19 great things to do this week in Shanghai
Image: courtesy Warner Bros
The good stuff just keeps on coming. This week, we've got a Rocky Horror drag show, a Cocktail Cinema showing of The Shining, a real fancy black tie party, plus The Candle Thieves and Jaden Smith are in town. Read on for our top picks this week.
Things to Do
Photograph: Bekir Dönmez via Unsplash
Charity Pumpkin Carving Competition
The Rooster is hosting its Charity Halloween Pumpkin Carving Competition. To enter, add Chase on WeChat (ID: ChaseLW9) and contribute a 100RMB donation, which will get you a pumpkin and all of the carving tools you'll need. All proceeds from this spooktastic event will go to benefit South Pond Kindergarten, a school for children of migrant workers (a partnership built through the Rotaract Club of Shanghai).
📍The Rooster, 455 Shaanxi Bei Lu, near Beijing Xi Lu. Sat 26. 4-8pm. 100RMB.
Literary Shanghai panel discussion
Martial arts novels have been wildly popular with Chinese audiences for generations, and perhaps none more so than Jin Yong (Louis Cha)’s Legends of the Condor Heroes series. Gigi Chang and Shelly Bryant, co-translators of the fourth book in the series, join Literary Shanghai to discuss the challenges of translating a legend.
📍Madame Mao’s Dowry, 207 Fumin Lu, near Julu Lu. Wed 23. 7-8.30pm. Free entry.
#IamZeroWaste Workshop
The #IamZeroWaste Workshop consists of two engaging days of learning. During Day 1 (Thu 24), you will learn about zero waste principles and tips on how to be more sustainable in Shanghai. During Day 2 (Thu 31), you will learn how to compost. You can choose to attend either one or both days.
📍theDesk, 457 Jumen Lu, near Runan Lu. Thu 24. 7-9pm. 200RMB (per day).
Yoga in the Park
Join Linwards for yoga at Xiangyang Park and a discounted brunch. Meet at the Moka Bros entrance ten mins before class – don’t forget to bring your own mat. All genders and levels are welcome. To confirm registration, add WeChat account ‘Linwards_Assistance’.
📍Xiangyang Park, 1008 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Xiangyang Nan Lu. Sun 27. 10-11am. 88RMB.
Phil Kay: Stand Up Comedy Live in Shanghai
From regular appearances on BBC1’s The Standup Show, Phil hosted his very own comedy series titled Phil Kay Feels on Channel 4. Other television work includes Next Stop, Phil Kay (Channel 4), Edinburgh Nights (BBC1), and The Montreal Festival of Fun (Channel 5). Phil has also worked with the likes of Eddie Izzard, Harry Hill, Ardal O’Hanlon, Jonathan Ross, and has featured on BBC’s QI and Russell Howard’s Good News.
📍Shanghai Comedy Bunker, Third Floor, Jingan Sports Centre, 428 Jiangning Lu, near Wuding Lu. Fri 25. 9-11pm. 150RMB; 120RMB (presale). Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.
Eating & Drinking
Photograph: courtesy el Willy
Chef + Cóctel: Phoebe Han + Koen Vessie
el Willy is having a first-of-its-kind event where its own chef Koen Vessies will team up with Healer's master mixologist, Phoebe Han, to bring you a Chef + Cóctel special menu, blending food and drinks from the East and the West.
📍el Willy, South Bund 22, 22 Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, near Jinling Lu. Fri 25. 6.30-10.30pm. 498RMB.
Music & Nightlife
Photograph: courtesy 247tickets
Rocky Horror Drag Show
An outrageously sinful, gender-bent reinterpretation of the ultimate smutty cult classic. Follow the light over at the Frankenstein place, find out what’s on the slab down in the lab and whatever did happen to Fay Wray in the end.
📍The Pearl, 471 Zhapu Lu, near Haining Lu. Sat 26. 10.30pm-12.30am. 250RMB; 200RMB (presale). Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.
