★ ★ The anchor club
Shanghai's flagship queer-leaning dance club inside TX Huaihai — one serious techno room, one big pop-and-hip-hop room, young mixed crowd and one of the best soundsystems in town.
If you ask anyone on the scene where to go dancing in Shanghai right now, Potent is the name that comes up first. Tucked on the third floor of the TX Huaihai 'young energy' mall on Huaihai Zhong Lu, it works as two clubs in one: a smaller room with genuinely world-class techno bookings, a beautiful lighting rig and a soundsystem locals rave about, and a much bigger room running pop, hip-hop and commercial house with a heavy international mix — American, K-pop and Spanish floor-fillers. The crowd is young, stylish and properly mixed rather than exclusively gay, which is exactly the easygoing, everyone-welcome energy the city does well. The Quarta & Armando interior is all minimalist lines and sculptural light.
Expect a cover most nights — usually from around ¥100, busiest on Friday and Saturday. Doors open at 8pm and it runs late, to 4am on weeknights and 5am on Saturdays. Insider tip from regulars: head for the small room if you actually want to hear the serious techno bookings and feel that sound. It's clean, well run and consistently rated highly by visitors. Watch their Instagram (@potent_club) for themed nights, as line-ups change week to week.