Late January: the nadir of the year, the point of greatest adversity and despair. More than ever, we need entertainment, company and the deadening, soporific effects of drink. But it’s all too tempting to stay in with a knocked-off DVD and Mealbay on speed dial. Shanghai has plenty of cozy drinking holes.

First stop was Memory of Shanghai. It’s remarkable that so few people frequent this gem, given that it’s exactly what most expats want when they arrive: a partially renovated shikumen house crammed with sofas and pretty knick knacks, where smiling owners serve inexpensive drinks and play old-time music.

Hanging out here is like popping over to a friend’s house– if you have friends with immaculate taste and abundant wealth, wandering felines and a bar stocked to make about 50 different cocktails (all around RMB45). There’s even a screening room upstairs that sits up to 30 people, in case you change your mind about that knock-off DVD.

Stormy Café is smaller and more cozy, with arm chairs for six people plus stools at the bar in case it gets crowded. It never does. It’s always just you, the delightful Chinese / Japanese couple who own the bar, their Labrador and one very fat rabbit. Sandwiches are served. There are heaters, games to play with and they serve Lao Beer (RMB25). It’s so toasty, warm and comfortable that it’s tempting to slip off your shoes and take a little nap. If you did, we doubt anyone would object. Let the rabbit bite you and you become one of the family, so they say.

Cuter pets can be found at Le Petit Jardin, a former French Concession restaurant and bar that’s home to an undetermined number of kittens. If you can get a seat, the greenhouse area out the back is satisfyingly snug when the wind is trying to rattle its way inside. But we love the front room, which is crammed with junk that looks like it was shipped over from a decrepit English country estate.

The whole place is like a mad aunt’s maisonette with cats under every chair leg and plants climbing every wall. Hunker down with a group of friends, order up some frilly drinks and don’t leave until the mercury starts to rise.

Nick Taylor