Once more into the night
by Martin Williams
Hi! I understand you’re visiting Hong Kong, and have energy to spare, and you want to see what the city has to offer at night.
! Dated page alert: for more up to date version of this info, visit: Hong Kong Nightlife - bars and clubs inc Wanchai.
There are clusters of bars, restaurants and other nightspots. The best known is Lan Kwai Fong, on the fringes of Central. The newer SoHo, is in-place for evening drinks and dinner. Wanchai nightlife is distinctly earthier. Kowloon has restaurants, pubs and clubs; some are aimed at locals, while others have more international appeal.
Right!
— time for dinner. We’ll head for SoHo,
perhaps for a cosy Italian meal.
Dinner over, the city awaits. There’s a whole spectrum of possibilities for different nights out.
We’ll
start in Lan Kwai Fong. The suits should be heading out or chilling out by now,
and party people should be arriving to claim the night.
Lan Kwai Fong’s a top place for people watching. This bar, on the corner of the two main streets in Lan Kwai Fong, is California, one of the bars that helped transform Lan Kwai Fong from a nondescript backwater to a hub of Hong Kong nightlife. It’s a classy joint, and is very much a place to see and be seen. But for writing types like me, the prices are painful, so I prefer to glance at the beautiful people, and walk on by.
Not that prices elsewhere are always so wonderful — Hong Kong by night is expensive. I reckon the best plan for nocturnal roaming is to make the most of happy hours and any other offers.
There's
a narrow street,
closed to traffic on at least weekend evenings, that turns abruptly uphill,
ending at a junction that marks the upper corner of Lan Kwai Fong. We
could stroll up it in a minute or so, and turn right, then down, to return
to California corner. This would make a complete circuit of the heart of
Lan Kwai
Fong. Add a jaunt up a side alley, and we could cover Lan
Kwai
Fong in little more time than it takes to say its name.
Some bars
specialise in certain kinds of booze. Schnurrbart is the place
if you like schnapp’s. Neighbouring Agave boasts a vast array of tequilas
that are way too good for slamming with salt and lemon.
If you don’t want to be out much longer, we could cross the road to Insomnia, where I think the band is due on stage very soon, or bellow some songs ourselves in Hardy's.
Otherwise, let’s hail a taxi, and make for Wanchai — asking for Lockhart Road.
Clambering
out of the taxi, we’re in a different world. The road is lined with bars
with names like Romance, the Panda Club, and Hawaii. These are the girlie bars,
in the district made famous and romanticised in The World of Suzie Wong. But
Hong Kong-born Suzie doesn’t work here any more; Thai and Filipina girls
dance on small stages and flirt with the male customers. If you’re a guy,
you might want to check out one of these bars — though unless you’re
feeling flush, take care if you’re asked to buy a girl drinks so she’ll
sit with you, as bills can balloon rapidly.
While
their gaudy neon signs make the girlie bars prominent, they are far from the
only places to try in Wanchai. Sprinkled amongst them are regular bars, including
the Old China Hand — a Wanchai stalwart that’s enjoying a new
lease of life since being opened to the world by removal of the front wall.
But
it’s time to try somewhere more boisterous. Like Carnegie’s, a pub
where devil-may-care customers dance on the bar.
Dusk
Till Dawn wascan be crowded even when other
places are quiet, with Filipino bands belting out impressive renditions of
chart-topping hits; nearby is almost legendary Joe Banana’s.
There
are discos here, too — mostly up or down short flights of stairs. Like
the girlie bars, they hail from an era when Hong Kong was a major R&R stopover
for servicemen fighting in Vietnam. With clientele dominated by western men
and South-East Asian ladies, they can be entertaining — but one or two
are past their sell by dates, and are well seedy.
If
you prefer swanky to seedy, we’ll make for Club Ing in the Renaissance
Harbour View, a night club with a small dance floor as you walk in,
a larger one with different music in
the next room, and side-rooms dedicated to karaoke; it even introduced Hong
Kong’s first men’s night, with free entry and cheap beers for blokes
on Fridays.
Many discos close by 4am. But some just keep on going. Strawberry may come alive now, as ultra night owls arrive from raves and discos that have shut, and the music perhaps shifts from classic disco to hardcore house.
If Strawberry’s good, we might find ourselves staying so long that we stumble out into daylight. Sparrows are chirping; newspapers are on sale; people are going to work. I’ve heard that Home, near Lan Kwai Fong, is a prime place to make for if you want to carry on partying till mid-morning. You can head there if you wish. As for me — I’ve got other plans; I know where I’m headed.
I’m going to bed.
