You should have used the opportunity to hone some skills–an additional language or two (the Chinese are very vulnerable when they go abroad so anyone who can facilitate them when they’re not on their home ground has an excellent way to worm herself into his heart, and to his wallet), horse-riding or sailing skills, or a MBA–which has exposed you to the men that you need to network with. Use those skills to leverage yourself up to the next level.

Good luck! your odds are just as good as winning a million dollar lottery!

Alstom, the French engineering group falsely blamed for a metro accident in Shanghai, said Friday that China needed to “absorb and master” the new railway technology it has acquired in recent years. China has not larned how to walk but they want to run and they want to make a 500 km hour train. China is a country that has not even had a bullet train 5 years ago and now they want to fly.

China has developed its vast transport network at breakneck speed, building the world’s largest high-speed rail system from scratch in less than a decade.

But the government has been accused of overlooking safety in its rush to develop, following a high-speed rail crash that killed at least 40 people in July and a metro crash in Shanghai on Tuesday that injured nearly 300. After the Shanghai accident, the fist thing they did was to look for someone to blame.

“The way they acquired and learned the technology in China was very fast. But then you need to absorb and to master,” Dominique Pouliquen, president of Alstom China, told journalists. Then China has claimed it’s all home grown technology.

Alstom’s Chinese joint venture, CASCO, made the signalling system used on the Shanghai metro line where this week’s accident took place, which was initially blamed for the crash.

Authorities later announced that a power cut had knocked out the system entirely and that human error was to blame for the crash, but not before a series of highly critical articles in China’s state-run newspapers and online.

“The impact for us has been tremendous,” said Pouliquen of the negative publicity.

He said there were “lessons to be drawn” from the power outages and that the company had received calls from clients in other parts of Asia concerned about their systems.

China’s stocks fell, sending the benchmark index to a 14-month low, on concern economic growth will slow as the government maintains measures to curb inflation and demand for exports falters in Europe and the U.S. If the world is slow, how can China think they will go go go. The country depends on exports, if no one imports how will they keep the big China engine going.

Jiangxi Copper Co. and Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. paced declines by commodity producers after metal prices dropped. Shanghai Friendship Group Co. and Dashang Group Co. retreated more than 2 percent among consumer-related stocks after Vice Premier Li Keqiang said the top priority will continue to be stabilizing prices.

Most global investors predict Chinese growth will slow to less than 5 percent by 2016, a Bloomberg poll showed. That would mean that country going 90 miles an hour will slow to 50. That would cripple China.

“The European debt problem will remain hanging over the market as there’s no possibility of solving it in the near future,” said Zhang Ling, general manager at Shanghai River Fund Management Co. “They’ll continue to bring turmoil to global financial markets as the appetite for risk assets is falling.”

The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, dropped 26.72 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,365.34, its lowest close since July 5, 2010. The CSI 300 Index declined 0.9 percent to 2,588.19.

Trading in Hong Kong for the morning session was canceled because of a typhoon. China’s markets will be closed all next week for holidays. Only China has 7 days off where the whole country shuts down.

Greek Concern

The Shanghai Composite has sunk 14 percent this quarter, set for the biggest loss since the three months to June 2010, amid concern Greece will default on its debt. The index has tumbled 16 percent this year as the government raised interest rates and reserve-requirement ratios for banks to cool inflation that’s at the highest level in almost three years.

The stock measure is valued at 10.9 times estimated profit, the lowest level on record, according to weekly data compiled by Bloomberg.

The European Commission is resisting a push to impose bigger write downs on bank holdings of Greek sovereign debt than those previously agreed on, a European official said.

A gauge tracking materials producers on the CSI 300 retreated 2.8 percent, the largest contributor to losses among the 10 industry groups. Jiangxi Copper, China’s biggest producer of the metal, slid 2.7 percent to 26.46 yuan. Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., China’s second-largest copper producer, lost 2.5 percent to 19.43 yuan. Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the listed unit of nation’s biggest maker of the lightweight metal and also called Chalco, fell 1.5 percent to 8.11 yuan.

