September is here and we can soon kiss goodbye to the sweltering Shanghai summer. However, just because the weather may be cooling down, it doesn't mean the events in Shanghai this month will be any less hot. There is music festivals galore, some exceptional film releases and so many more brilliant things to do. See below for our full list of September picks.
Music and Nightlife
Chui Wan
Psychedelic rock act Chui Wan have established themselves as one of the best bands coming out of the capital in recent years, and their new material only serves to cement this reputation. They hit Shanghai in support of their new album – don't miss.
Yuyintang 851 Kaixuan Lu, near Yanan Xi Lu. Sat 2. 9pm. 100RMB; 80RMB (presale).
Unity Festival
RnB diva Tinashe and pop-soul gentleman Ne-Yo are the surprise headliners at this Expo Park-based festival, which also supposedly features A-Lin, Khalil Fong and an EDM stage. If you're just thinking of stopping by for the western acts, Tinashe will perform at 8.30pm on the Saturday and Ne-Yo will be on at the same time on Sunday.
Expo Garden Park Shibo Avenue, near Zhoujiadu Lu. Sat 2-Sun 3. 1pm. 480RMB per day; 800RMB for both days.
Optimo
In 1997, Glasgow-based DJs JD Twitch and JG Wilkes’ came together to create a new night at Sub Club as a reaction to what they saw as the then-domination of run-of-the-mill 4/4 techno on the nightlife scene. Two decades on the Optimo brand has travelled the world, mixing together all manner of genres and hosting guests such as Four Tet, LCD Soundsystem and Peaches in pursuit of eclectic, essential club events.
DADA 115 Xingfu Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu. Sat 9. 10pm. Entry tba.
Ultra Festival
The Miami-founded, internationally renowned music festival makes its China debut with a who’s who of of upper echelon EDM stars on the bill including Armin Van Buuren, Dubfire, Martin Garrix, The Chainsmokers, Zedd and Nicky Romero, alongside a few big-name, old-school acts too, with Carl Cox plus Sasha and John Digweed joining.
Expo Garden Park Shibo Avenue, near Zhoujiadu Lu. Sat 9-Sun 10. 1pm. 1,280RMB for two days.
Concrete and Grass Festival 2017
An eclectically programmed music festival from Shanghai and Beijing-based promoters Split Works, Concrete and Grass returns for 2017 with a (great value) line-up of rock, folk, hip-hop, interesting electronic music and more over at the Shanghai Rugby Football Club.
Shanghai Community Sports Club Zhangyang Bei Lu, near Wuzhou Avenue. Sat 16-Sun 17. Midday. 280RMB.
Storm Electronic Music Festival
Budweiser-backed, Shanghaiborn and raised EDM event, this year Storm brings The Chemical Brothers to China for their Mainland debut along with big-name EDM stars (not already hoovered up by Ultra) including KYGO, Marshmello, UZ, Axwell Ingresso, Mija and Laidback.
Shanghai International Music Village No. 188 Lane 399, Shendi Dong Lu. Sat 23 -Sun 24. Midday. 780RMB per day; 680-1,080RMB two-day (presale).
OneRepublic
American pop-rockers bestknown for their global hits ‘Apologize’ and ‘Counting Stars’, are set to return to Shanghai to play the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Mercedes-Benz Arena 1200 Shibo Avenue, near Shangnan Lu. Wed 27. 8pm. 380-1,280RMB.
Food and Drink
China Restaurant Week 11th edition
China Restaurant Week by DiningCity returns with restaurants all over Shanghai offering great deals on multi-course set lunches and dinners. From Thursday 31 to Sunday 10 September, this delicious occasion will see hundreds of top restaurants preparing 11 days of special dining feasts, with lunches from 68RMB and dinners from 108RMB.
Various locations around Shanghai. See restaurantweek.cn for more details.
SIP Cocktail Festival
Social Supply is teaming up with Thirsty Work Productions (creators of DRiNK Magazine) for a two-day cocktail festival, bringing together ten of the city’s top bartenders on one rooftop at the McKinnon Hotel – including Eddy Yang (Tailor Group), Yao Lu (Union Trading Co) and Daniel An (Shrine).
The McKinnon Hotel Shanghai 1013 Beijing Xi Lu, near Jiangning Lu. Sat 23-Sun 24. Midday. 100-180RMB.
Things to Do
KFK Presents: Mark Normand
New York comedian Mark Normand – featured on the likes of Last Comic Standing and Inside Amy Schumer – is coming to Kung Fu Komedy for three headline shows. You’d be downright foolish to miss your chance to see him in action.
Kung Fu Komedy Club 1 Xiangyang Bei Lu, near Julu Lu. Fri 15 and Sat 16. 9pm Fri; 8pm and 10pm Sat. 200RMB; 170RMB (presale); 100RMB (early-bird).
Bloody Saturday Walking Tour
On 14 August 1937, accidental bombs rained down on Shanghai’s streets and obliterated parts of the Bund, Nanjing Road and the Former French Concession; caused by Chinese fighter planes that inadvertently missed their targets when defending against Japanese gunboats. The incident killed thousands of civilians and injured scores more. In his new short book Bloody Saturday: Shanghai’s Darkest Day, author Paul French (Midnight in Peking) reconstructs eyewitness accounts from that fateful day. In collaboration with French and Penguin Books, Bespoke Shanghai revisits the events of that day in a one-off walking tour.
