Swinging capital city has the goods to rock all night
Chengdu has a truly vibrant nightlife - as a city infatuated with all fun things should. The Chengdunese, who seemingly have a limitless capacity for celebration, are well served with all manner of bars, nightclubs and late-night restaurants and bathhouses, all full and pumping into the wee hours of every morning.
Virtually every district in Chengdu has - along with a teahouse and a hotpot restaurant - a bar, a club or a bathhouse for night owls. A conservative estimate puts the number of bars at 300, with 100 nightclubs. But no one can say for sure how many bathhouses or restaurants there are.
Yulin Life Plaza, at the corner of Second Ring Road South and Yulin Road South, is home to the Music House and the Empty Bottle Bar and a host of smaller bars and barbecue joints. The Empty Bottle has the distinction of selling the most bottles of Chivas Regal whiskey of any other establishment anywhere in the world - roughly 400 bottles on Fridays and Saturdays.
Right next to the Huang Cheng Lao Ma Hot Pot Palace, on Second Ring Road South, is a string of nightclubs led by the Babi Club, all full to bursting every night of the week.
The Babi Club has lately become the nightspot of choice for many Chengdunese. Previous holders of the 'cool club' title are the MGM near Tian Fu Plaza, True Love, in the Hong Wa Si district near Sichuan University's North Gate, and Top One, just north of Tian Fu Plaza.
New areas of fun and entertainment keep opening up as Chengdu maintains its momentum of growth and expansion. Recent developments along the south bank of the Fu Nan river have turned Jiu Yuan Bridge and the Old South Gate Bridge into bustling hot spots at night.
Jiu Yuan Bridge is the old wharf area from the Qing dynasty days, and a few of the new clubs and bars are built in traditional Qing style. A huge boat that was spoiling the view near the Old South Gate Bridge has been given a facelift; the vessel has been renovated to house three clubs and a cavernous hotpot restaurant overlooking the south side of the city, the Fu Nan river and downtown.