Metals, Oil

An index tracking six metals including copper, aluminum and zinc slumped 3.2 percent yesterday. Crude for November delivery dropped as much as $1.35 to $79.86 in New York Exchange today after falling 3.8 percent to $81.21 yesterday.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents to Bloomberg’s poll said China’s gross domestic product, which rose 9.5 percent last quarter, will gain less than 5 percent annually by 2016. Twelve percent see such a slowdown within a year, and 47 percent said it will occur in two to five years, the quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll of investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers showed.

The global economic situation is ‘complicated” and challenging, and the country is seeking a stable and relatively fast economic development, China Central Television reported yesterday, citing Vice Premier Li. The government’s top priority will continue to be stabilizing prices, it said.

Shanghai Friendship lost 2.8 percent to 15.59 yuan. Dashang Group slid 2.6 percent to 41.12 yuan. Bright Dairy & Food Co., the country’s second-largest listed dairy-product maker, fell 4.2 percent to 8.18 yuan.

Power Transfer

China, which saw its exports tumble the most since at least 1979 amid the 2008-2009 global crisis, may not be able to rely on trade in any prolonged demand slump in Europe and the U.S., now battling to avoid returning to a recession. Managing the economic downshift would fall to the Communist Party’s next leaders, as President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao begin their transition from power late next year.

Even so, for many investors, the short-term view remains positive. Asked to identify the market offering the best returns over the next 12 months, 23 percent selected China, second only to the 30 percent who picked the U.S.

Sinohydro Group Ltd. raised 13.5 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in its initial public offering, China’s biggest this year, after selling shares at the low end of their indicative price range as the market slumped.

The country’s largest builder of hydroelectric dams sold the shares at the bottom of a price range of 4.50 yuan to 4.80 yuan, according to a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today. The company cut the size of its issuance to 3 billion shares on Sept. 26.

Those of us living in China for a longer period of time have all felt first-hand the price increases that have taken place in China over the last couple of years, whether it’s rent increases or a couple of extra kuai on your grocery bill. Everyone everywhere in China has to dig deeper into their pockets to survive, but what commodities have increased most? This translated article from Xinhua, not only lists the commodities whose prices have risen the most in recent years, but also compares the 2010 price with that of 2005, putting into perspective the major price hikes Chinese consumers have had to shoulder in the wake of the country’s rapid economic growth.

2005-2010 was China’s 11th Five Year Plan and from 2006-2009 China’s GDP rose by 11.6%, 13%, 9.6% and 9.1% respectively. In the first half of 2010, China’s GDP increased by a further 11.1%. In terms of higher education, in 2006 China’s total annual graduate student population totaled 1.1 million people, while college students totaled 17.39 million; in 2009, the graduate student body reached 1.4 million while the number of college students rose to 21.447 million.

There are many encouraging statistics from the Five Year Plan, such as the fact that China has since become the number one country in the world for foreign exchange reserves, or that China has become the second largest economy in the world, or even that China is now the second biggest importer and exporter in the globe. Moreover, China’s imports are increasing at a faster rate than its exports, thereby making huge contributions to the global economy. However, at the same time as China’s remarkable success during those five years from 2005 to 2010, the country’s consumer price index (CPI) has also been rising continuously. Below is a list of the commodities most affected by price hikes:

1) Property
In 2005, the average price of property in Guangzhou was 6000 RMB/㎡. In 2010, that price jumped to 14, 378 RMB/㎡. That’s a 239% increase in five years.

2) Pork
In 2005, the average price of pork in Beijing was 4 RMB per 500g. In 2010, pork prices hovered around the 9 RMB/500g mark. That’s an increase of 5 RMB in five years or an increase of 125%.

3) Garlic
In 2005, Beijing’s Baliqiao garlic cost 3.4 RMB/500g on average. In 2010, the average price rose to 11 RMB/500g. That’s an increase of 7.6 RMB in five years or an increase of 223%.

