The Shelter: Former Shanghai Bomb Shelter Transformed Into a Nightclub!

Shanghai has long had a vibrant nightlife dating back to the Jazz Age, and now the club scene is <em>literally</em> the bomb. <a href="http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/3174/The_Shelter_shanghai">The Shelter</a> is a new hot spot set inside a renovated <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/08/us-china-shanghai-bombshelters-idINBRE85708X20120608">Bomb shelter</a> that gives new meaning to creative reuse. As the price of real estate continues to soar in this city of 13 million, entrepreneurs are turning these <a href="http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20120609/107366.shtml">underground hovels</a> into the hottest places to hang out.

<a href="http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/3174/The_Shelter_shanghai">The Shelter</a> is one of the most popular venues showcasing Shanghai’s underground - as in subterranean and alternative - music scene.

The Shelter has taken over one of the thousands of former bomb shelters that are spread across Shanghai.

The Chinese government relentlessly built these shelters during the 1960s and 1970s due to the fear of air raids from the Soviet Union.

In Shanghai’s Xuhui District, which includes the historic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_French_Concession">French Concession</a> where The Shelter is located, local officials estimate 2,000 of these shelters are tucked under commercial buildings old and new.

After tensions with the Soviet Union subsided, the government rented the shelters out as vegetable markets or massage parlors. Many were lost as Shanghai built and expanded its subway network, but creative business owners keep finding new locations in which to launch new bars, clubs and shops.