13 brilliant things to do this week in Shanghai

Photograph: Yang Xiaozhe

Alas, the glorious May Day holiday has come to an end, and we've got another week of work ahead of us. Read on for all the good stuff going on in Shanghai this week – a coffee festival, a nighttime tour of the city's Art Deco landmarks, a seven-course tasting dinner and more await. (It's Mother's Day this weekend, by the way, but you remembered that because you're a good child.) 

Things to Do

Photograph: courtesy Ladies Who Tech

Ladies Who Tech: She Builds. She Creates.

Ladies Who Tech pulls together a whole day of workshops, training sessions, start-up showcases and panel discussions from some of the women leading in the STEM sectors for its second annual convention. For more information or to register visit ladieswhotech.cn.

📍Andaz, Third Floor, 88 Songshan Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu. Sat 11. 9am-7pm. 580RMB; 280RMB (student).

Elevate Affordable Art Market

Elevate presents the Affordable Art Market, which focuses on art in its many forms including over a dozen artists showcasing original work, prints and posters, as well as music, drinks and good eats.

📍Jiashan Market, Lane 550, 37 Shaanxi Nan Lu, near Shaoxing Lu. Sun 12. 10am-5pm. Free entry.

Jingan World Coffee Culture Festival

Taikoo Hui is teaming up with Starbucks Roastery and MANNER to host a festival of all things caffeine. Get your buzz on with more than 15 Shanghai coffee brands and browse its market for books, independent crafts and a pop-up barbershop. 

📍HKRI Taikoo Hui, 789 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Shimen Yi Lu. Fri 10-Sat 12. 11.30am-8.30pm. 30-100RMB.

BFC Adoption Weekend

The Bund Financial Center is teaming up with Best Friends China for an event that features an animal-themed art exhibition and stores selling pet-related products. Fifty animals will be there looking for their forever families. 

📍Bund Finance Center, Sixth Floor, 558 Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, near Renmin Lu. Sat 11. 2-6pm. Free entry.

Mentor Walks

Mentor Walks Asia, the group that helps connect young professional women with badass mentors in Shanghai through laid-back early-morning walks, returns this Friday. During events, groups stroll through Jingan Park and have the opportunity to share advice and perspective.

📍Jingan Park, 1649 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Huashan Lu. Fri 10. 7.45-9am. 50RMB. Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.

Deco After Dark

Join Historic Shanghai for a look at Shanghai’s Art Deco buildings by night, all dramatically lit up. From Broadway Mansions to the Bund, from the wild neon of Nanjing Lu to the Park Hotel, the tour shares stories of Shanghai nightlife in the good old, bad old days and finishes up with a cocktail. 

📍Location tba. Sun 12. 6-8pm. 250RMB; 150RMB (members). Email [e-mail] to book.

Music & Nightlife

Photograph: courtesy Social Supply

LIVEROOM

The intimate live music event held at secret venues across Shanghai is back. This month, ADO8 (Yumi) has put together a lineup of three electronic music producers. As usual, details of the venue will be sent out to ticket holders 24 hours before the event.

📍Location tba. Wed 8. 8pm-late. 200RMB (includes two drinks). Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.

Sarah McKenzie Quartet

Australian jazz pianist and singer Sarah McKenzie brings her lyrical, breezy style to Shanghai, alongside guitarist Hugo Lippi, drummer Marco Valeri and bassist Pierre Boussaguet. Together they form an engaging quartet that is both grounded and forward-thinking in its approach to jazz.

📍Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, Fourth Floor, 139 Nanjing Dong Lu, near Jiangxi Zhong Lu. Tue 7. 7.15-9.15pm. Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.

Eating & Drinking

Photograph: courtesy Kaixin Cooking

Vegan 7-Course Tasting Dinner

This all-vegan dinner is brought to you by Ethel, the founder of plant-based culinary Ethel’s Cakery and Shiyin, the Shanghai-based American chef whose goal is to blend traditional Chinese flavours with modern eating practices.

📍Cohost, 218 Baise Lu, near Pingfu Lu. Sun 12. 6-9pm. 400RMB. Contact WeChat ID 'swangyin' for full menu and booking details.

Mother's Day Dining Deals

Treat the most important lady in your life for Mother's Day this Sun 12. Shanghai's restaurants and bars are going all out with special menus from classy brunch to craft beer flights to Brazilian barbecue. 

📍Extract the QR code above for Mother's Day deals.

Film

Image: courtesy Warner Bros Pictures

Pokémon Detective Pikachu

When ace detective Harry Goodman mysteriously goes missing, his 21-year-old son decides to go find out what happened. Aiding him is his father's former Pokémon partner, Pikachu, and the two join forces on an adventure through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City, where both humans and Pokémon peacefully co-exist.

📍On general release from Fri 10.

Roma

Now finally in Mainland cinemas, director Alfonso Cuarón's richly textured masterpiece unhurriedly explores the social and political canvas of 1970s Mexico City, where he grew up in a middle-class neighborhood called Roma. A sober and autobiographical elegy about his childhood and the women who raised him (one hardworking live-in maid in particular), Roma is cinema at its purest and most human.

📍On general release from Fri 10.

SHQFF Screening

Check out RIINK this Saturday, for back-to-back screenings of Teddy Award-winning queer films (Brief Story from the Green Planet by Argentinian director Santiago Loza at 3pm and A Dog Barking at the Moon by Chinese director Zi Xiang at 5pm) and a skating after-party following the screenings.

📍RIINK, First Floor, 658 Dapu Lu, near Longhua Dong Lu. Sat 11. 3pm-late.

More from Time Out Shanghai

Click below for more from Time Out Shanghai