Location shared on RSVP (email info@bespoke-shanghai.com with the subject 'Bloody Saturday Walking Tour'). Sun 17. 10am. 350RMB.
2017 NHL China Games Shanghai
The Los Angeles Kings play the Vancouver Canucks in a pre-season game at the Mercedez-Benz Arena on September 21, ahead of a clash in Beijing on September 23. We can almost guarantee that there'll be plenty of flying elbows, sin-binning and blood on the ice – there will also be some actual hockey, like slap-shots and goals and stuff.
Mercedes-Benz Arena 1200 Shibo Avenue, near Shangnan Lu. Thu 21. 7.30pm. 220-880RMB.
Unravel: Press Play
The live unscripted storytelling series returns with more real stories from real people. It's a nice dose of humanity in this city, and given how previous events have gone down you can expect this one to be packed out. This time the theme is 'Press Play'.
Venue tba. Thu 28. 7.30pm. Free.
Film screenings
Dunkirk
You might already know how the May 1940 evacuation of France’s Dunkirk turned out: More than 300,000 troops, mainly British ones, escaped from the beach while being bombarded by the Nazis. But the power of Christopher Nolan’s harrowing, unusual dramatic re-creation is that it tries – with real success – not to make any of this feel like just another war movie. Instead there’s an uneasy sense of a bloody, strange event unfolding in that unknowable way that those on the ground might have experienced it.
On general release from Fri 1 Sep.
Slam Cinema
The best of the worst movies every Tuesday at Real Shanghai with a three drinks for 100RMB special, including beer wine and cocktails. This month there’s Troll 2 (Tue 5), Happiness of the Katakuris (Tue 12), Monkeyshine (Tue 19), and Tetsuo Iron Man and Italian Spiderman (Tue 26).
Real Shanghai 429 Yanan Xi Lu, near Zhenning Lu. Every Tuesday. 9pm. Free.
The Pearl Movie Nights
See a classic film for free at The Pearl’s monthly Tuesday movie night series. The line-up is particularly strong for September with Avatar (Tue 5), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tue 12), Pretty Woman (Tue 19) and Airplane! (Tue 26). The screening is paired with an all-night burger deal offering a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a beer for 88RMB. Plus, cash in on the pre-screening happy hour deal from 6-8pm.
The Pearl 471 Zhapu Lu, near Haining Lu. Every Tuesday. 8pm. Free.
Spider-Man: Homecoming Movie Premiere
Catch the private premiere of Spider-Man: Homecoming at Jingan Kerry Center’s Premiere Cinemas with free popcorn and a pre-screening cocktail party at Calypso.
Premiere Cinemas N4-01 Kerry Center, 1551 Nanjing Xi Lu. Fri 8. 6pm. 129-169RMB.
Time Out Screenings: Blind Shaft
Trapped by a life of meagre compensation and daily brutality in the mines, two migrant workers concoct a grisly scheme to get rich. They prey on the gullible: taking desperate kids, offering them jobs, then murdering them in faked mining accidents. Subsequently, and without remorse, they pose as the dead miners’ relatives to demand payouts from the mining company. But when a new boy who happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to their first victim comes along, one of the two swindlers begins to have second thoughts.
Glam Seventh Floor, Five on the Bund, 20 Guangdong Lu, near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu. 4.15pm. Free (but you need to reserve a seat. Send ‘Film’ to our WeChat to book your spot).
War for the Planet of the Apes
The Apes sci-fi series is back. Our hero, Caesar, is the sensitive leader of the apes whose peaceful nature is rocked by vengeance after his family suffers a calamitous sneak attack.
On general release from Fri 15.
Shanghai Queer Film Festival
The inaugural Shanghai Queer Film Festival (SHQFF) – the city’s first ever fully independent LGBTQ film festival – is set to launch this month, offering a packed schedule of queer film screenings, panels, workshops and parties. Free and non-profit, SHQFF is dedicated to unveiling queer issues such as society and gender whilst offering an Asia-forward model that gives Asian films and filmmakers a dedicated platform to develop.
Various venues across town. Sat 16-Sun 24. Free.
Art
Photofairs 2017
Acclaimed photography show PHOTOFAIRS returns to Shanghai for its fourth year this month, now sponsored by Porsche (it got fancy), and fresh from an inaugural overseas show in San Francisco earlier this year. The fair, known for hosting cutting-edge photography from the Asia Pacific region and beyond, last year welcomed over 27,000 visitors to see art from 15 countries worldwide. PHOTOFAIRS 2017 expects to host over 40 galleries.
Shanghai Exhibition Centre 1000 Yanan Zhong Lu, near Weihai Lu. Fri 8-Sun 10. From 100RMB. Time Out readers get 15 percent off presale tickets with the code 'photofairstosh'.
Stage and Theatre
Eifman Ballet: Anna Karenina
St. Petersburg's Eifman Ballet is known for its extreme physicality and dark adaptations of classic subjects; some (critics) feel this clouds the character work, others (audiences) thrill to these pinnacles of the human form. Decide for yourself.
Shanghai Oriental Art Center 425 Dingxiang Lu, near Century Avenue. Sat 9-Sun 10. 7.15pm. 80-1,280RMB.