Shanghai’s first burlesque club in over half a century has opened in a former Buddhist temple in Hongkou.

The proprietors are trying to recreate a sultry 1930s atmosphere to go with their two nightly stage shows. It’s free to get in, free to sit down and free to watch the show.

The drinks are frilly and posh and reasonably priced (around RMB60). But the only reason anyone is going to traipse out to this backwater is if the atmosphere gets close to the bad old days of Shanghai’s past. On this note, Chinatown has work to do.

The stage show is tame. That’s inevitable given our prudish overseers. But on a Wednesday night, the chuckles of a half-full house echoed rather thinly beneath the high ceiling.

We wanted to, but we could feel none of the smoky, slightly cruel decadence they’re aiming for. On a packed, drunken night when the show’s broken in and the dancers start having fun, it might just work. Right now it all feels dangerously close to amateur hour.