Shanghai Daily News

A mansion in the former French Concession is now home to one of Shanghai's newest nightclubs and its lovely manager works hard to ensure it has exactly the "right" atmosphere for the city's party animals, writes Douglas Williams.

The Dragon Club, housed in an old government building and architectural gem in the former French Concession.

Shering Yeung who definitely has a can do attitude. — DW

Imagine for a moment, dear reader, that you have never been to Shanghai. Now, if you can, remove yourself to your pre-Shanghai days be it to a Sydney suburb, a flat in Frankfurt, a log cabin in Quebec or an apartment in southwest China's city of Chongqing. Imagine someone describing to you a Shanghainese nightclub, the Dragon Club in the old, romantic former French Concession area at 156 Fenyang Road.

Set back off the street, you go through a gate to get to it and up a path to a big old colonial-style villa. The 100-year-old building is owned by the Chinese government - its four stories lit in such a way as to highlight its elegance, painted in brooding black and surrounded by tall, leafy French plane trees home to a zillion noisy crickets who deafeningly hail your arrival.

Inside it's dark and comfortable and the music is house and happy, the birds are up and tweeting before the doors close. Mellow browns and oranges predominate, as does velvet. Chill-out areas that can be curtained off allow for some intimacy, should the mood take, while outside, comfortable sofas provide the ideal spot to soak up the languid, tropical location.

I think it would be fair to say, if you were at all a clubbing type, your appetite would be well and truly whetted. Especially with big-name house DJs "on the decks" along with regular guest appearances.

The manager, Shering Yeung, is every bit as alluring as the venue. One smart cookie and with the looks to match she discovered the building which was almost a ruin, just over a year ago.

"I was just walking about late one night when I saw it. I climbed over a fence to have a better look and I knew straight away that I wanted it," Yeung says, a woman with the air of someone accustomed to getting precisely what she wants. Having been instrumental in such Shanghai stalwarts of high-end entertainment as Park 97 and Guandii, Yeung had the contacts and the backers to make it happen, namely a Hong Kong investment company.

Talk about a "can-do" attitude. "If you have the heart and the belief in yourself and in what you are doing you can do it," the Hong Kong-born, former classical singer says.

While Shanghai cannot lay claim to being the "prettiest" of cities it must be the frontrunner in terms of having the prettiest inhabitants.

Yeung has been in Shanghai for five years and when she arrived there was a distinct shortage of luxury clubs with the "right" atmosphere.

"In Park 97 we were full all the time. We were having to turn people away. They couldn't believe it, they'd say: 'Are you crazy? Do you know who I am?' Really rich people, but we were full so there was nothing I could do," Yeung says of her formative years in the clubbing world.

Not that setting up the Dragon Club wasn't without its considerable challenges. A house previously used by government officials doesn't easily transfer to a place where hundreds of happy clubbers can dance and rave the night away. "We had to knock walls down and strengthen floors, there were all manner of safety headaches but we achieved it in a month," Yeung says.

One gets the impression that during that month at her behest there wasn't a lot of sitting around going on in the vicinity of 156 Fenyang Road. Yeung describes herself as tough and with her walkie-talkie and earpiece crackling issuing and receiving information from and to her staff it would be churlish to argue.

"Now it feels really comfortable, like home and that's the atmosphere we want. We want people to relax and have fun here, we want people to stay till the next morning, dancing, drinking and enjoying themselves. If they spend a bit of money while they're here, that's good too," she says, ever the consummate businesswoman. "Actually, even at 6am, nobody wants to leave."

Entrance fee for the Dragon Club is 100 yuan (US$12.34) that includes two drinks if you're before 1am and one drink if you arrive after. Drinks are fairly standard pub prices. On Wednesdays and Thursdays there is a barbecue, doors open at 7pm and close at 2am. Fridays and Saturdays doors open at 10pm and close at 6am.

"If your pretty and successful, people think you must have some guy behind the scenes supporting you and that's what a lot of people think about me but I tell you, it's not the case," Yeung says with her jaunty hat at a cocky angle.

The club occupies the first two floors with the next two empty and crying out for some TLC. The building is an architectural gem redolent of a bygone era and must be treated as such.

"I'd like to do some work on the other two floors but presently the business won't allow it but hopefully soon," says Yeung showing her genuine affection for the building she has surely helped to rescue.

Address: 156 Fenyang Rd

Tel: 5404-4592