Last night I was invited to the M1NT Shanghai soft opening party with my wife (full disclosure: I am a shareholder of the club). I was still quite tired from my Japan trip because I only arrived in China in the afternoon, but we decided to go anyway. And I am glad we did, because we very much enjoyed it. The club is not completely ready yet, for example the restaurant was still an open space (should be ready for the Grand Opening in mid-November) and the roof terrace with jacuzzi will not open until Spring 2009 (this was planned like this, so there are no delays). But it looked great already. A typical club atmosphere, but one that can and will also be used for more serious functions.
It was a full house last night, despite a Shanghaiist article saying something different (even at 12:30 AM there were still lines of people outside the building who wanted to go in!). The Shanghaiist writer made some more negative comments in her post that were all quite shallow (a painting she felt was sexist, the place is too big so she lost her friends, the appetizers were not appropriate, too pretentious etc.), but I guess you can never please everyone. Luckily most of the people I met were very impressed by the whole party (and no, most had no idea that I am a shareholder).
What surprises me, however, is that nobody realizes that M1NT is so much more than just a night club. Also last night this was not clear for most of the people that I talked to and that visited M1NT for the first time. For me the main functions are more business-like, such as meeting guests in an exclusive setting for drinks or dinner. This was also not emphasized last night, but for most of the clubbing guests the business functions are probably not a main reason to become a member anyway.

I look forward to the first events at M1NT and of course the Grand Opening Party in just over a month. Last night was a big success and I look forward to spend a lot more time at M1NT over the next months. Hope to see you there!