Down the cement stairs to the underground dungeon of Shanghai Studio, the long hallway leads to several roomfuls of men drinking under dim pink, blue and green lights. I squeeze past and my eyes quickly scan every man on my radar: he’s cute, he’s hot, he’s gross, he’s a dork. I feel everyone else’s eyes on me, sharp, intimidated, lustful and judgmental.
“Oh, there you are!” I find my friends and take in a deep breath.
Surrounded by perfectly groomed men and awfully loud music played by the pot-bellied DJ, I realize why I never come here, or any other gay clubs: there is too much sexual tension in the air and that makes me uncomfortable.
After speaking with several guys, I find out I’m not the only one who isn’t so fond of gay clubs. “At gay clubs it’s like everyone is looking for something,” says 25-year-old Michael from Shanghai. Bu Ke, 23, thinks gay bars are filled with the smell of cigarettes, perfume and meat. “It’s a meat market,” he says. “I much prefer other clubs where I can actually enjoy myself.”
Some find gay clubs unappealing for other reasons. Twenty-six-year-old Bai Gaodun says he doesn’t like the atmosphere because “strange drag queens are always there. I’d have much more fun at other clubs.” Nemo, 25, agrees, saying: “The guys at gay clubs are too C (Chinese slang for ‘camp’).”
However, some guys love going to gay clubs. Matteo, a 30-year-old Italian guy, is a Shanghai Studio veteran. “If I’m in the hunting mood, I’d go to Studio,” he says. “You feel the sexual tension there only if you are looking for someone, otherwise you can just dance and have fun.” Matteo feels more free to express himself at gay clubs. “You can meet gay guys at non-gay places too, but they always put on a front, whereas at gay clubs people act much more gay,” he laughs.
Benjamin, 26, from Hefei, is a huge fan of Club D2. Young and stylish, he is the typical D2 type. “I love dancing at D2 and flirting with guys I meet there,” he says. “I don’t particularly want to go home with anyone I meet, but I just enjoy the thrill of chatting someone up.”
According to Wikipedia, gay bars once served as one of the few places people with same sex orientations could openly socialize. However, in today’s Shanghai, gay people can openly socialize at almost any bar without raising eyebrows, so what role do gay bars now play in Shanghai?
To me, they are no longer d e s i g n e d as places for free self-expression and more for pleasure, excitement and thrills. Gay bars are filled with the smell of cigarettes and meat.
By Xing Zhao
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omg, the caption shocked me! I thought there will be no more gay bars here!! NO, no matter how sexual it is. We still want it!
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I think this really is a highly personal view, which is fine per se, but the condemnatory tone and what seems like a call for no more gay bars is clearly exaggerated. Yes, you can get cruised and stared at in gay bars, but then that happens in straight bars and even on the street as well (aren't I the lucky one...). I go to Shanghai Studio and Eddy's every now and then with my bf, and I find it all perfectly pleasant and fun (no more or less so than the hoards of bars and clubs I have been to in Europe). If you feel ill at ease in such places and can't stand going there, then you simply shouldn't do so, whatever the circumstance. And as for cigarette smoke, that's hardly a specific of gay bars. Perhaps all bars should be closed in that respect, or, as Europe has shown, government lays down the law and clean up that situation by decree.
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Add this to Xing Zhao's long list of lame "writings". He has no business to be penning this column. Did he seriously have to look up Wikipedia to find out what a gay bar is?
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this article is so ridiculous and badly written. gay bars or bars in general is a place to meet friends and make new friends, being a meat market and the cigarette is ones personal view. i agree with hertford, if you dont like cigarette and you dont want to feel like being in a meat market, just lock yourself in the 4 corners of your room.
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is it a memoir? a survey of prevailing views? is it a condemnation? as we say back home in appalachia, either shit or get off the pot.
