After-hours favourite Amber reopens and Arkham set to return

It’s been a tumultuous few months for Shanghai nightlife, thanks in no small part to the two biggest alternative clubs being closed – one permanently and one seemingly not.

Arkham has been shut since November after being asked to make changes to do with its classification as an underground venue. At first they said it’d just be for the weekend, but months on, there’s no end in sight yet. It looks like the recent approach to licensing for basement venues may mean an end for the Wulumuqi Lu space, circumstances similar to those that brought down The Shelter. There are however reports that the club will be reopening in a new space in the now-gentrified Found 158 space on Julu Lu, but there's no official word just yet.

Speaking of The Shelter, fans of bass and grime will be glad to hear of rumours that the team behind the Yongfu Lu club are searching for a new space. However it seems like a return, if any, is still some way off.

Trying to fill the void, amongst others, is DADA. They’ve recently finished a comprehensive refit – fresh soundsystem, an improved bar and a fresh layout. They’ve also got two new regular nights, with hip-hop dons Come Correct Crew every Wednesday night and Hungarian producer/ DJ High Love presenting Kilocon Takeover on Thursdays, promising ‘the sounds and beats of tomorrow, influenced by bass, classic house, RnB, hip-hop and soul music’. Other displaced Shelter crews such as VOID and Genome are for now upping sticks to DADA, Elevator or both.

And in good news, notorious after-hours club Amber has reopened. Its second incarnation shuttered in March 2016, and the city wasn’t quite the same without the late-night den of iniquity. You can find the new iteration at 698 Nanjing Xi Lu.