Here is a listing of some good bars for expats in Hangzhou
Maya Bar
Business Hours: noon – 2am
Address: 94 Baishaquan, Shuguang Rd.
Tel: 0571 8799 7628
Feature: When you want a place where the laughter is louder than the music, Maya’s your spot. There you get a range of the young and the old, the rich and the poor. Though not exactly new, it’s tidy enough so that you don’t have to worry about getting your white pants dirty. Who wears white pants anyway? Strong drinks keep a loyal group of regulars, but it’s still inclusive to the lone newcomer. Great place to start off an evening. Food available.
JZ Club
Business Hours: 6:30pm – 2:30am
Address: 6 Liuying Road (Nanshan Road)
Tel: 0571 8702 8298
Feature: Hangzhou’s premier jazz venue, JZ Club, continues to bring some of the best performers from China and abroad here to our city. The 3-story space offers intimate seating everywhere, with the first floor being non-smoking out of respect to the performers. The revamped wine list is one of the best in the city, and their selection of single malt whiskeys will satisfy even the most discerning of drinkers. Nice food is also available if you’re feeling a bit peckish. Simply put, if you’re looking for jazz in Hangzhou, nobody does it better than JZ.
Reggae Bar
Business Hours: 6pm – very late
Address: 131 Xueyuan Road
Tel: 0571 8657 5749
Feature: The Reggae Bar on Xueyuan Road near Wen Er Road is a landmark in Hangzhou’s ever-changing nightlife scene. It boasts 3 full floors to cater to whatever it is you’re looking for. The sound system’s slamming, the drinks are always what you’d expect, (read: good and affordable), the food, for a bar, is pretty good, and the various seating layouts on each floor allow you to hide out with close friends or make new ones on the dance floor. The 3rd floor also offers pool and darts. Check out the live music on Friday nights. Food and Bi-lingual menu available.
Traveller Bar
Business Hours: 7pm – 2am
Address: 176 Shuguang Road
Tel: 0571 8796 8846
Feature: Shuguang road is the bar street for sure, and this place is one of the old granddaddies. Traveller has been here for ages, and the reason for its staying power is the good, live music that they pull in. They even manage to get some interesting acts from all over the world. Talking and listening are both possible in this Swiss-looking haunt. Go early on the weekends because it fills up quick. Live music. Food available.
Ellen’s Café
Business Hours: 9:30am – 2am
Address: 58 Xueyuan Road (Near Huanggushan Road)
Tel: 0571 8993 6840
Feature: If you are in the market for Western-style comfort food then this is the place to come. It’s honest and homely. It’s cheap and it’s cheerful. No the food isn’t going to wow you, but then again you aren’t going to be disappointed either. Ellen’s Café is attracting exactly the type of clientele it had been hoping for with students and foreign teachers turning up in droves each night, but hey, don’t let this put you off.
Night & Day
Business Hours: 10am – 2am
Address: 240 Nanshan Road
Tel: 0571 8777 0275
Feature: With one of the best locations in town, right across the street from Xihu Tiandi, Night & Day is the place to be if you want to get your Latin dance on. The owners here have a love of jazz, good drinks, and salsa dancing to Latin music. They have a good, loyal, group of customers that give the three-story bar/cafe an air of familiarity. It’s normally packed to the gills with people dancing to the music in the middle of bar. Energy abounds. Food available.
Barossa
Business Hours: 11am – 2am
Address: 13 Hubin Road
Tel: 0571 8717 2538
Feature: Nights are nice at this bar with the choice location. There’s a fantastic patio area, when the weather suits. Have a tea and a hookah or a beer and a hookah. Pass the night passing the pipe and watching passing pedestrians on Hubin road. If you’re into loud music, head inside. They’ve got a wide variety of singers belting out music to keep the dice rolling.
MINT Lounge & Cocktails
Business Hours: 6pm – 2am
Address: Tea Boutique Hotel, 124 Shuguang Road
Tel: 0571 8799 5929
Feature: They have got mint growing all over the tops of their fences that keep out the street noise. As a matter of fact, their whole wine list looked great. The entrance at Mint isn’t that obvious from the street, but if you just walk up and to the left side of the main entrance to the Boutique Tea Hotel, it’s a breeze to find. If it’s a loud crowded place that you want to go to, stay away from here. If it’s a nice, private, getaway with quiet outdoor seating that you want to go to, try Mint.
Amigo Bar
Business Hours: 10:30am – 2am
Address: 8 Yugu Road
Tel: 0571 8880 9599
Feature: When you’ve got a free afternoon, there’s now no better a place to spend it than in Amigo’s. It used to be this small window-free bar that could barely hold thirty people, and now it’s able to hold close to two hundred and there’s not a place inside that’s without sunlight. This is definitely one of the most nicely decorated bars in town, and if having flowers is a must on your bar must-have list, then this is your place.
9 Club
Business Hours: 12pm – 2am
Address: 2/F, South Tower, Wantang Hui, 262 Wantang Road
Tel: 0571 8106 0813
Feature: One thing that was always hard to find in Hangzhou was a decent pool hall. That is, of course, until now. Located on the 2nd floor of the south tower at the Chengshi Shenghuo Plaza on Wantang Rd., 9 Club has set a new standard for billiards in our fair city, but to call this place just a pool hall would do it a disservice. Spread out over hundreds of well-decorated square meters, the 9 Club can be divided into 2 distinct areas: one for billiards, and one for live music. With 18, brand new, BCN and Brunswick tables, at least 2 full-size, Riley brand, snooker tables, high-quality pool cues, and an array of accessories available for sale, this is, hands down, the best pool hall we’ve been to in Hangzhou.
Vineyard Café
Business Hours: 9:30am-11pm (Kitchen closes at 10pm)
Address: 1/F, Zhongtian Mansion, 173 Yugu Road
Tel: 0571 8763 2388
Feature: The Vineyard Café has a little something for everybody. It’s a quiet café serving up Illy-brand coffee, a full service restaurant with delicious dishes from here and abroad, and a full bar, with big screen TVs and satellite sports. As far as we know, it’s the only place in town that shows AFL games live. That’s pretty impressive. They have specials almost every night of the week, and host popular events such as trivia and live music. If good food and drinks in a good atmosphere at great prices sounds good to you, the Vineyard Café has you covered. Free wireless Internet access, English menus and service are available.
7 Club
Business Hours: 6pm – 2am
Address: 43 Shuguang Rd.
Tel: 0571 8643 1517
Feature: This spot has been re-outfitted so many times it’s hard to count, but it looks that they’ve finally gotten it right, however they’ve left the outside as it was still making it very hard to find. Go across the street from the Dragon Hotel, and there is a bus stop with a small street running up the mountain just to its east side. At the mouth of that street there is a florist with a small cigarette shop next to it. Go into the unmarked door up that small street next to the cigarette shop and you’re in 7 Club.
