The highs and lows of drag in the Strumpet of the Orient

Shanghai can really take its toll on a woman. Speaking for myself, I am well and truly rooted after another weekend patronizing the local LGBT-friendly community. Drag in Shanghai is more about dress-up and silliness than in other cities, although it does have its sling backs.

Case in hand: Friday night commenced innocently enough with five too many Spark Plugs at KABB and a visit to a certain Bund-side gay bar whose name I dare not speak of (yet). It was all fun and games until the cab ride home. No sooner had I buckled up, than the driver’s hands were up my skirt to cop a feel. I scolded him for being a very naughty boy; it’s none of his business how long it is.

He just giggled and squealed–in a tone that only comes from the mouths of gays–then put his dirty little mitts back on my unmentionables. By this point, I was far from home, taxis were scarce and I had spent a little more than I should on booze and fags. Maybe a quick game of “I’ll show you mine if you don’t show me yours and keep on driving,” then everyone’s happy. “It can happen to anyone brave enough to take a taxi from Eddy’s or LCs,” confides international bon vivant Ignora de Stain over a stiff toddy at Manifesto. “They’re usually lonely, closeted men seeking titillation. They are not overly aggressive though and definitely no match for my can of mace.”

Don’t get me wrong, the flipside of drag in Shanghai is a lot of fun. Saturday I hauled my sorry carcass to everyone’s favorite shopping street, Qipu Lu, in search of the ultimate look for that night’s ShanghaiLGBT Second Annual Drag Party at Shanghai Studio. The bar was packed tighter than a Times Square peep show during Fleet Week. The real women are finally beyond that redundant Elvis Presley look that’s so common among drag kings, favoring instead a Londoner-slash-andro à la 1920s look. You just want to bow before them. For the drag queens, it was like budget Yves St. Laurent’s funeral, albeit with more Singaporean heiresses. There were straight boys in drag, straight chicks as drag queens from another planet and one German boy who was very convincing as a Chapstick lesbian.

Shanghai’s drag scene has its highs and lows, but in the end it’s just a ton of fun brushing past your bewildered neighbors in seven-inch lucite heels en route to Lounge 18, MAO or LC, where free drinks await and if you’re "lucky," a free cab home.

Gwen from Tempe