Shanghai

Namu Yang

I arrive in Shanghai early in the morning and my first call is to my friend Jean Michel Dumont. Jean Michel, a young French men, has lived in Shanghai for more than 11 years, speaks fluent Mandarin and is Chairman and General Manager of Ruder Finn, the famous international PR agency. I had met him a few years ago on my first visit to China and he has become my main contact there. We meet in the lobby of the Four Seasons and decide to walk to XinTianDi (translated as New Universe), the stylish new business entertainment and cultural center.

Preserved and renovated because of its adjcency to the site of the 1st National Congress of the Communist Party, it consists of the tradional SHIKUMEN houses (stone gatehouses) rebuilt with a modern twist with restaurants, cafes and boutiques.

The Museum Jean Michael Café

We eat noodles and dumplings at a Cantonese joint while Jean Michel draws a simple map in the shape of a cross to explain the topography of the city. We then take a taxi to Suzhou Creek and Moganshan Road, a renovated neighborhood of old warehouses that now has become the center for galleries and artists.

ShanghaiArt, Shanghai's first contemporary art gallery is now one of many: Artspace, Eastlink, Artscene and lots more are showing wonderful artists. In an alley, where artists show and live, I discover Rong Xie and fall in love with one of his extraordinary photographs that I buy immediately.

Warehouse Art Galleries Rong Xie

I also admire the pencil work of Quing Sima. Jean Michel has arranged a dinner with Namu Yang, a very pretty folk singer, writer, celebrity about town and her friend Peter Shen who is opening a gallery. Namu comes from a South China matriarchal ethnic group, the Mosuo, by the Lugu lake, near Burma, and has written a book, "Leaving Mother Lake."

They take me to South Beauty 881, a fantastic restaurant with very spicy Szechuan food. Situated in a garden, the restaurant is modern and by it is a renovated magnificent old house that is a club. There is a party in the club house and as I visit all the various rooms, bars and private dining rooms, I smile at a very young attractive crowd of Chinese and expats about to have a long fun night

We go on to a party in The Bar Rouge, the fashionable nightclub on the Bond. The girls are gorgeous, I sit in the terrace looking at the Huangpu River and the view on Pudong, the financial center Lujiazui and its tallest 88 story building, Jinmao...the music rocks.

Spicy Szechuan Food Bar Rouge Lilongs

To fight my jet lag and sleep well I order a massage in my room... it is impossible to get a bad one in Shanghai.

The next morning I meet Patrick Cranley and Christopher Choa to have a Sunday morning walk. We walk the Lilongs or Longstangs, these urban dwellings, back alleys that form whole communities. Built in the 30's they combine Chinese ornamentations with Western style. I learn that they all face south forming private little streets where household tasks are done. Patrick is a consultant for companies who want to understand the culture and also gives guided tours.

Grand Theatre Park Hotel

Christopher is an architect and a developer consultant. We walk towards People's Square, by the Town Hall, the old racing club and its club house, now a museum; by the Grand Theater, designed by Jean Marie Carpentier, I admire the elegant Park Hotel, built in 1934, by Austro-Hungarian Ladislas Hudec, the best example of Shanghai art deco.

We did not go in the Shanghai Museum which I visited last time, but I insist on going to the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall to see the replica of the city and to orient myself.

Lunch is at M on the Bung, the chic restaurant on the famous street by the same name. I am meeting Angelica Cheng, the editor in chief of the new Chinese Vogue.

Angelica Cheng Garden Hotel

Angelica is the perfect modern Chinese woman...beautiful, tough, successful. She is proud and very aware of her booming country. We have eggs benedict and become the best of friends.

Jean Michel picks me up and we go to the Garden Hotel (from the Okura Group), originally Cercle Sportif Francais, where Mao Tse Tung used to swim. Next to it is the now old and new Jing Jiang hotel, the official hotel where foreign dignitaries stayed and where Nixon signed the Shanghai Communique when he recognized China. Across from the hotel, we walk by the Grosvenor House apartment building, a reminder of the luxury of the 1930's and continue to walk the French Quarters and the commercial streets of Mao Ming Lu and Huai Hai Lu.

The streets are bordered by what the locals call French Willows that originally came from Marseille and, every now and then, in the green enclaves, we can smell the osmantus, miniscule white flowers that blossom in October. The commercial streets are very busy; in the market you can find everything at every price.

The Face Cathay Cinema Taiyun Villa

My very favorite spot is the Thai restaurant The Face and its garden by the Rujin Guest House. Jean Michels favorite is the Taiyuan Villa, former residence of General Marshall and of course of Qiang Jing, Maos last wife. Both of these old houses and its gardens are a treasure and for me the best of the city. We go by the biggest shopping center Xujiahui, the grand Gateway and its 6 crowded malls and go for a drink at the Yong Fu Elite club, a magnificient bar, club restaurant designed by socialite, antique dealer/owner Mr. Wong.

Late that night I meet with Tony Zhang, Shanghainese-American entepreneur, in the VIP lounge of his nightlife complex, Park 97, in the French Park. Every dream seems possible in Shanghai. The next day I work all day, but at night go to a wonderful private dinner at the house of Chinese television star and cosmetic queen, Yue-Sai Kan.

Grand Dame Nora Yue-Sai Kan

Amongst the guests, is socialite and grande dame Nora, granddaughter of Sun Yat Sen, father of the Republic of China. The food is delicious, the conversation animated and the energy of this reborn metropolis very exciting. I sadly leave the next day, promising to come back very soon.


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