Clubbing In Hangzhou.

So on Friday I had my first clubbing experience at the Lava Club near Zheda uni. It was a "Welcome Party" for international students, and it was quite a unique experience.

I'm just going to write it in dot points..

Layout

There is a really big focus on VIP tables inside the club. I would say 3/5th of the space is devoted to VIP tables (1/5th to walking space, 1/5th to dance floor).
These VIP tables are just round tables with a circular lounge around them, and usually there is a waiter there serving each table individually, and each table has a giant bucket for alcohol.
All these tables are essentially facing the dance floor.

The dance floor is right in front of the stage, which are both elevated about 1 metre. It essentially looks like a catwalk. When you want to go to dance on the 'dance floor' it feels as if everyone else is watching you from their VIP tables.

The bar is the opposite, and it's sunken 1 metre into the floor. The bartenders run around doing very little and it's common to wait 15 mins for your drink, while they literally stand around taking orders and doing very little else.

The "ledge"of the bar is at 1 metre high from floor level, just where your hand rests by your side when you are standing. I assume the purpose of this is to make it easier for people to play a traditional dice game (drinking game) and hold it at that position.

It doesn't make much sense to me though, because if the bartenders are at a lower height than the people in the club it makes them more vulnerable to attacks. Also the ledge of the bar being so low means it's very easy for anyone to just slip something into your drink.

People

The crowds in these clubs differ according to the time that you go. The Chinese crowds typically arrive around 10pm, and stay until 1am. International students tend to go after midnight. The clubs close around 4-5am (I think).

I went with a new friend who was a regular, and luckily she knew a lot of promoters from the club and so she got us a lot of free drink vouchers.

The majority of the people in the club aren't dancing, they are just sitting around, people watching and drinking. 

- - -

We didn't stay for long, I guess we were all pretty tired when we arrived, and it was pouring that day so it wasn't really a good atmosphere to go.

I didn't bring my phone to take photos, but next time I'll take a few snaps to explain it all a bit better.