Nightlife

What you can expect:

• cheap drinks
• no comparison to bars in Shanghai or Beijing (less cosmopolitan, less possibilities for outdoor seating)
• ear-shattering live music, loud enough to drown out reasonable conversation (to be frank, it’s backward; Shanghai is different)
• Chinese regulars who are deeply absorbed in playing dice (as I said: it’s too loud to talk)
• the 1912 based (Blue Marlin, Scarlet) and Western (Blue Sky, Finnegans, Paulaner, Secco) venues tend to be more expensive
• be reminded that China is no cocktail country
• those places with 餐厅 (canting, dining room/restaurant) in their name also serve as restaurants; they tend to close early
• 西餐厅 (xi canting) means that the food is Western (pizza, burger, steaks...)
• I dislike the atmosphere of five star hotels. Therefore I don’t mention any bars located in expensive hotels. The only exception is the German Brauhaus in the basement of the Jinling Hotel; not because I like it or because I’m German, but because of the hotel’s strategic location at Xinjiekou

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1912 District
南京1912酒吧街区 Nanjing 1912 jiuba jiequ
Located at the corner of Changjiang Lu and Taiping Bei Lu
位于长江路与太平北路交汇处

Promoted as Nanjing’s Maoming Lu. Lots of restaurants and nightclubs. Popular with young crowds.

Since Chinese are very social they tend to go clubbing as groups. If there are ladies on board they seldom drink beer, more often they mix green tea with alcoholics (mostly Whiskey, give it a try). Group pressure is everywhere the same, with the same results.

Little Scarlet is an excellent place to watch this game. Buy yourself a beer and sit down at one of the tables in front of the club. It won’t take long and you see young anorectic girls staggering out of the Scarlet and vomiting on the street. When they puke they usually are patted by their friends.

Decide for yourself if you like it or not. I think with the crowds and the bunches of touts, beggars, vendors and taxi drivers the 1912 easily gets annoying.

Base 77 Music Bar
极地77音乐酒吧 jidi 77 yinyue jiuba
129 Hanzhong Lu, Tel. 025-84702006
汉中路129号
20:30 – 02:00
Pub with regular live music. Music is far too loud. Popular with guests from the nearby Crown Plaza Hotel.

Behind The Wall Café
答案酒吧 da’an jiuba
150-1 Shanghai Lu (Corner Nanxiu Cun), Tel. 025-83915630, 83686481
上海路150-1号（南秀村口）
Mexican style restaurant and pub with friendly staff and relaxed atmosphere. One of the best places in Nanjing. Nice patio. Regular live music (mostly guitar and cello), a bit too loud. This is what www.in-nanjing.net writes: The highlight of the live music is certainly Lao Wu, the self-taught Nanjing native who plays Spanish guitar so well, you'd think he must be from Spain. He usually plays around 8 pm Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. When he and the owner, Lao Dong, play together it creates what many of us consider to be the quintessential Nanjing experience (in a Mexican restaurant, listening to Spanish music but at least performed by Nanjing natives).

Blue Marlin Bar & Restaurant (Nanjing Branch)
南京蓝枪鱼音乐西餐厅 Nanjing lan qiangyu yinyue xi canting
8 Changjiang Hou Jie (1912), Tel. 025-84537376
长江后街8号（1912内）
www.bluemarlin.cn
Happy hour 16:00 – 19:00 (half price for all drinks)
Bar with upstairs restaurant. Popular with expats. Regular live music performed by Philippine bands which usually are hired for months. If you can’t stand the show go upstairs where it’s more quiet. There you also find a large pool table. Slightly shabby roof terrace.

Blue Sky Expat Bar & Grill
蓝澳西餐厅 lan ao xi canting
77 Shanghai Lu, Tel. 025-86639197
上海路77号
You have to like it, but it’s one of the few bars without live music. Chinese often are in the minority (and sometimes this feels good). Popular with expats. Large pool table.

Castle Bar
古堡酒吧 gubao jiuba
6 Zhongyang Lu (next to Gulou McDonald’s), 025-83619190
中央路6号（鼓楼麦当劳旁）
Nightclub. In respect of the décor old-fashioned, but Nanjing’s melting point. Students, expats, Westerners, Chinese, Indians, Pakistani, Africans… Large pool table.

Cheese Pub
奶酪时光休闲餐厅酒吧 nailao shiguang xiuxian canting jiuba

• 65 Yunnan Bei Lu, Tel. 025-83209118
  云南北路65号
• 4 Gaolou Men, Gulou District, Tel. 025-83378766
  鼓楼高楼门4号
  Restaurant and pub. I don’t understand why this place always is deserted. The patio belongs to the best in Nanjing.

Don Quixote Restaurant & Pub
堂吉诃德西班牙餐厅、酒吧 tang jihede xibanya canting jiuba
39 Chengxian Jie, Zhujiang Lu (next to Suguo Community Store), Tel. 137-70720343
珠江路成贤街39号（苏果社区店旁）
Draught Qingdao and Carlsberg buy 2 get 1 free before 21:00
Spanish style restaurant and pub with friendly staff not far away from the 1912 district. Two tables for outdoor seating. Decent live music (mostly piano). Try the tapas.

