The Urban Edit

Tourist sites in China tend to stick to absurdly old-school timing, often slamming the doors shut by 5 p.m. at the latest. If you’d like to explore the city when the lights go down, please don’t feel you need to clamber aboard a neon-clad boat and sail up and down the Huangpu with the tourist hordes – there are plenty more enjoyable ways to pass an evening. And if Bespoke’s fabulous Cocktail Experience or Night Biking just aren’t quite enough for you, here are a few of our favorite ways to see another side of Shanghai.

All that Jazz

Shanghai has a proud jazz heritage that harks back to her 1930s heyday. The Jazz Bar in the Peace Hotel remains the most famous option and with good reason – the veteran performers have an average age of 80! Those wanting to delve a little deeper into the contemporary scene should head into the former French Concession, where the slick JZ Bar and slightly rougher and readier Cotton Club both have nightly performances. (JZ Club: 46 Fuxing Xi Lu; Cotton Club:1416 Huaihai Zhong Lu)

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If the 3rd of September rings a bell, then it’s very likely due to the fact that its China’s newest public holiday. Or the fact that its likely to be almost impossible to travel anywhere that day thanks to a military parade of apparently epic proportions taking place in the capital. But with all the bravado from Beijing, it’s easy to forget that this day commemorates events that were hugely significant here in Shanghai.

For this date marks the end of, ahem, ‘The War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression’ – a war that started in 1937 and would go on to merge with World War II, concluding in 1945 and leaving the region changed forever. Shanghai played various key roles throughout the period of conflict and the city government, never ones to let such an opportunity pass by, have overseen several new projects commemorating the various incidents. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (a Bespoke favorite, and one that we would encourage any inquisitive visitor to include in their itinerary) has just reopened with a new exhibition, including a recreation of the White Horse Café, a 1939 establishment that was said to have sheltered hundreds of the Jewish refugees who arrived in Shanghai from Europe.

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Suzhou’s a lovely city, in that we have no doubt, but the superlative-laden tourist literature touting it’s heavenly beauty can set expectations unrealistically high. Sure, we love The Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Master of the Nets as much as the next visitor, but packed with megaphone-wielding tour guides herding their charges from one corner to another, you’ll hardly experience the gardens in the tranquility that their designers surely intended. And that’s before we even start on the crazy ticket prices. Team Bespoke has been scouring the backstreets of Suzhou and is happy to offer a couple of tips for those looking for a more peaceful day out.

The Couple’s Retreat Garden (Ou Yuan)

On the east side of the old city and surrounded by canals and dating back to the late 19th Century, this is one of the city’s younger gardens and feels wonderfully isolated from the tourist crowds elsewhere. This is a great place to learn the basics of Chinese garden design before you tackle larger spots. Whilst it’s certainly possible to wander the gardens independently, a local guide can add a huge amount to your visit, explaining the complex symbolism that lies behind almost every detail in these splendid complexes. (The Couple’s Retreat Garden, 6 Xiaoxinqiao Lane. 20RMB per person)

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