With New Year's Eve falling on a Thursday night this year, the heavens have aligned to offer you maximum party capacity this weekend. Party Thursday, take Friday to shiver and twitch. On Saturday sit around, get bored, abandon resolutions and head out again for more.

Thanks to a government incentive package, there are 46 million NYE parties in Shanghai, more than two for every man woman and child in the city.

These ones look good quite good:

Thursday, Jan. 31

The Electrograss people are taking over Lost Heaven near The Bund. It's free to get in and they've got the whole space. DJs are Elnomo, Mr Tsang, Kidplasik, Adrian Lai and Bankee. We reckon that lovely roof terrace bit is an ideal spot to see fireworks / the end of the world.

Arka's party in the old slaughterhouse up by Suzhou Creek has the potential to be something very different. The venue should be great. The location is excellently out of the way. Ben Huang and Jane Siesta are playing. Shanghai - give this party a chance. It could be the one everyone's talking about next year.

YYT hosts The Mushrooms. Not Me has Coco Puff, Desert Fuck Eagle, Kone and Yen for a solid night and guaranteed nice people. And Dada offers another bevy of Shanghai's finest, such as Adept from STD, Mau-Mau & Heatwolves! who were Baijiu Robot, Ozone from Antidote and Bad-Boy Ronnie D., an ex-Bonbon slut.

Kaiba, Kuluska and Cuvee have teamed up to create the world's first French, Spanish, Belgian super-group and are offering a European food mountain plus music from Mau Mau and Ben Thriller. Go here for a Yalta-conference type vibe.

ILS will do beer pong. It's just so ILS to keep it down like that. Our New Year's resolution is to spend more time at this bar drinking Long Island iced teas. Go here for gargantuan drunkenness.

Mao is a solid pick for those looking to dance all night long flanked by a cheap open bar. RMB150 get the guys fall-down pissed. The girls get it for a snip at RMB100. It's thrown by those party folk at ShanghaiFun, who know a thing or two about packing a venue with pleasure seekers.

Riviera's night at the Marriott Tomorrow Square will be huge and glittery. More than 70 people entered our competition to win tickets, a City Weekend record and a measure of how much you lovely people of Shanghai like Riviera's parties. Dress in gold. Guys rent a gold top hat and sequined tails. Girls should slop on gold paint. Remember to leave a bare patch at the base of your spine.

Finally, The Shelter re-opens after a three-week hiatus. Jump up and down on the new floor. Bask on the new sofas. RMB50 gets you through the door and straight into some of the best music in town. Hear Siesta, Jay.Soul, Uprooted Sunshine, The Lab and Sickstar. If you don't make it down on the 31st, go there on the 1st or 2nd for the best come-down parties in town.