Life In 19x19

I'm looking for some places in Shanghai to play Go. Preferably where they speak English.
I went to Fuxing Park yesterday, but people were only playing Chinese chess and Mahjong.
Because I don't read (or speak) any Chinese I have not been able to find something useful on Google either.

http://senseis.xmp.net/?WeiqiPlacesInChina has several entries for Shanghai that seem to be reasonably recent (2012).

freegame wrote:I'm looking for some places in Shanghai to play Go. Preferably where they speak English.
I went to Fuxing Park yesterday, but people were only playing Chinese chess and Mahjong.
Because I don't read (or speak) any Chinese I have not been able to find something useful on Google either.

Hi,

I live in Shanghai and play Go here on a regular basis. There are many clubs and 'salons' you can go to. There are some where no one speaks English and some where there are plenty of English speakers. In the parks they usually play cards, mahjong and xiangqi as you mentioned although sometimes you'll find some people playing go. There was also a western go club running for a while, but since the players were too spread out and had different schedules etc it didn't work out well.

Anyways, either drop me a line here on the forum or even better send me a text or give me a call at 15026685124 and I can give you some tips. I guess it would be helpful also if you let me know where in Shanghai you are.

Cheers,
Charlie

Thanks. I'll get in touch.

PS: I live near Jinqiao Road station

Is it a good idea to go out to Salons and look for games in China? It may be different, but my travel books suggest to stick to the group tours and not go to the salons/bars/clubs etc. without a native guide(a native guide that is familiar with that area of China even). Is go an exception to this?

SmoothOper wrote:Is it a good idea to go out to Salons and look for games in China? It may be different, but my travel books suggest to stick to the group tours and not go to the salons/bars/clubs etc. without a native guide(a native guide that is familiar with that area of China even). Is go an exception to this?

China is usually not that unsafe. In this case we are talking Shanghai which is an international city full of foreigners who don't know any Chinese and who go to much shadier places than Go salons, and mostly that's fine. But China is big, so there are huge areas where I'd be more careful than I am in SH. In general there is always some risk involved when you move about in places you don't know, no matter what the country, but you can get far on just street-smarts.

When talking go playing places I guess the only places you might wanna be careful of are the privately owned betting salons. They are usually just an apartment somewhere where people play mahjong, cards, go etc for money. These places are illegal, so everything going on there is under the radar - which means you might get tricked. You don't wanna go to a place like that unless you are taken by someone you trust. Other than that, go clubs in China are the safest places. There will be old guys smoking like chimneys next to little 6-year-old dan players and in general friendly people. No problem at all!

Hi,
I also live in Shanghai, a friend of mine told me, that some people used to play almost every weekend in Heping park, near Siping lu station on line 10. I am planning to check it out next weekend.
I haven't met too many people here who are playing regularly, so I would be really glad to get together sometime to play! I might give you a call as well if you don't mind! btw I live near Zhongshan park.

matyas wrote:Hi,
I also live in Shanghai, a friend of mine told me, that some people used to play almost every weekend in Heping park, near Siping lu station on line 10. I am planning to check it out next weekend.
I haven't met too many people here who are playing regularly, so I would be really glad to get together sometime to play! I might give you a call as well if you don't mind! btw I live near Zhongshan park.

Hey matyas,

Cool, I live by Zhongshan Park as well atm. Just give me a call whenever.

Peace,
Charlie

Oh no! It's very sad to hear the club in Shanghai didn't work out!!

So, I will be going to Shanghai as well, and was wondering if you guys got any updates.
That Senseis page is a bit out of date now, so if anybody can give any tips that would be lovely.

kivi wrote:So, I will be going to Shanghai as well, and was wondering if you guys got any updates.
That Senseis page is a bit out of date now, so if anybody can give any tips that would be lovely.

Kivi, send me a PM. I will set you up once you arrive. I am living in Shanghai and quite connected with the scene both here and in Beijing.

I sent a PM cdybeijing, thanks.

I also got a reply from Shen Yao, the reddit guy (linked at SL page). Apparently they still meet at the place close to Xinzhuang Station.

kivi wrote:I sent a PM cdybeijing, thanks.

I also got a reply from Shen Yao, the reddit guy (linked at SL page). Apparently they still meet at the place close to Xinzhuang Station.

Yes they do, second Sunday of every month. It's a great event.

Hi, cdybeijing, and/or others, I'm here in Shanghai for a visit and am curious to check out the go scene. Do you know if that Sunday thing is still happening? Also, has anyone ever been to this place: http://www.youhuangli.cn/ ? I think it's mostly a guqin place, but apparently they have go on Saturdays.

Mikebass14 wrote:Hi, cdybeijing, and/or others, I'm here in Shanghai for a visit and am curious to check out the go scene. Do you know if that Sunday thing is still happening? Also, has anyone ever been to this place: http://www.youhuangli.cn/ ? I think it's mostly a guqin place, but apparently they have go on Saturdays.

They are still playing in Xinzhuang on Sundays!