Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily

In a city as stridently modern as Shanghai, maintaining a cutting edge image aint easy. This is particularly so in the face of the monthly clutch of new bars and clubs opening, each and every one zippy, zappy and rinky dinky do.
The competition is fierce and yet the People bars, both People 6, which opened way back in 2001, and People 7, which opened a year later, are still two of the snazziest places in town.
Also, in a city where bar goers have such a gamut of options and are therefore shamelessly promiscuous, the People bars consistently attract a healthy custom.
People 6 can be found at 150 Yueyang Road, People 7 is at 805 Julu Road, near the junction with Fumin Road. Those first time visitors might struggle to find either place as their street-side presence is hardly of the "shout it from the rooftops" variety.
People 6 is on the West side of Yueyang Road, just South of the junction with Yongjia Road. Look out for the signature bamboo. People 7 is on the South side of Julu Road, a concealed set of steps set back off the street, just along from the entrance to the related Shintory Japanese restaurant, leads to the door.
Finding the doors of either can tax but that's nothing on the puzzling nature of actually getting through the door. An in-joke is played on would be punters with an, only moderately, amusing test required of those wishing to enter either establishment.
We won't spoil the fun but those unaccompanied first timers, if fumbling and overly refreshed, are unlikely to succeed. The "hilarity" afforded by those uninitiated in the ways of the People bars is perpetuated in another form, even once the main doors are successfully breached. We could spill the beans but it's contrary to the After Dark department's nature to spoil the fun.
Whilst these tests are gimmicky in the extreme, they are also highly effective. As a means of stimulating word of mouth, they work by provoking conversations such as: "Have you been to that place where you've got to do something with a light thingy in order for the main entrance door to open?" And since these bars have been around so long, this question will often result in the answer: "Yeah, People 6/7. It's way cool. First timers need to give themselves plenty of time when going to the toilets too. Phnaar! It's got the most gorgeous bar."
Industrial strength
It is imperative upon me to say that surmounting the various obstacles attached to getting in is well worthwhile.
Both 6 and 7 do have gorgeous bars that go on and on.
Poised on one of the comfortable leather stools, Bombay Sapphire and tonic glowing on the vast expanse of alloy topped bar, it's easy to imagine one's self in a half decent 1980s sci-fi movie. As somewhere to knock back a few drinks with a pal it's cool as an astronaut. The People 7 bar is nearly 17 meters long with 20 stools in attendance and it's pretty clear where Miura Sakae, the Tokyo-based designer, took his inspiration from: an airplane wing.
In people 6, the fittings are stainless steel where in People 7 they are alloy but both places have a bare concrete look to the walls. This may sound unappetizing, but with the gray carpet and the lighting pared back to just candles and tiny spots of an evening the effect is industrial strength, Antarctic cool.
This is squared with the exposed iron girders and warehouse type air con (currently keeping the chill at bay - not cool as in cold). During the daylight hours, the effect is more unfinished and nowhere near as convincing although lunching on the terrace overlooking the bamboo is pleasant.
At night, the floor to ceiling windows look out onto this small forest of tall, green, lit from below bamboo and this gives a welcome tinge of color and nature to the otherwise urban bunker type ambience of both places.
Passage ways, stairs, wings and rooms off to the side maximize the feeling of space and create the possibility of customers finding their own little private area - there are no private rooms as such. Plain furnishings with neutrally colored chairs and sofas and simple, checkered, alloy topped tables further the sense of minimalism. Even the ash trays are designer basic.
The music is predominately Japanese and French "mood" music and it is played at an acceptable level.
Due to the conspiratorial darkness of the place, the staff wear little winking lights to identify themselves and are vigorously attentive and obliging when called upon for another.
A bombay Sapphire and tonic is 45 yuan (US$5.56).
The dining upstairs in both places is modern Chinese.
Dishes available are good, prices more reasonable than the slick surroundings might suggest, but the portions might leave room for a pizza later; order accordingly.
When others were offering bog standard sports or assorted other bars from where ever back home may be the people behind the People bars brought Shanghai a healthy dollop of edgy, futuristic coolness. These bars are cutting it now just as sharply as they were five years ago and just as they probably will be in five years time.
Douglaswilliams@shanghaidaily.com