Nightlife in Amman picking up with night clubs and dance parties

Its late at night and the discotheques, music bars and shisha lounges that have sprouted around Amman are buzzing with clients, belying the citys old image as the sleepy capital of a conservative kingdom.

Jordans increasingly young population is helping shape this new scene, a tamer version of the Middle Easts so-called “sin city”, Beirut, renowned throughout the Arab world for its lively nightlife.

Actor Nabil Sawalha, who owned a nightclub called the Cart Wheel in the 1980s, has also noted the difference.

“Many years ago, there were very limited places to go out in the city,” Sawalha said. “A few people could afford to go out for partying or dancing once or twice a month. We used to do so and return home by midnight.