4) Mung beans
In 2005, Beijing’s mung beans cost 3 RMB/500g on average. In 2010, the average price per 500g increased to 7 RMB, resulting in an increase of 4 RMB or 133% in five years.

5) Sugar
Sugar cost 3 RMB/500g in Beijing in 2005. In 2010, that price increased to 5 RMB/500g, which is an increase of 2 RMB or 66%.

6) Apples
In 2005, the wholesale cost of Red Fuji apples was 0.9 RMB/500g in Beijing. In 2010, the same apples were selling for 2.5 RMB/500g at wholesale prices. That’s an increase of 1.6 RMB or 177% over five years.

7) Fuel oil
In 2005, fuel oil cost 50 USD per barrel. In 2010, one barrel cost 80 USD on average. That’s an increase of 30 USD or 60% during the five year period.

Cooking oil (soybean oil)
Five litres of soybean cooking oil had an average selling price of 36.5 RMB in 2005. In 2010, the wholesale price of well-known oil brands was 46 RMB per container. That’s an increase of 9.5 RMB over five years, or 26%.

9) Gold
1 gram of gold cost 140 RMB on average in 2005. In 2010, that price rose to 360 RMB/gram. That’s an increase of 220 RMB or 157% over five years.

10) Coal
Coal used by residents cost 230 RMB/ton in 2005. In 2010, it increased to 700 RMB/ton on average, resulting in an increase of 470 RMB or 204%.

11) Ginger
Ginger cost 2 RMB/500g on average in Beijing in 2005. In 2010, prices rose to 4.7 RMB/500g, which is an increase of 2.7 RMB or 135% over five years.

12) Chinese cabbage
In November 2005, cabbage in Beijing cost 0.14 RMB/500g on average. In November 2010, Beijing’s cabbage sold for 0.7 RMB/500g. That’s an increase of 0.56 RMB or 400% over five years.

13) Tomatoes
In November 2005, tomatoes in Beijing cost 0.5 RMB/500g on average. In November 2010, the capital’s tomatoes sold for 1.8 RMB/500g on average. Within five years, that’s an increase of 1.3 RMB or 260%.

14) Cucumbers
In November 2005, cucumbers sold for an average price of 0.5 RMB/500g in Beijing. During the same period in Beijing in 2010, cucumbers sold for 2 RMB/500g. That’s a five year increase of 1.5 RMB or 300%.

15) Green peppers
In November 2005, green peppers in Beijing cost an average of 0.5 RMB/500g. In November 2010, the same green peppers sold for 1.3 RMB/500g. That’s an increase of 0.8 RMB over five years, or 260%.

Shanghai is facing more increases. According to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics’ Shanghai Investigation Team on September 20th, in August, the Shanghai consumer prices increased by 5.8% compared with the same period last year. Food prices, especially, rose by 12.6%. It is the 25th consecutive month for Shanghai food prices to increase.

Shanghai likes every biggest, fastest, tallest, everything that is the best of the best. now Shanghai gets the biggest Apple store in Asia.

SHANGHAI — Cui Lizhen, who lined up two days before Friday’s opening of Asia’s largest Apple (AAPL) store, was hoisted in the air by the company’s retail employees and carried into the block-long outlet along tony East Nanjing Road. It was the start of a daylong pep rally that tapped into the yearnings of a new generation of Chinese consumers and signaled the emergence of a new center of gravity for the Cupertino company.

Cui had no words to describe the experience of entering the store with its circular glass staircase. “It’s beyond description,” the 27-year-old said.

Apple’s fifth store on mainland China is big enough to handle as many as 40,000 visitors a day. It’s located just a few miles away from Apple’s 16,000-square-foot flagship glass cylinder Pudong store, which, like Apple’s other nearby store in this city of 23 million, is unable to handle the crush of customers clogging their floors.

On Saturday, Apple plans to unveil its first store in Hong Kong, another ballroom-size outlet built to help the company overcome its biggest problem in Asia — an inability to meet the stampedelike demand for iPhones and iPads. The latest retail extravaganzas are down payments on the investment Apple is making in the emerging economic giant, whose swelling ranks of ready-to-spend Chinese could one day represent a market greater than that of the United States.

