Shanghai. Shanghai. Shanghai. Shanghai is on the lips of everyone who is looking to experience the newly revamped Paris of the East. The city has always had a vibrant cultural scene, with cinemas showing the latest Chinese films and Hollywood blockbusters, and theatres featuring opera, dance, drama, acrobatics and puppets. I have yet to find a mime performance but I’m sure it’s waiting to be discovered. For many events it’s worth either booking at the relevant venue in advance (try to have your requirements written out in Chinese) or if you’re feeling extra lucky, try turning up on the night of the performance.
The most notable venue is the grand, new multi-purpose theatre in the Shanghai Centre on Nanjing Xi Lu, which hosts international concerts, ballet, opera and acrobatics. For Beijing Opera, there’s an additional venue on Fuzhou Lu (south side) just opposite Renmin Park, while the nightly acrobatics performances can be found at Lyceum Theatre, home of that mainstay of colonial life, the British Amateur Dramatic Society. The nightly acrobatics show 
by the famous Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe is well worth watching. Part circus, all fun and laughs it includes tumbling, juggling, Chinese clowns, magic and animal acts. Some of these skills – sword swallowing, fire eating and the amazing balancing acts – were developed as long ago as the Han dynasty. Others have taken on a trashier look featuring motorbikes, spectacular kitchy costumes and even a giant panda driving a car. (He has a bad habit of speeding and not watching the road.)
There are plenty of cinemas in Shanghai, some of them dating back to the pre-1949 days when things were “on a need to know” basis. All foreign films are dubbed into Chinese. (I had the good fortune of catching Spiderman and was amazed at how good his Mandarin was.) For those interested in English language films, Malone’s bar (part of a Canadian chain) has a weekly film night on Wednesdays, and the British Council also shows films from time to time.
Of the venues where you can hear classical music, one of the most pleasant has to be the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at 20 Fenyang Lu, south of Huaihai Lu, near Changshu Lu metro station. Established in 1927 as a college for talented young musicians, it continues to train many of the child prodigies who are becoming quite common in a population of over 2 billion people.
For a more upscale dining and lounging experience, Xin Tian Di is the place to see and be seen. Once a meeting place for the Mao Zedong’s Communist Party, it has now become a celebration of fine food, nightlife and flashy consumer goods – practically everything Mao and his party opposed. The outlets range from a Vidal Sassoon salon to the requisite Starbucks. There are flashy French and Italian restaurants, La Maison and Va Bene, plus nightclubs like Star East, a sort of Planet Hong Kong theme club launched by Jacky Chan and other Cantonese stars. Design is what makes Xin Tian Di so attractive, inside and out. Each of the two to three-story buildings looks unique, reflecting the exquisitely-preserved twists and turns of an evolving neighborhood, over the decades. Interiors are equally eye-catching; some of Shanghai’s best artists and designers worked overtime on each shop and restaurant, determined to dazzle each other.
Of course, there’s much more to share about the entertainment in Shanghai but then again seeing is believing.
Tags: Entertainment, Shanghai, Shanghai Expo 2010
