Phebe gives the nightclub scene a frenetic fillip

• Source: Global Times
• [11:29 July 23 2010]
• Comments

Anyone who is familiar with the nightclub No. 88 at the intersection of Fumin Road and Changle Road will be prepared for what's in store for them at Phebe. For everyone else, brace yourself. You're about to walk into a world that will assault all your senses, apparently in a good way. The nightly throng of people cavorting inside appears to think so. An undefined sense of pretension and excess abounds through-out the design of the club – you don't know what it is that you want, but you want it, and you want it all. At the entrance to the club, the words "China's first nightclub" are displayed in Chinese. Clearly the expectations are high.

Once you get inside the club, your ears will be drowned with house music mixed with top 40 hits at a frenetic pace. It's the kind of place you can't expect to be able to have a conversation with anyone next to you at any volume less than a shout unless you want to stick your face directly in their ear. However, chances are you probably won't have much to say for a bit. Your eyes will be engaged trying to make sense of the spectacle or figure out where exactly you are going. There are hundreds of flashing lights sending an array of colors bouncing all over the room, befuddling new arrivals and bathing all the proceedings in a shimmering glow. There are chandeliers which sprout frond after frond of crystal bulbs reflecting the light. Gilded antique machines lie strewn about, including a movie projector and what looks like an electric water pump.

The club doesn't have a dance floor to speak of. It's more of a massive array of tables around a square bar serving drinks. Those doing the most dancing will be above you, on elevated platforms performing a pastiche of belly dancing, pole dancing or ka-raoke. Multiple performances often take place at a time, resulting in a mish-mash of all types of styles, reminiscent of the ever changing music surrounding you. Celebrity look-alikes abound. When the Global Times checked the place out, a Michael Jackson look-alike accompanied by a gaggle of MJ-ettes milled through the crowd taking pictures and preparing for his show.

As for the clientele, most of the patrons are Chinese, but foreigners won't feel out of place. In the sea of distractions and pretensions, man or woman, local or foreigner, guy off the street or MJ impersonator everyone is just trying to figure out where to get a drink and have some fun.

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