When it comes to style, vibe and pizzazz, three nightclubs appear to be leading the pack in Hong Kong - Dragon-i, Volar and Sugar, the newest kid on the block. Sugar is already a magnet for the city's trendy hip-hop and R'n'B lovers. StyleAward?s Nightspot of the Year, Dragon-i, and Volar need little introduction because both have reached super-club status since opening in 2002 and 2004 respectively. Hosting some of the most exclusive parties in the city, Dragon-i and Volar are known for their strict members-only policies, with fierce door ladies making or breaking your night out.
Long before Lan Kwai Fong featured in the lexicon of Hong Kong nightlife, Tsim Sha Tsui was the place to be seen. In the early 1980s, weekend revellers with bouffant hairdos partied away to the sounds of disco at Canton, Hot Gossip and, later, Hollywood East.
In 1982, the scene in Central began to take shape, with the opening of D-D (aka Disco-Disco), the original Lan Kwai Fong institution, and later Club 97. The latter was so famous it became known as the 'Studio 54 of Asia' and introduced a strict members-only policy, which lasted until the late 1990s.
And how can we forget Manhattan (later re-named ING, and now Tribeca), with its (in)famous no-jeans policy and ladies' night on Thursdays. It was the preferred disco and karaoke lounge for party animals throughout the late 80s and 90s.
Yuppies partied away at the now-defunct Y-Y, Judgment AD and Graffiti in Lan Kwai Fong, as well as at JJ's, which is still standing, but only as a reminder of the wild nights of yesteryear.
Then there was Unity in 1997, when the city's partying masses grooved to Paul Oakenfold, Boy George et al, at Hitec in Kowloon Bay. Thus began Hong Kong's brief obsession with raves at exhibition venues and clubs such as Star East (ex-JP Encounter), Pink and Tsim Sha Tsui's Bar City.