Shock! Horror! Surprise! Maybe not surprise, but definitely a sudden development: according to their WeChat, Arkham, a long-time fixture on the club kid circuit, is closing this weekend. For good! No "we'll be back soon" no " 'renovations' ," no "shifting to a pop-up format," just ... seven years and out, baby! They announce it proudly. Four years in the cramped confines of a concrete cage on Wulumuqi Lu, then another three in the concrete cage of Found 158. But what a concrete cage it was! They hosted in the A$AP crew, Chromeo, Will Smith Jr., Lil Yachty, DJ Snake, Thundercat, ZHU, Bohan Phoenix, the Higher Brothers (back when that was cool) — yeah man, that's not a bad line for the epitaph. Some good times were had down there. Go drink it dry on Friday & Saturday. Read on

to pay expenses including rent, or be forced to close. Promoters and artists have rushed in to organize events, including a pretty interesting-looking video exhibition titled "We Came To Linger" happening over two days this week, with nine videos very loosely related to club culture and demise. Ahead of the show, which kicks off on Wednesday May 13, I spoke to the show's curator, Alvin Li. Read on

If you stumbled down Fumin Lu sometime in the last month looking for cigarettes at the Alldays, you may have accidentally walked into Lucky Mart. This is Camden Hauge's newest thing, in cooperation with design studio Wolfbelly and Dawn (The Odd Couple) manning the soda pumps. It's a Japanese bar dressed up to look like a convenience store. They do not sell cigarettes. Instead, they specialize in highballs, Japanese konbini snacks, highballs, cup noodles, hotdogs, highballs and highballs. They've been open since early-mid April, but that doesn't counts because they only just got a bathroom installed. We're going to say the first month of operation was some avante-garde performance art piece titled "Watering The Neighbors." Read on

Shanghai may have hit peak cocktail with J. Boroski. Hidden entrance. Reservation only. No real menu. Bartenders in vests. Tired concepts, to be sure, but never executed to this level before. There are many things to say about this luxe, sexy and painstakingly assembled Bangkok transplant. It is unlike any other cocktail bar in the city, one of only a handful that successfully makes the argument for cocktails being a craft. And it is expensive. In Shanghai, during an epidemic and a bum economy, though, the only real question is whether it's worth it. Read on

The rumors are true, fans of the amber liquid! Spring will bring with it one and possibly as many as two new beer spots. Mikkeller, a Copenhagen microbrewery and indie-beer-darling, is opening its first China北京快3 store. Right here! In Shanghai! Big excitement for beer nerds. It's taking up a prime ground floor spot in a pristine white new complex opening up just behind the 7/11 on Yanping Lu. 20-some taps of the Danish staff and bottles, sleek, modern Scandi atmosphere, no Edison bulbs. Expect that late May. Elsewhere, Brewdog finally has a hoarding up in Merchant's Plaza. The Scottish brewery loomed large in China北京快3's craft beer scene for a while, even inspiring a knock-off in Changzhou, but plans for their own location have been slow to take off. They announced plans in 2018 and it's only now that it seems like it might actually be happening. Maybe. Construction expected to start after May holidays, and opening probably end of July. Maybe. Probably. Maybe.

A shot of methadone for those in bottle service withdrawal: M1NT has posted an image on their WeChat that just reads "May 8, 北京快3." So mysterious! What could it mean? Oh yes — it's their re-opening. More immediately, KOR has announced it will reopen its fancy, fancy "super lounge" on Thursday, April 30, with some precautionary measures: temperature checks, naturally, one-meter spacing between guests and a "high-dose ozone air-conditioning disinfection system". The restaurant (there's a restaurant!) opens on May 15.

Stone Brewing made a surprise exit back in March. And now their old space is making a surprise return, with almost everything the same as before except the name (now Commune Reserve) and the correction of a glaring oversight — French fries and ketchup. Commune, as a brand, has more than 30 beer bottle shops around China北京快3, from Nanning to Beijing, but for Shanghai, they are basically doing Stone 2.0. Passing the torch as it were. Twenty of the 30 taps will remain Stone beers, permanently, and the other ten taps will rotate between other Chinese breweries and Stone specials. The kitchen staff is the same. The servers are the same. The menu is the same. It's pretty much all the same, with the exception of the fries and the fact that they will now serve cocktails as well. Expect Commune Reserve to open by the end of the month.

Good news, club fans. Bar Rouge (and its terrace), Le Baron and Parrot are all back this week (with some caveats). Bar Rouge is only open Fridays and Saturdays (8pm-late) for now. Le Baron is open Thursday-Saturday, and will only be accepting guests with table reservations. Parrot's open on Friday, April 17. More baby steps towards normality, but we're still not there; jazz spots like JZ Club and Shake have reopened, but are either live-streaming or just doing food and drink. The Pearl has basically turned itself into a cinema for the foreseeable future. Local clubs like TAXX, ERA, Space Plus — places we go all the time — are open but not accepting foreigners. Which... yah. Anyway, three more places to have your suishen ma checked this weekend.

