"CRAZY laowai" dress up in old Manchu costumes and jump up and down in front of a temple in Harbin - and get together for themed pub crawls and parties in Shanghai. Andrew Chin writes.

Shanghai is a party town that attracts fun-loving expats and locals who get together for pub crawls, parties, tours, adventure trips around China - and goofy stuff like a No Pants Subway Ride in icy weather.

They also don vintage costumes and jump up and down in front of ancient temples in Harbin, taking adventure travel to new and hilarious extremes.

Some of the events are like organized craziness, in which laowai (foreigners) really let go.

The latest bar-hopping by minibus was a Mardi Gras pub crawl last Saturday. The latest excursion was a Spring Festival trip to the Harbin Ice Festival in northeastern Heilongjiang Province and a visit to Changbai Mountains in Jilin Province on the border of North Korea.

The next out-of-town trip is an excursion to Qiyun Mountain, one of China's four holy Taoist mountains, in Anhui Province in late March.

Many of these events are the inspiration of two American MBA graduates, Johanna Hoopes from Boston and Brandon Woods from Tucson, Arizona. They arrived in Shanghai in February 2010, started Dragon Events, and held their first pub crawl in April.

It's believed to be the first organized pub crawl, though there are others today. Drunken Dragon crawls are the most regular and frequent.

They are building up a community of fun-lovers through pub crawls, classier limo "crawls" of nightclubs, boat outings, brewery tours, concert events and both weekend and extended trips.

In December, more than 150 people dressed up in Santa suits and took to Yongkang Road as part of Shanghai Santacon, one of the free "goof" events.

"Santacon was one of my favorites because you could feel us spreading Christmas cheer throughout Shanghai," says Alan Garcia from New York, who was one of the Santas. Many Chinese snapped pictures and chatted with them. Young women also donned red outfits.

"It was a great feeling because it can be challenging to find opportunities to interact with each other in our busy, daily lives," Garcia adds.

For Dragon Events founders Hoopes and Woods, one of the perks of their company is creating these mingling opportunities.

"It's really great to be part of the creation of a positive thing that's brought together good people and that's based around sharing ideas," says Woods.

"We have people now who met their best friends at our events," Hoopes adds. "We know people who met at pub crawls, started dating and have moved back home together. Just wait, the pub crawl marriage is coming."

Hoopes and Woods both earned MBA at the University of South Caroline and visited China in 2009 in the business school's annual China trip. A week in Shanghai inspired them to convince their professor to allow them to complete most of their remaining credits through an independent project - starting their own business in China. They succeeded.

"Neither of us spoke Mandarin, had any Chinese experience or worked in events before," Hoopes says. "And back then people were really skeptical too about the idea of a pub crawl in China."

Their first pub crawl in April 2010, just two months after they arrived, was a huge success. Hundreds of people showed up for a tour of watering holes. The next week brought a sobering reality.

"The first one was absolutely massive and the second one had like two people," Hoopes says.

"We fell so hard," Woods adds, "but we learned that you can't put too much faith in those opening events."

Undeterred, the two continued holding weekly pub crawls - less expensive than a private night on the town - and popularity grew through word of mouth.

Garcia, the Santa, attended his first pub crawl two and a half years ago. "It was pretty small at the beginning but enabled all of us to get to know each other. I'm still friends with people I met at that crawl."

Today, the thrice-weekly pub crawls attract an eclectic mix of students, tourists, locals and laowai from around the world, united in the goal of meeting new people and exploring Shanghai and its lively bar scene.

One time, several Irishmen, who had been on a Shanghai pub crawl, were traveling in Mongolia where they met a fellow from Texas told him that he just had to go pub crawling when he got to Shanghai. And he did.

The pub crawls and other events are gaining traction among Chinese residents who want to meet new people, both foreign and Chinese.

Rae Yan from Henan Province had a blast on her first pub crawl in August.

"It was a brand-new experience for me," she says. "There were many young people and it was a good chance to relax and make new friends from other countries. All the people were outgoing and wanted to make new friends."

Since those early times, the company has expanded to include brewery tours, boat parties and limo tours while collaborating with concert promoters, local theater groups and sports teams.

"We love having a million friends and developing friendship with people around the city," Hoopes says. "We want to hear ideas and if there's an event that you want to see, tell us."

The goofy stuff, like Santacon and No Pants on the subway, are free. Photos of No Pants were shared 11,000 times on the Internet.

Adventures

Part of the company's growth has been fueled by mixing business with pleasure.

"In this city there's a need for people who want to get outdoors, see some green and have an activity that makes them feel comfortable and included," explains Woods. He searched online and found Jerry Wang who is their Chinese counterpart in Dragon Adventures.

Their most recent adventures included stops at the Harbin Ice Festival, snowboarding, skiing and luge sledding around Changbai Mountains in Jilin Province. They spent a night sleeping in a traditional kang (a heatable brick bed in north China) after a bonfire party, explored Dongsheng Forest, took a dip in the Songhua River, drove off-road vehicles to explore the Valley of the Death in the Changbai Mountains and took the night train from the White River to Shenyang in Liaoning Province.

Back in Shanghai, the group plans to expand pub crawls to Suzhou and Guangzhou and stage more free goofs.

"It's like we have this share in this community," says Woods. "Sometimes we forget that it's a business but it's a business that's based around positive relationships and open communication."

Hoopes adds, "We're really far from home and for us we've built a family here – a team of friends."