Maoming Road S.(Shanghai) may be a great place to visit if you are in the mood for a few cold ones or looking to bust a move on the dance floor, but it is a lousy place to get a good night's sleep, according to those who live along the busy bar street.
When many nearby residents are heading to bed at around 10pm, the revelers are just beginning to arrive at Judy's Too, DKD and the many other late night clubs that pack the street between Fuxing Road and Yongjia Road.
The clubs don't just attract people out for a good time, however, they also lure in hundreds of taxis a night, with many drivers blaring their horns as they try to navigate the narrow street or attract potential passengers.
The problem also exists at several other major bar streets in the city, such as Sinan Road and Hengshan Road.
One woman who lives on Sinan Road recently complained in the press that her family has been forced to sleep for a few hours in the evening and then a few more in the very early hours of the morning since they can't sleep during the busiest hours at the clubs.
The family, which lives near Fuxing Park, home to several busy nightclubs, usually goes to sleep right after dinner on weekends, in order to get a nap before the noise gets too loud.
They don't have to set an alarm clock, as the sound of cab horns, which begins around midnight, is always loud enough to wake them up.
The family will sit up for a few hours before heading back to bed at 5am the next morning when the clubs empty out and the noise disperses.
A neighbor of the family, said he has to rush home each Friday afternoon after work to send his elderly parents to his brothers' home to protect them from the "unbearably harmful" noise.
As bad as the situation is at Sinan Road, the noise is much worse near Maoming Road, according to local police who say many residents call the city's emergency hot line at night to vent their frustrations.
Local police say they often stop cars from entering the busiest portion of Maoming Road S. at night, but the cabs just line up at the entrance to the street at Fuxing Road and Yongjia Road.
"When cars are blocked from entering the street at the Fuxing Road crossing, the cabs all go and gather at the other road crossing with Yongjia Road, which has several residential apartment building on the streetside," said Qi Wei, a beat cop from Ruijin No. 2 Road police station.
"Residents in these buildings really hate the noise and often keep dialling the emergency police hot line each evening when they get really angry," said Qi. He said the hot line received six complaints from residents during one recent night.
(Shanghai Daily news)