“Apple is a maker of high-end electronics products. China’s market is huge, with great consumption power,” said 20-year-old Qiu Shi, who, along with his friend, Lee Dongsheng, embarked on a 10-hour train ride from Guangzhou to queue up behind Cui for the opening of the three-story edifice that will employee 300 blue-T-shirt Apple workers. “When the two are together, they will create a great future,” he said, cradling a blue-covered iPad he used to photograph the new store, which was as crowded as a Shanghai subway.

This week, Apple also released its 3G iPad 2s in China, where previously consumers could only buy Wi-Fi-enabled tablets. Meanwhile, some analysts speculate the company is on the verge of launching a less expensive iPhone aimed at developing markets like China when it announces its new iPhone 5, expected to occur in coming weeks.

The store openings come at a time fake Apple stores are spreading across China and as some experts wonder if the company was simply unprepared for the frenzied demand for iPhones, iPads and MacBooks in this country of 1.3 billion people. Apple has plans for many more stores in China and across Asia. But its exacting retail strategy — not only are its stores designed down to the smallest detail to meet the art-house consumerism of co-founder Steve Jobs, but their locations in chic neighborhoods are painstakingly picked — makes quick store rollouts difficult.

“I do believe there is some desperation on Apple’s part to capture the moment in China,” Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf said. “The middle class in China is really nouveau riche — they really want to spread their wings and buy luxury items because they have been deprived of them for so long.”

Apple, which seems to never miss a business beat, appears to have miscalculated in China, said John Quelch, former senior associate dean of Harvard Business School and now head of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

“It’s a brilliant company, but it’s highly U.S.-centric,” he said. “If they had foresight, they would have at least 50 stores in China. You can afford to be meticulous with a country with 2 to 3 percent GDP growth, but not in a country with 10 percent GDP growth.”

Apple, nonetheless, is increasingly relying on Asia to rev up sales.

The company in July reported third quarter sales were up 600 percent for what Apple calls Greater China — Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — which translated into $3.8 million. “I firmly believe that we are just scratching the surface right now (in China),” Tim Cook, Apple’s new CEO, said during the conference call with analysts.

Upwardly mobile Chinese, ever on the lookout for products that can put a sheen on their social status, eagerly snap up iPhones and iPads, the ultimate gadget eye-candy — even for those who never learn how to use the devices.

“Every girl I know has an iPhone. They make 2,000 renminbi (about $313) a month, but they still have an iPhone,” said Ming Yang, an executive with a solar company. “The iPhone is like the ‘It’ phone.”

Official iPhone 4 prices in China start at about $780, though black-market devices can sell for more when supplies are low in Apple stores. iPads are popular gifts for government officials and business partners.  The new i phone 5 will soon be launched and Shanghai will go crazy for Apple.

“It’s the best gift,” said Yan Sun, co-founder of Shanghai-based Modim Technologies, maker of mobile video chat applications. He has brought armloads of i Pads back from Silicon Valley to give to prized employees and business associates.

Andrea Lui, a designer of high-end retail stores, recently got a taste of the Apple fanaticism spreading across Asia when she inadvertently left her handbag in a section of a Hong Kong Ikea store. When the store’s security department found it, they paged her. “They told me everything looked fine — they saw my wallet was in there, my keys. My BlackBerry was there. The cash was there. But the iPhone was missing.”

Even the dead seem to want Apple products. Chinese buy paper iPhones, iPads and MacBooks for sacrificial offerings to deceased relatives during funerals or days honoring ancestors. “They are easy to order, so they don’t have to line up,” Peter Chien, manager of a Hong Kong funeral parlor store for sacrificial items.

