Helen's Cafe Description

The erstwhile favorite dive bar of Shanghai's socially inclined laowai exchange students, 'Café' seems like something of an inaccurate description of Helen's, better known for its RMB40 alcohol buckets and casual mid-week debauchery. 

Still, all in good fun. And Helen's is a dependable, unpretentious place to come with groups for a start to the night out with plenty of large tables and an upbeat soundtrack of top 40 pop music, from this year, and the last. And the year before that. 

Price: RMB30+

Who's going: students, both local and international

Good for: casual drinks, hangouts, cheap drinks, pre-drinking