Finnegans Wake Irish Bar
芬尼根酒吧 fen ni gen jiuba
6 Xinanli (Zhongshan Nan Lu/Shengzhou Lu), Tel. 025-52207362
熙南里街区6号（中山南路升洲路）
www.finneganswake.com.cn
Nice bar without the typically rustic Irish Pub’s atmosphere. Relaxed owner. Decent live music. Outdoor seating. Unfortunately not really en route.

German Brauhaus
金淼啤酒餐厅 jin miao pijiu canting
Xinjiekou Square, Jinling Hotel, Basement, Tel. 84711888-4845
新街口金陵饭店
17:30 – 01:00
Home brewed beers buy 2 get 1 free before 21:00
A weird place with its fake German Bräuhaus décor and the escalators piercing the room, but if you have to kill some time at Xinjiekou it’s okay. Regular live music, far too loud.

Nail Bar
钉子吧 dingzi ba
10 Luolang Xiang (200m south of Sheraton Hotel), Tel. 025-86532244
罗廊巷10号（金丝利喜来登酒店往南200米）
Wednesday Cocktail Night: selected cocktails all you can drink for ¥150
Nice pub. The owner also runs the Himalaya Nepalese & Indian Restaurant (where you sometimes get a voucher). Live music just seldom.

Next to Paradise Bar
天堂隔壁酒吧 tiantang gebi jiuba
18 Zhongshan Dong Lu (Xinjiekou), International Trade Center, Floor 21, Tel. 025-84715730
中山东路18号（新接口）国际贸易中心21楼（大众书局楼上）
Cozy pub with Bob Marley and Cannabis posters. Regular live music. The windows could be cleaned.

Paulaner Bräuhaus Nanjing
宝莱纳啤酒花园餐厅 baolaina pijiu huayuan canting
123 Guangzhou Lu, Tel. 025-83233999, 025-83117188
广州路123号
Wheat and lager beer ¥45 before 21:00, ¥65 after 21:00 (500 ml)
Pricey branch of the Munich-based Paulaner brewery. In Munich the décor would be authentic, in China it reminds me of Disneyland. The beergarden on the roof terrace can’t compare with those in Bavaria (which is difficult of course). If you don’t like the food give German food a second chance, e.g. in the Secco.

Planta
72 Beijing Xi Lu, Building 11, Tel. 025-83699208
北京西路72号11楼1F
Happy hour 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Cool pub in a former factory, mysteriously most times deserted. Okay, it's not en route and it's not easy to find.

Scarlet
乱世佳人酒吧 luanshi jiaren jiuba

• 34-1 Hubei Lu (“Big Scarlet”)
  湖北路34-1号
• 8-1 Changjiang Hou Jie (1912), Tel. 025-84406922 (“Small Scarlet”)
  长江后街8-1号（1912内）

Both places are nightclubs. The Big Scarlet really starts late.

Secco Restaurant & Bar
喜客酒吧西餐厅 xike jiuba xi canting
3 Kunlun Lu (150 m south of Xuanwu Men), Tel. 025-83370679
昆仑路号（玄武门往南150米）
http://www.secco-bar.com/
Bar and Bistro 17:00 – 01:00
Wednesday 2 for 1 cocktails
Sunday BBQ, all you can eat from 17:00 – 23:00, ¥125
Huge area for outdoor seating, next to Nanjing’s City Wall.

Soul Mate
索味法式休闲餐厅 suowei fashi xiuxian canting
15-1 Nanxiu Cun, Shanghai Lu, Tel. 025-83328418
上海路南秀村15-1号
11:30 – 23:00, Monday closed
French owned restaurant, bar and bistro. Located in a narrow lane between Hankou Lu and Nanxiu Cun. Many students. Try the salads and the crêpes.

Talking Bar & Restaurant
对话西餐厅 duihua xi canting
9-101 Ninghai Lu (opposite of Nanjing Normal University’s main gate), Tel. 025-83200844
宁海路9-101号（南师大正门对面）
Mainly students. Small area for outdoor seating.

The Thames
泰晤士牛排休闲西餐酒吧 tai wu shi niupai xiuxian xican jiuba
65-2 Wangfu Dajie, Tel. 025-84204280
王府大街65-2号
Pub with upstairs restaurant. Large pool table.

Vanilla Sky Café
香草天空咖啡店 xiangcao tiankong kafei dian

• 10 Beiji Xicun, Gulou District, Tel. 025-57711778
  鼓楼北极西村10号105
  Often deserted. Outdoor seating.
• 4-4 Taogu Xincun, Shanghai Lu, Tel. 025-823202884
  上海路陶谷新村4-4号
  10:30 – 23:00
  Cozy little restaurant and pub. Ask the owner to put a table in front of the Café. Nice spot for people watching (outdoor pool table at the opposite side of the street). Don’t forget insect repellent.

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Last updated: June 6, 2009