Shanghai

The Bund looks its absolute best from the water at night — locals sometimes jump on a cheap Huangpu River ferry just to drift past the lit-up skyline with a beer in hand rather than standing on the crowded promenade with everyone else.

Shanghainese nightlife crowds dress up — not formally, but with real intention and style. Showing up in athleisure or travel clothes will get you turned away at the door at smarter venues, so throw one going-out outfit in your bag even if you're backpacking.

Always carry a portable phone charger on a night out — WeChat Pay and Alipay are how you pay for everything including taxis home, and a dead phone at 2am in Shanghai is a genuinely stressful situation that locals never let happen to themselves.

Jing'an and the areas around the old French Concession have laneways that look completely dead from the street but open up into buzzing courtyards once you push through an unmarked door — trust the noise, not the signage.

The underground electronic music scene operates almost entirely through WeChat group chats — if you meet someone at a warehouse party, ask to be added to their groups and that's genuinely how you find the best events the following weekend.

After a big night out, locals head to a late-night sheng jian bao or wonton stall rather than fast food — the greasy, pan-fried dumpling at 3am is practically a rite of passage here and the street stalls near bar districts know exactly who their customers are.

Baijiu culture is real and if a local offers you a shot, just drink it — refusing repeatedly comes across as rude, but after the first one you can usually nurse a beer without anyone pushing further. The trick is participating at least once.

The French Concession is where the slower, cooler nights happen — hidden jazz spots, craft cocktail bars in converted villas, and crowds that are actually interested in conversation. Pudong is where you go when you want something louder and more spectacular.

The metro shuts early and taxis get scarce after midnight in some areas, so always have a Didi already installed and your destination typed in Chinese characters before you leave wherever you are. Showing a driver a screenshot of the characters saves a lot of midnight confusion.

If you're in a group and heading to a club, get a table — standing at the bar in a Shanghai club marks you as a tourist immediately, and locals almost always pre-book a bottle service table even for a casual night out. It works out cheaper per person than you'd expect.

Learn to recognize the rooftop bar culture here — the higher floors aren't always the best view, but the ones tucked into the old shikumen alleyway neighbourhoods give you this surreal mix of neon and crumbling longtang rooftops that feels uniquely Shanghai.

Don't show up to any bar before 10pm — the city genuinely doesn't wake up until late, and arriving early just means you're sitting in an empty room with overattentive staff. The best nights in Shanghai always start when most cities are already winding down.