The

· French Concession The Cannery is the modern French Concession room that has done the most thoughtful work on baijiu integration over the past two menu cycles, treating Chinese white spirit not as a curiosity to be diluted into palatability but as a base spirit with its own grammar. The cocktail list runs alongside a serious small-plates food programme — a rarity in Shanghai, where most cocktail bars treat food as ballast — and the kitchen's actual ambition gives the drinks something to push against.

The room itself is industrial-modern in design, the lighting is warmer than the aesthetic suggests, and the bar runs late enough to function as either an opener or a third stop. The Cannery ranks eighth because the baijiu work is the most interesting in the city at this price tier, with food and drink genuinely conversing.

For the full ranking, see our editorial round-up of the 10 best cocktail bars in Shanghai, the broader Shanghai cocktail bars guide, and our category index of cocktail bars worldwide.