ONE of the privileges of living in Shanghai is the opportunities it provides to explore an adventurous world of food and beverage.

The city has a plethora of bars and lounges praised for their views, history and traditions, house specialty cocktail menus and wine lists. Here are our picks of the Shanghai hotel bars that offer the best views, drink selections, and atmosphere.

And best of all, you don’t need a room to enjoy the these outstanding venues.

Jazz Bar @ Fairmont Peace Hotel

Address: G/F, 20 Nanjing Rd E.
Hours: Daily, 6pm-1:30am
Tel: 6138-6886

The Jazz Bar at Fairmont Peace Hotel is part of the city’s heritage. It was opened as an English-style pub with a live band and became famous in the 1930s during Shanghai’s “jazz age.”

Today, the bar is celebrated as a representative of Shanghai’s upbeat vibe. While the iconic live music venue has been modernized in its decoration and fitted with the latest audio and lighting equipment, it still retains its original feel as a jazz bar.

To rekindle the original 1930s atmosphere of the bar, six veteran musicians — whose average age is 82 — perform every night at the bar as the Shanghai Old Jazz Band, founded by Zhou Wanrong in 1980. Zhou, now 96 years old with a musical career that spans over half a century, still performs with his band members. For him, being a jazz musician is a lifelong passion.

The bar features a timeless cocktail menu inspired by the jazz age and bartenders can stir up fizzes, sours and sidecars all made with fresh ingredients. The drinks are accompanied by a thoughtfully-planned menu of snacks, European and local dishes.

There are four cocktails that pay homage to the hotel’s found, Victor Sassoon — the Conte Verde, Puss Month, the Champion martini and San Remo.

Long Bar @ Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund

Address: Lobby, 2 Zhongshan Rd E1
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 4pm-1am; Sunday, 2pm-1am
Tel: 6322-9988

The aptly-named Long Bar at Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund is a historic bar that’s famously known as “the longest bar in the Far East.” It’s also the place to go for a history-infused cocktail.

Long Bar serves top quality martinis and one of the best selections of spirits and whiskies in the city. A new drink menu launched this September introduces a range of carefully crafted classics from the original Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, first published in 1934, together with some surprising new additions.

Waldorf classic cocktails include the Bronx, which mixes Beefeater 24 gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth and fresh juice as well as Waldorf, a combination of Town Branch rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, absinthe and bitters.

One of the special new cocktails is the Colonel Sanders Margarita, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the founder of KFC, as the Long Bar address was the site of the first KFC restaurant in Shanghai back in 1989. The cocktail is a refreshing mix of bacon-infused tequila, homemade pineapple and lemongrass puree, triple sec, pressed lime and bitters garnished with a rasher of crispy bacon.

The bar hosts live music from 9:30pm from Tuesday to Saturday, with Frank Bray and his band performing the music of Sinatra and his contemporaries on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Sir Elly’s Restaurant and Bar @ The Peninsula Shanghai

Address: 13/F, 32 Zhongshan Rd
Hours: Monday-Thursday, Sunday, 6-10:30pm; Friday and Saturday, 6-11pm
Tel: 2327-6756

If you are looking for a glamorous and refined bar on the Bund, Sir Elly’s Restaurant and Bar, located on the uppermost floor of The Peninsula Shanghai is a top choice for a fabulous view of the Shanghai city skyline.

The Art Deco style restaurant is known for its modern European cuisine and was recently awarded one Michelin star by The Michelin Guide Shanghai 2017. In addition to the amazing menu created by French chef de cuisine Hans Zahner and executive pastry chef Lucien Gautier, Sir Elly’s also has one of the best cocktail lounges in the city.

The bar is located along full height windows overlooking the Bund. Vibrant red seating and blue-and-white porcelain vases also lend the space a modern, Chinese-inspired atmosphere.

Sir Elly’s Restaurant and Bar was named after the founder of the Peninsula hotel group, Sir Elly Kadoorie. A cocktail named Sir Elly’s also pays homage to the businessman and philanthropist.

One floor above the intimate cocktail lounge, there is also Sir Elly’s Terrace, an outdoor rooftop bar that offers a breathtaking 270-degree view of the Bund riverfront, Suzhou Creek and Pudong skyline. It’s also the largest terrace on the Bund riverfront. The terrace is closed in winter months.

Music Room @ Park Hyatt Shanghai

Address: 92/F, 100 Century Ave
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 6pm-1am; Friday-Saturday, 6pm-2am; closed on Sunday
Tel: 6888-1234

Music Room is a cozy, private venue in the clouds. Located on the 92nd floor of Park Hyatt Shanghai, this bar has a cocktail menu filled with stylish liquid creations that reflect the excitement of the Lujiazui financial area.

The cocktails are original concoctions that draw inspiration from best-selling favorites. For example, Time Will Tell mixes Ron Zacapa rum, cold-drip coffee and homemade coffee-flavored brown sugar.

If you are looking for something more exotic, Ferdinand is a special Chinese liquor-based cocktail that blends Wuliangchun, crème de violette, elderflower syrup and orange peel, with orange twist garnish.

The entertainment at Music Room features different themes from Monday to Friday. The most popular is Ladies’ Night on Wednesday, when ladies can enjoy free entry and free-flow sparkling wine, with music by guest DJ group Sound of Shanghai.

Saxophonist “Wink” Vastine Thomas Pettis performs with his band on Fridays and Saturdays.

Jade on 36 Bar @ Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai

Address: 36F, Grand Tower, 33 Fucheng Rd
Hours: 5pm-1am, weekends until 2am
Tel: 6882-3636

The Jade on 36 Bar has been opened for more than a decade. It’s a modern, cosmopolitan space where one can sip superbly crafted drinks while looking out on the Puxi side of the Bund skyline and listening to the sounds of smooth jazz.

Designed by Adam D. Tihany, the bar is enclosed in frosted jade-green glass and lined in soft leather, creating the impression of being inside a giant jade jewel box.

The cocktail menu features both classic and original creations that are also quite reasonably priced.

Drinks start from 20 yuan (US$2.9) from 5pm to 8pm, except on Thursdays. Ladies’ Night specials run from 6pm to 8pm on Thursdays.

VUE Bar @ Hyatt on the Bund

Address: 32/F, West Tower, 199 Huangpu Rd
Hours: Sunday-Wednesday, 5:30pm-1:30am; Thursday-Saturday, 5:30pm-2:30am; opens at 2:30pm every Saturday and Sunday
Tel: 6393-1234 ext 6348

VUE Bar is a comfortable and stylish venue located on the top two levels of Hyatt on the Bund, where one can enjoy amazing views of both the Puxi and Pudong sides of the Huangpu River.

The beverage menu features an extensive selection of wines, spirits and classic cocktails.

The 33rd floor has an outdoor roof terrace that includes four-poster daybed seating and a marble whirlpool bath. The resident DJ turns this venue into one of the hottest nightspots in town every night.