The fact that Apple has not been able to keep up with demand in Asia fuels “the intensity of zeal” among consumers, Quelch said. “China is a very brand-intensive society. The reason that brands are so very important is that they are a way to signal social status. When you have a country that is roughly four times the size of the United States, it is even more important to stand out in order to get noticed and get ahead.” China could quickly become as big a market for Apple products as is the United States, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said. “China is like the United States in the ’60s — people enjoyed 30 years of growth.”

What is remarkable is that Apple’s success in China has so far come without a partnership with China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier with more than 600 million subscribers. Apple has a partnership with China Unicom, which has about 170 million subscribers.

Apple and China Mobile have been in negotiations, though no deal has yet been announced.

That means countless Chinese have had to give up coveted China Mobile numbers to switch to China Unicom — or pay for two phones — so they can use an iPhone.

This is one of the reasons Ailing Wang “hates” Apple. Her other gripes include the difficulty of typing in Chinese on Apple devices, the fact most apps for the iPhone and iPad cost money — Chinese don’t like paying for software — and the company’s overall American approach to technology, even in China.

“Their attitude is, ‘We are Apple. We are who we are. We don’t change for Chinese people,’ ” said Wang, who works as a training director with a consulting firm that works with multinational companies.

Holiday traffic in Shanghai 2011

Beginning this Friday afternoon and extending through Monday, traffic in Shanghai is going to descend into gridlock, as it does every year, in order to celebrate our country of residence. So be warned leave your cars at home and take public transportation.. I

Frequented spots within the downtown core, including the Bund and part of Lujiazui, will be off-limits to cars and trucks for chunks of time from Friday to Monday as Shanghai authorities work to ensure that traffic runs smoothly as the nation’s 62th National Day holiday gets underway.
The vehicles will be prohibited from entering busy pockets of town from 3:30 pm to 11:30 pm from Friday, the day before the holiday officially begins, to Monday, roughly the half-way mark of the seven-day break that ends on October 7. At this time you will see a mass exit from Shanghai, everyone returning to their hometown. There will be fireworks on the bund at night!.

Leaving aside how ridiculous it is to suggest closing roads helps smooth traffic, we are curious to know who came up with this incredibly overly-long list of road closures: If you thought the tourism festival was bad this is 100 times worse.
In Puxi, starting at the intersection of Dongdaming Road and Liyang Road in Hongkou district, vehicles will be banned from the area encircled by Liyang Road, Changzhi Road, Tiantong Road, Qufu Road, Xizang Road, Beijing Road, Chengdu Road, Chongqing Road, Huaihai Road, Renmin Road, Dongmen Road and the Huangpu River.
Couldn’t they just close it off from Suzhou creek? Anyway, to make things easier for you, we utilized our most advanced Paint skillz to roughly illustrate the areas in which you can find a blessed respite from vehicles over the weekend.
Scooters (and bicycles!!) are also supposedly prohibited from Henan Lu to the Bund (bordered by Renmin Lu to the south and Suzhou Lu on the north) and we wish them luck with enforcing that.
The Xizang Lu exit from the Yan’an elevated road will be closed, as will the eastern exit at the junction with the North-South elevated road. Pedestrian over and underpasses will also be closed.
They are also closing the Nanjing East metro stop, the Bund Tourist Tunnel (awww!) and ferries running from Dongchang Road to Jinling Road East might be suspended depending on traffic.

www.thegeisha-shanghai.com

The Geisha

Category: Nightlife > Nightclubs
Where: 390 South Shaanxi Road (Near Fuxing Road)
Contact: 021 6403 0004
info@thegeisha-shanghai.com
www.thegeisha-shanghai.com

Contributed by: the apartment

Contributor Description:

