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Q: Do you find night-life (or street-life) here more active than that back home?
Being from London my answer to this is an unquestionable 'yes'. Londoners get out and about and socialize like anybody else but as for street-life it dies a death after 8pm unless you're in Leicester Square, but here the streets are teeming and busy with people ballroom dancing, Latin dancing, sitting out on the pavements to play cards and have a meal and a drink, and the local square is a hive of activity, kids racing around on roller skates, all the grannies dancing of course, people practising tai chi, martial arts, strange exercise activities involving ping-pong bat-sized things that you balance balls on, people practising sword-play, kids playing all sorts of games, blowing bubbles, riding their bikes, all sorts. In London past 8 o'clock most people are either in the pub or watching The X-Factor, but i've not lived anywhere else, so how does China's night-life compare with that back home?
Can't compare it with my hometown. When I say night life it doesn't just mean KFC, Mackers, KTVs, bars, discotechques etc. I mean shopping, eats, chill out places. Where I come from I can go out at 3am in the morning and still have any food I like, Malay, Indian,Chinese, Continental....the lot. Even in Shanghai and Beijing I can't get this. Want Indian food at 4am? No problem, head down to Syed Alwi Road. Chinese? Go to Temple Street. Still haven't partied enough? There's the Warehouse and Zouk. Shopping closes after 10pm. Food is around the clock. Pubs, clubs, KTVs close at 5am. Here? Shopping district is dead at 8pm. KTVs and pubs at 2am at best. And you'll be spoilt for choice where I live.
Scandinavian:
This is one of the truly great things about SG. Everything is there all the time. I'd flip the argument and say quite times are also good, e.g. go to Stockholm, Copenhagen or Oslo on a Sunday afternoon, and there is zero going on. That is great too, but man it is annoying if you feel like something.
I agree with louischuahm....China does not compare to my city, Los Angeles...Literally on nights when classes end at 9pm..i only have a few options of places to go get some food from or grab a drink..and I have to jump on my bike quickly because they will start closing at 9:30..by 10..everything is dead except KTV..which is boring as hell..I don't understand the fascination with KTV
Zhuhai is dead after 2100. Sure there is the bar street and a few other places, but generally, you should consider yourself lucky if you can even get run over by a taxi after 2100. The bar street. I poo this street. What is the fun in going to a place where you get ripped of, expensive beers that might be counterfeit leaving you with the worst possible hangovers, you might get slapped silly because you look at the wrong girl.
Nightlife for me is scaring old women with my dog. Or young men, I really don't do any target profiling for who my dog scares, nor do I actually try to make it scare people, but so many people are terrified of dogs 
LOL, Everything closes down at midnight, even the nightclubs. In America, the party would just be getting started at 12:00. Even when active, China has no nightlife as I define it. When I think of nightlife in China, I just laugh.
Hulk:
Depends on where you are. There are plenty of better options in China.
Ok, well i've miss-worded this post, rather stupidly at that as 'night-life' of course suggests bars and clubs and that, but i'm not going to correct the original post, not after input from four of you. What I really meant was the street atmosphere. What's happening out and about. In London people are going to one place or another but the streets themselves are somewhat devoid of the charm of activity compared to life here. But yeh, 'night-life' in terms of clubs and the like doesn't hold a candle here to that back in London. Bars here are pretty shite and the clubs are worse. I don't go in for either anymore though, hence the mistake.
I'm getting old.
tomcatflyer:
I know what you mean mArtiAn, I come from 70 miles up the road from you, Clacton on Sea. Night life there is the shops closing and staff going home unless you count just going out to get pissed at a few seedy pubs. The atmosphere here is one I like, the city is lit up, people everywhere and it has a buzz. When I go back home, which I have to for a couple of months work each year, by the time I have been there for a couple of days I am missing that buzz here.
Nightclubs can stay open until 3am then you can go out for a bite to eat for an hour or 2. Then the 24 hour convenience store conveniently sets tables and chairs outside its shop so you can drink as you like too.
Maybe you older folk aren't quite in tune with this scene 
I live rural in Canada, there is no life. Most stores are closed at 5pm. I was THE party animal in my early 20s, I don't drink etc much any more, never been drunk in China. I'm a night owl and always loved that I can go out after midnight in China and get street food. I see all the girls come home from massage and KTV and there are tons of them. That's just one spot, the amount of working women must be staggering.
It really depends on where you are. A lot of places in China shut down at 8-9. I've been to a lot of places where you can get food/etc at 12 AM to 5 AM, and that was nice.
Being Latin American I can't compare at all, China is boring and goes to sleep at the same time my great grandpa does.
If we compare French major cities with Chinese major cities => France win on the night life, much more variety. On street life, it's a draw. Much less affordable street food back home, but there are more things to do.
If we compare French small towns with Chinese small towns => Night life is about the same, with way more young drunk drivers back home (in my book, that's bad, it's a recipe for ugly crashes). Street life a bit more active in France: kids play soccer or rugby a lot, every small towns have facilities for doing sport, libraries, events are organized regularly, there are communities, etc.
I like the street life here especially the summer night in Beijing. People sit together having beer, green peas and some chuan'er (串儿?). Very vibrant. But I'm not sure the street life will be the same in wintertime.
