Wan Chai, Hong Kong (page two)
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Wan Chai can get very busy and you may struggle to find a place at the bar during weekends. It didn't take long for Hong Kong to recover from the economic hardships caused by the SARS incident. In contrast, the seedier bars on Lockhart Road are nearly always low on custom. There is a very good reason for this and that is the cost of enjoying a drink in such a bar. No sooner have you chosen a place to sit down, you will be swarmed by a nearly naked and very tactile girl asking you for a drink. This will likely set you back two of three hundred Hong Kong Dollars, or more. If you are tempted to pay the early release fee to take the girl out of the bar with you, you better have a substantial budget as you will likely be relieved of two thousand Hong Kong Dollars upwards. The red light bars of Hong Kong are only for the wealthy and are probably not worth the money.
There are a handful of discotheques around this part of Wan Chai, such as The New Makati (above the Old China Hand), Neptune 2 (Jaffe Road) and a handful on Luard Road near a 7-11 store. The official cover charge is not usually enforced and you can enter for free. These are ordinary discos and not intended to be places to meet prostitutes. However, the reality is that there are always plenty of single girls to be found in these nightclubs because they are supplied with free drinks by the bar staff while they are waiting for a client to come along. If a customer decides to buy one of these freelancing girls a drink, you can be almost certain that they are secretly being paid a commission for that drink from the bar. Drinks in discos cost around forty to seventy Hong Kong Dollars, including draft and bottled beer. If you are drinking alone and a woman approaches you with a suggestion you leave together, expected to be one to two thousand Hong Kong Dollars lighter by the end of the evening.
However, don't assume all the girls you will meet in discos are working. You may inadvertently insult someone who's just out for fun with her friends.
Again, the mix of nationalities is mainland Chinese, Thai, Filipino domestic workers on a night out, Vietnamese and Indonesian.
You shouldn't think that Wan Chai is only a place to go if you're looking for naughty nightlife because it's not. There are some great fun bars to spend the night and enjoy a few beers with both expats and locals. You may want to avoid the area if there are any American soldiers on shore leave though. It is also a major shopping and business district, almost and extension of the shopper's paradise that is Causeway Bay, just a few blocks further on.
If you are on a short visit to Hong Kong, Wan Chai is a good choice as a base due to it's concentration of hotels, restaurants and nightlife that will keep you entertained during your stay, whether your looking for a night out with friends or traveling solo. It is also very well served by public transport, making other parts of Hong Kong easy to reach and making Wan Chai easy to find if you're staying in another area. Not only that, the Wan Chai Star Ferry pier is a short walk, making it a breeze to get to the Kowloon side of the harbor and affording you stunning views of the city. Hong Kong can be a very expensive city but with a little caution and moderation, you won't break the bank.
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