THE Geisha takes a play on a modern upscale West Coast influenced Japanese Restaurant, Sushi Bar and Sake Lounge, but at the same time does not hide away from the rich sensual spirit of Japanese history. Situated in a beautiful three-story complex on the corner of Shaanxi Rd and Fuxing Rd, in the heart of the French Concession, it embraces the Japanese style fine dining experience with a very unique twist, and a surreal high-class brothel atmosphere added to the mix. THE Geisha commences a new outlook on Japanese dining: using traditional methods of Japanese food making, yet bringing in all the electric flavors of the West Coast of America, all immaculately presented and served. THE Geisha Drink menu will complement these choices with both Western and Asian classics remade, mixed in Japanese style with each ingredient carefully added to create a masterpiece! The ground floor Lobby, with a glass-enclosed entrance welcomes you to the magic of THE Geisha: The Restaurant situated on the 1st floor, with around 50 seats capacity, boasts a top of the arts open kitchen, showing off our skillful Japanese and Western trained chefs while they prepare delicacies of your choice! Second floor design features a Vegas style boutique club with a central bar, lush velvets and silks, with private and intimate booths and a large dance floor. Come nightfall, the tempo of the club increases and our entertainment performances commence: DJ, Live Art, and soulful Sax and Violin performances. The experience is completed with the 2 Geisha bathing performances on each side of the DJ booth! The third floor is a hidden gem: a swanky Sushi bar and Sake lounge offers a chill-out spot before, during or after the party in the club, as well as late-night dining for two, and the beautiful roof terrace, with cherry blossom trees as its central fixture is sure to be many people?s favorite. Throughout THE Geisha, we want to tackle all your senses ? our delicious food, drinks and service will be appreciated by any gourmet lover, and our luxe designed club, with carefully picked music and performances will be every socialite?s place to be seen. Finally, our customized in-house scent will be sure to capture you in THE Geisha?s sensual atmosphere!

I went for the opening and it was packed wall to wall people.  They had a tub on the first floor and I think I saw one for the second floor too.  I think it’s for champagne, but then what night club in Shanghai is selling that much champagne.   The terrace is nice, the music is loud and nice.  The line to get to the terrace was crazy.  I love to see how the club does over the next few weeks.

Haven

Building 3, Xingfu Port, 1029 Zhongshan Nan Lu, near Duojia Lu
中山南路1029号幸福码头3号楼, 近多稼路
+ 86 21 3331 0202
www.havenshanghai.com
Open to public on the first Saturday of every month from 9 p.m.

A vampire venue down on the South Bund? One of the far far club/bar on the South Bund. It’s 10 blocks from the Cool docks.  Staged as Dracula’s secret residence, HAVEN is hidden in a warehouse in Dream Harbor, a motorcycle factory turned creative garden near the Cool Docks. Behind its heavy bronze doors lies a Gothic church inspired space with ten-meter-high ceiling and lancet windows. You also walk pass the elevator that is only used for the special V.I.P’s to the VI.P room on the second floor.  Let’s not for the beautiful vampire in the Purple Velvet coffin when you walk in.  Watch out for the vampire-summoning symbol on the floor, and be careful when you order a drink from the vampire bartenders.

A decadent private room is reserved for Dracula’s very important guests upstairs. It comes with a big swimming pool, separate KTV system.  The pool runs into the bar in the V.I.P room.

HAVEN is open to the public only once a month (every first Saturday of the month); it’s mostly a space for event booking, such as fashion shows, company events and even weddings. It will close down after hosting 666 events, so make sure you check it out next time it opens to everyone. A final note: two vampire inspired cocktails are on the menu for the blood-thirsty ones, namely Victoria Passion and A Bite From Vampire. – Stella Shu.  Yup, they served either Taittinger champagne or those drinks of Stella.

“Twilight” fans take note: Shanghai’s very first vampire-themed club will open its doors in a week’s time to satisfy your fantasy of socializing with blood-sucking vampies.

Haven, the luxury club is situated inside Shanghai’s Xingfu Port complex (幸福码头), a new creative zone on the South Bund inside a converted motorcycle factory once owned by Du Yuesheng (杜月笙).  The biggest Shanghai mafia back in the days.

Elma Ji, Haven’s brand ambassador, told us that the Gothic club would offer a variety of services, from high-end clubbing — open to public on the first Saturday of every month with a RMB 500 entrance fee — to tailor-made event planning to offbeat wedding ceremonies.