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"Did he seriously have to look up Wikipedia to find out what a gay bar is?" I believe he was making a reference in a historical context, not giving a present-day definition. If you read the Wiki article, it gives an overview of the original function. "being a meat market and the cigarette is ones personal view" That it is. And you attack him for his personal view, which he has the right to same as you. Now, I could well be wrong, but I believe what Mr Xing is attempting to say is that he would like a return to a more "socialising" atmosphere in the bars, rather than a high-pressure meat-market situation where everyone is -quite literally- looking for meat to take home with them. It's something that I and a few friends would really like: an old-fashioned gentlemen's club where intelligent and interesting discussion could take place. I was a member of the CXLC in the UK, and I really miss the no-pressure atmosphere of being with a variety of interesting people from diverse backgrounds where you can just kick back and forget your troubles. I remember one time a nouveau riche property tycoon was pinned to his chair by the harsh words of a computer shop owner who was lambasting him for speaking down to the waitress. Good times. Also, it's an excellent place to make friends and create a useful social network, kind of like the Imperialist Running Dog Foreigner version of guanxi. Overall, what I believe to be Mr Xing's intention is to try and find a place where the eyes are off your trousers and on your brain. Yes, there's a place for the met-market, but must intelligent and pressure free conversation and raunchy dancing be mutually exclusive?
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In my humble opinion, when Mr Xing says: 1)"To me, they are no longer d e s i g n e d as places for free self-expression and more for pleasure, excitement and thrills. Gay bars are filled with the smell of cigarettes and meat." He is saying he doesn feel confident, confortable nor happy in a gay bar.. So why is he troubling himself in writing for theLGBeaT??? 2)There are Tons of lounges, clubs, bars in sh, a variety to please all tastes. 3) Oviously if there are plenty of people flocking to Studio, D2 IT is bc they like th excitement, leasure and Thrill of being in such enviroment.. Lastly, personally, i dont think i need to point out that Sh is a playground to please all palates and needs and wants.. On a somber mood, i can just go to a lounge on my own or with a friend, and by the end of the nite if i feel like dancing for the rest of the nite i can go to D2.. PLP got CHOICES.. and thats why the community will have gay bars, or clubs.. and this writer is killing ALL the fun of most places he visits.. his view or to his eyes..every place is daunting.. SO pls then dont frenquent or go to places where you will find EXCITEMENT, or THRILL..Stay home.. That again is a choice..
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For real? If you cite Wiki for an 8th grade essay, you will get an "F". Dont want to be a bitch... but.... can't stand stupid people!
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Mr. Xing has been a disappointment for this column ever since he took this beat. No personal offense intended, however I do not feel he is well suited to write a gay column for a predominantly gay expatriate audience. The previous two writers, while somewhat outlandish at times, better expressed and represented what I saw of the gay world here in Shanghai. Mr. Xing however is far off the mark from a cultural standpoint, as well as in his writing proficiency. I do not identify with him, nor do any of my friends. The gay community is small in shanghai in that we have a very few places for which to meet up. Therefore I dare say it... the gay clubs and bars ARE an integral part of the gay lifestyle here in Shanghai. Some of my gay friends were outright offended, and disappointed at the quality of writing in this latest article.
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(quotation) "Now, I could well be wrong, but I believe what Mr Xing is attempting to say is that he would like a return to a more "socialising" atmosphere in the bars, rather than a high-pressure meat-market situation where everyone is -quite literally- looking for meat to take home with them. " Well, this might be true (as far as the intention is concerned), but..... 1) it refuses to see Studio as anything but a "high-pressure meat-market situation" (as you apparently) and simply ignores the fact that many people find Studio a perfectly pleasant place to socialise in (many different rooms to do so in), dance in, have a drink with friends in etc. So, slightly biased reporting in my opinion. And 2) it employs far too condemnatory and dismissive a tone that is clearly not in sync with what might be the serious intention or desire to express a perfectly valid personal opinion. So, inappropriate tone and expression to my mind, as well. I have read a number of his articles with interest in the past, but I certainly find his dismissive tone rather unpleasant at times. He is clearly entitled to his own opinions and feelings, but as someone who has assumed a somewhat "official" position as writer of, about and for the gay community (this is meant to be the gay part of the magazine), I am noticing that a large number of members of that community are clearly disowning him. I like to keep an open mind, but I am slowly coming round to the conclusion that CityWeekend should decide if it wants to continue providing such a forum to someone's personal neuroses or whether it might not be happier with a more consensual, dare I say, representative writer (given that this doesn't exclude the humour, individual style or personal views of previous authors of this column).
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