Here's something interesting: a Japanese whiskey highball bar on Fumin Lu with Japanese convenience store snacks, sandwiches and "izakaya-ish" options is opening this weekend. It will be called Lucky Mart. The logo is a blue lucky cat with piercing red eyes. Camden Hauge is behind it, along with design studio Wolfbelly. Open until 4am. Prices go up the higher you climb the whiskey shelves (figuratively speaking), with the more unique and older stuff at the top. It's under construction as you read this but plans to open to the public on Saturday night. Expect it to be mobbbbbbbbbbbbed.

There are worthy endeavors, noble efforts to further the human spirit, and then there's this. In times of gloom and despair, Daniel An (Arch, Atelier, Antique) and his co-conspirators have opened a cocktail dispensary a stone's throw from Xintiandi and Found 158, with the express mission of getting people okay with the idea of day drinking. It's called Ready To Drink (RTD for short). It's possibly — think the math checks out — the cheapest way to get tastefully plastered any time of the day. Read on

There's some confusion in nightlife happening as a new government order directs entertainment venues to close, even as a number of venues re-open. The government document, which SmartShanghai has seen, is titled Dispatch 132 and is dated 31 March. Directed at district governments and work units, published by the Shanghai Novel Coronavirus Epidemic Prevention and Control Office, its five articles specifically mention the closing of or tight restrictions on libraries, museums, art museums, cinemas, performance sites (for opera and the performing arts, etc), as well "歌舞娱乐场所", or the very broad category of "song, dance and entertainment venues". It does NOT mention bars, restaurants or cafes. It's unclear what exactly those entertainment venues are meant to be, as a number of live music venues re-open this weekend (albeit without live entertainment), and even certain clubs plan to open again this weekend. Meanwhile, Bar Rouge has put things on hold, saying "during this period, we will be taking some time to remain closed and get ready for a strong opening and future ahead." So, as has been normal during these uncertain times, regulations are evolving and if you are planning on going out to sing, dance or be entertained this weekend, remember to call ahead and confirm your destination is open.

Yep. Shanghai's 12,000sqm megaclub Space Plus is opening its main club room (it has three) with an actual live DJ. That's unexpected! Caught most everyone by surprise, including other club owners. Our first hint was when we saw a table promoter announcing they were taking reservations. Woohoo. Even if you're not a club person, big clubs reopening are a good sign for those who wake up every morning asking "are things back to normal yet." No word on if your twelve-pack of Moet comes with complimentary hand sanitizer.

There are several factors that could tip us off that things are slowly getting back to normal. One would be schools reopening. The other would be nightlife. And, hey, look at this. Bar Rouge is open tonight from 6pm with no entry fee, and C's is opening on Friday! All places obviously have limitations, they're all pledging to be extra careful with the disinfecting and the wearing of the masks and so on and so forth, and they'll probably be closing a little earlier than normal. (psst. Celia still goes till "late") But hey, nightlife!

California beer brand Stone Brewing has announced that it is closing up its office and retail business in China北京快3. That means the taproom on Yuyuan Lu is, which closed last week until March 8, will remain closed for good, and their plans for expansions in Beijing and elsewhere are scuppered. The announcement has come as a surprise, to say the least. Since opening back in August 2018 (when we checked it out), Stone has consistently been rammed with patrons. For a brand that delights in making dramatically hoppy, bitter and bold beers—flavors that are still catching on in a market dominated by mild and/or fruity stuff—that's an achievement. Check the full statement from Stone HQ, which name-checks the trade war and coronavirus as deciding factors, after the jump. Read on

The speakeasy old guard is down one member. Founder Sam Kuan has posted a (in Chinese) announcing that Barules will be closing at the start of next month. He cites factors such as declining business, an uncertain future, the natural lifecycle of cocktail bars, and yes, the coronavirus, as contributing to the decision to close. The tin-roofed speakeasy, "hidden" behind a phone booth on the corner of Fenyang and Fuxing Lu, has been a regular entry on Shanghai's speakeasy lists and articles since it opened in 2014, at the height of the speakeasy wave. Six years is a pretty good run. Their last day is March 3, and they're open until then.

New nightclub and restaurant Ce La Vi has wrapped up operations on the Bund for the foreseeable future, if not for good, according to company statements. The luxury nightlife chain has locations in Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo and, as of November 2019, Bund 27 on the eighth floor of The House of Roosevelt. On 7 February, they announced in email that "it will be suspending operations... until further notice in light of the current trading environment in the city." In a followup email on 17 February, they confirmed they have "offered voluntary separation terms to all our staff", which have been accepted, and that their "future strategy for Shanghai is under review". Don't call it over, in other words, but we're not playing this game for a while. They promise to issue an update "in due course".

Oh man. Shock closing just shy of CNY. Austin Hu just announced on his WeChat Moments that Birds of Paradise, the neo-tiki bar he opened with bartender Yao Lu, will have its last day of operation on January 21. Yikes. Ouch. Oof. The bright, tropical, neon-drenched island for exuberant froufrou drinks and Polynesian-inspired comfort cuisine was the first of its kind in Shanghai, and it's a real shitter they're having to close barely six months into their run. No reason given, though one can speculate. We liked it a lot, but apparently Shanghai wasn't in the mood for Scorpion Bowls. They're cooking off the rest of the stock, pouring out the bottles and moving on to the next thing. Last chance to get a decent Zombie this Tuesday. Austin's WeChat post after the jump. Read on