“We don’t want to be considered as another nightlife spot because we also open during the day [for events] and provide a head-to-toe planning service,” said Ji.

And when Haven boasts a vampire decor, it means it.

Designed by Lime, a firm hailing from France, the former factory building’s interior has been re-styled into a castle.

The whole space is lit up by bat-clinging ceiling lamps, equipped with blood-spattered lifts, served by demon-like waiters and dotted with vampire badges sourced from around the world.

And don’t scream if you come across a pile of skulls out of the blue, they are just telephones.

Several secret tunnels are embedded in this five-story venue to shield any celebrities or socialites longing for a vampire night out from paparazzi.

More mysterious than the ambiance is the identity of the club owners. Ji refused to give more information than referring to them as several American-Chinese who preferred to be known as Earl Drakial.

“Vampire stands for mystery, high privilege and classiness,” explained Ji, when asked about the motivation behind Haven’s vampire theme.

“[Haven] is targeted at those on top of the spending pyramid and willing to burn bucks to buy a good memory.”

Anyone who is tempted by this high-end Dracula lifestyle better go as soon as possible as Haven won’t stand forever.

According to Ji, the club will be totally demolished after hosting 666 events because “we want to leave our impression to people when it is the best.” Ji estimated Haven will operate for two to three years.  A hidden door, small crawl space and a ladder leads to another private room for people seeking a more private setting. They’re only planning to do 666 events and then close.

I definitely want to arrange a bikini party in the V.I.P room, off the walls in Shanghai.

Shanghai Club Zeal.

info@zeal-shanghai.com

PHONE: 1590 1888 179. ADDRESS: 3/F, No. 941 Jiaozhou Lu.

I was at Shanghai Club Zeal on Thursday night and it was light, the music was good the champagne we ordered was good and cold, and thank god it’s not Mumm’s.  The view was great, the night was clear and not to hot.

The backbone behind Zeal is a multinational team who have come together to create a space where they hope to bring the best of all the elements necessary to create a winning combination for you.

Located on the top floor of the revamped historical building at South Bund 22, Zeal is a venue that wows with the view outside and the state of the art multimedia technology inside. The 350m2 u-shaped terrace offers a panoramic view of Pudong as well as the expanse from the north Bund curve to the south Bund stretch. It’s a great spot to see the bund, also a great spot to bring a girl to chat up on the weekdays. Business is very light on the weekdays. Decorated zen like with bamboo greenery and sofas, this gem will not only shine just at night but will also be an oasis for lazy brunches in the future.

Inside, besides the sina qua non music, light and lasers systems, the signature showcase piece is the unique tailor-made 12.5m projection architectural screen that uses video mapping for the first time in Shanghai. This technology plus the warm minimalist interior decor of grey stone and dark wood allows Zeal to switch ambiances from the early chill hours of the evening to late night when the diehard partiers start their groove. For example, a combination of warm toned imagery and famous artwork can create warm, luscious loungey moods for the early hours before slowly dialing up the tempo and style of the projections to hit party mode as the night comes on. They stay open till people stop buying champagne, that’s perfect for the after hours scene that don’t want to make the move. Shanghai after hours is slow now.

The limit to the original content that can be featured lies only within the imagination and technique of the VJ/controller. It is visually a moveable feast and a limitless opportunity to expand and create unique content for branding, presentations, client needs and special events.

Music direction is mainly house and electro with a weekly themed night in R&B, hip-hop but the difference here is that the early part of the week features a live band whose individual members will pair with the DJ to grind out some funky sets on the weekend.

But a venue is not made of hardware alone, it is the heart of the team that makes the space, and this is where the true Zeal spirit will come alive. One of the promises staked is to provide great service so that the client always feels welcome. Hence the project is also to create a “community” around and among the clients. Zeal is not a membership club but we aim to bring advantages to our community by working with strategic partners to provide some great services not only in Zeal’s venue.

A good venue, good entertainment, good drinks, good service and good people, on the right nights and the right theme parties. It’s a hit or miss place. The view of Shanghai is worth the trek.