The Candle Thieves
Bright, gentle pop rock from the suburbs of Cambridgeshire. Eccentrics Anthony Shiels and Scott McEwan summon up the spirits of Eels, Sufjan Stevens and the Lucksmiths in their sounds but make whimsical songs that are distinctly their own.
📍MAO Livehouse, 308 Chongqing Nan Lu, near Jianguo Zhong Lu. Thu 24. 8.30-10.30pm. 150RMB (door); 120RMB (presale). Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.
S.T.D. pres Jaden Smith
Smith made his big screen debut alongside his dad Will Smith in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness. He subsequently starred in remakes of The Karate Kid and The Day the Earth Stood Still, before rejoining his father in After Earth. Smith later turned his focus to music, releasing his first studio album Syre in 2017.
📍Arkham Shanghai, 168 Julu Lu, near Ruijin Yi Lu. Fri 25. 9-11pm. 480RMB; 380RMB (presale).
Hologram Dreams
A voyage from the future into the abyss. DJ Heatwolves and friends take DADA's dance floor on a technicolor descent from Italo disco, Chicago house and J-pop down into New Wave, electro and cybernetic horror. Seminal classics, brand new sounds, unknown hysteria and anime visuals dripping off the walls.
📍DADA, 115 Xingfu Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu. Fri 25. 10pm-4am. Free entry.
We Lost the Sea China Tour 2019
New Noise is very proud to present a China tour for Sydney-based instrumentalists We Lost the Sea presenting their brand new album Triumph and Disaster, a post-apocalyptic view on the collapse of the world told like a children’s story and illustrated through the eyes of a mother and her son as they spend one last day on Earth.
📍Bandai Namco Shanghai Base Future House, 179 Yichang Lu, near Jiangning Lu. Sat 26. 9-10.30pm. 150RMB; 120RMB (presale).
Black Swan Party
The luxurious and seductive Black Swan Party is back in Shanghai. There will be music all night long from four internationally renowned DJs, including Andrew Bull aka DJ El Toro, DJ Blueman, DJ Clef G (co-founder of Alter.) and DJ Zhengxuan Huang.
📍Club 3 1/3, First Floor, 3 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, near Guangdong Lu. Fri 25. 9pm-5am. 300RMB (includes two cocktails).
Film
Image: courtesy Warner Bros (The Shining)
Boomi Screening: Chasing Ice
Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. With a band of young adventurers in tow, photographer Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. All tickets include a glass of wine and snacks. The event will take place at KR Space at K11 on the 26th floor.
📍K11 Art Mall, 300 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Huangpi Nan Lu. Thu 24. 7-9pm. 70RMB; 50RMB (presale); 30RMB (students).
Cocktail Cinema pres The Shining
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy... Social Supply is bringing back its Cocktail Cinema series with a screening of the uncut version of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980). As usual, the venue's a surprise (ticket-holders will get an address via email 24 hours before the event) and during the showing, a bartender will be mixing up three cocktails inspired by the film. Movie starts at 8.30pm sharp.
📍Venue tba. Thu 24. 8-11.30pm. 250RMB.
Gemini Man
Ang Lee's action thriller Gemini Man, starring Will Smith, Clive Owen and Elizabeth Winstead tells the story of Henry Brogan, a retiring hitman working for the government who finds out that he is being pursued by another hitman who is a younger clone of himself. Read the full Time Out review here.
📍On general release.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and soon-to-be queen Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) have to join forces despite of their complicated past in order to fight against a new villain and protect their Kingdom and the magical creatures inside it. Read the full Time Out review here.
📍On general release.
Art
Stage
Photograph: courtesy 247tickets (The Czech National Theatre: La Bayadère)
Karbido: The Table (Poland)
The Table is a world-class musical project, an out-and-out instrumental avant-garde work that proves that an unlimited imagination poses no limits to music. One hour of random compositions, sound interventions, audio performative actions... Something about freedom in music. Something about hearing.
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