We've rounded up the city's best indoor activities for when the weather outside is truly miserable.
Bats and beers at Cages
Cages Bar and Sports in Jingan is the ultimate rainy day hangout. Try out the batting cages, where you’ve got a pick of either slow-pitch softball or baseball at 50-70km per hour speeds. If you’re keen on the classics, there are pool tables, dart boards (electronic and standard), foosball and even ‘ice’ hockey. Or climb inside some large inflatable balls for Cages’ now-notorious ‘bubble football’. They also screen live sporting events, the bar is well stocked with a variety of alcoholic beverages, and they also serve a range of classic American sports bar-style snacks.
Cages Bar and Sports Third floor, Jing'an Sports Centre 428 Jiangning Lu, near Wuding Lu, Jingan district. Open 9am-2pm daily.
Laser tag and more at Big E
Shanghai has seen laser tag venues with built in bars (thanks to X Club) and even golfing bars (thanks to the now closed Urban 18). However, a concept that combined all three had not yet been dared until Big E came along. Calling itself ‘China’s first themed entertainment centre’. Co-created by Eric Oetting, a partner at popular Jinxian Lu Belgian bar De Refter, Big E is located right outside Dongchang Lu metro station, one stop east of Lujiazui (follow signs from Exit 3). Seek refuge from the Shanghai rain with mini golf, laser tag, KTV and more.
Big E B2, World Plaza, 855 Pudong Nan Lu, near Dongchang Lu, Pudong. Open midday-2am Mon-Fri; 10am-2am Sat-Sun.
Shoot stuff with guns and arrows
One of the benefits of China’s lax attitudes towards security is that you can gain use of a firearm here by simply showing a cashier a scan of your passport. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in upon a rainy afternoon, check out East Shanghai Shooting and Archery Club. Once you’ve done that you get to choose from a Baikal rifle or a Sig Sauer, Beretta 87 .22, Walther or Pardini pistol and slug out bullets at 10RMB a pop (8RMB for the Walther) towards a paper target in a ramshackle range. It’s great fun but for novices it’ll take at least ten shots to get your schema sorted, so the bullet costs soon add up. A more wallet-friendly option is the archery range, where it’s 25RMB for ten arrows.
East Shanghai Shooting and Archery Club 663 Hongqiao Lu, near Panyu Lu, Xuhui district. Open 10am-10pm daily.
Solve puzzles against the clock at Mr X
The rock climbing wall at the Shanghai Stadium is the highest and best indoor wall in China, though it barely qualifies as indoor, being on the very outer edges of the stadium (and thus chilly in winter). There are eight main walls, stretching up to 20m high, with two easy walls and then a succession of increasingly tricky climbs, as well as a large bouldering area (rope-free climbing above soft mats) with plenty of routes.
Mr X Building 1, 550 Jumen Lu, near Quxi Lu, Huangpu district. Open 10am-3am daily.
Singing in the rain...sort of
Everyone loves a bit of KTV, and there's no better time to belt out some classics than when it's raining outside. Rainy day appropriate songs could include 'Umbrella', Rihanna ft Jay-Z, 'Rain Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head', B.J.Thomas, 'Purple Rain', Prince and of course 'Singin' In The Rain' from the musical of the same name.
Long press and extract the QR code below for a list of our favourite KTV joints.
Get a massage
Coupled with the relaxing sound of rain falling outside, nothing will help you unwind like a quality massage. In a city littered with spas, it can be tough to find the best value for money Opt for tuina, or Chinese-style massage, and you can relax and rejuvenate for under 100RMB.
Long press and extract the QR code below for a list of our favourite massage parlours.
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