A PROPER GAY NIGHT OUT IN HONG KONG - ONLY ON WEEKENDS
After having a crazy night on Wednesday and having a couple days of recovery I was ready for more, see the real gay bars and clubs, not the straight ones that give gays free vodka. I love the latter ones, but they are still not what I consider to be my home.
My research didn’t promise anything super fun, but still I got my shower and put my fresh look on and went out with couple of friends. The first stop was the bar VOLUME BEAT.
I was surprised by how western this bar feels. Arriving around midnight guaranteed that it would be packed inside and out. It hardly feels like Asia, even the amount of Asians is not that big as in other places. Loud pop music, video projections, it totally feels like being in Europe or USA. I met the owner of the bar - a very friendly gentleman who welcomed us newcomers (I guess most of other guys were regulars there). We had really good cocktails (80HK$) and a bit of dancing. The place stayed packed just the way I like it. We spent around 3 hours there and the place stayed busy all the time, which is pretty amazing for a bar. Accidentally we found that there was an interconnected second bar upstairs, which also has another entrance from the street up the hill. The vibe is totally different there - a nice place to chill and have some private time with a significant other. I loved this place and I’d totally recommend it for foreigners traveling to Hong Kong.
There were a few more gay’ish bars around the area that I tried to peek in to check out the vibe, but they all seemed a little unwelcoming to foreigners and consisted of a mainly Chinese clientele.
I was told that after any bar you go to, you will end up in PROPAGANDA, unless you are not capable to walk there anymore. It’s the only gay club and gay temple in the city (I mean village on gay night life standards). I’m really good with maps, but this place is extremely hard to find. Knowing that it's somewhere near mid level escalator does not help at all. Make sure you get your map and know exactly which tiny dodgy street you have to to turn into. We came around 2am which was way too early. I suggest getting there around 3am. There is a cover charge of around 200 HK$ which is pretty steep, but includes one drink. By the wee hours of the morning I'm not that good with my personal finances anymore, so cover is never an issue.
There are two rooms there. First one is like a bar with tables, which looked a bit weird to me, and it was kinda cold there (fix those damn air cons), so I didn't spend much time there. Also, due to the generally older age of the clientele. I mostly had my drinks and danced in the other room, which does look more like a disco. It even has stripper poles and a tiny vip area for bottle service. I'm not sure if it was the alcohol's fault, but guys in that room were pretty cute (largest percent of foreigners in Hong Kong).
I’ve been back there, but sadly I've never seen this club packed, still - quality always prevails over quantity.
Ratings from that drunk (as usual) night:
VOLUME BEAT 🍭🍭🍭🍭
hotness of the crowd ---------🍭🍭🍭
friendliness of the people ----🍭🍭🍭🍭
music quality ------------------🍭🍭🍭🍭
drinks --------------------------🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭
lights and sound --------------🍭🍭🍭🍭
coolness of the venue --------🍭🍭🍭
PROPAGANDA 🍭🍭🍭🍭 (CLOSED)
hotness of the crowd ---------🍭🍭🍭
friendliness of the people ----🍭🍭🍭🍭
music quality ------------------🍭🍭🍭🍭
drinks --------------------------🍭🍭🍭
lights and sound --------------🍭🍭🍭🍭
coolness of the venue --------🍭🍭🍭