Steaming hot breakfast in the front yard before the cars come in. While life on main street moves at hyperspeed and is always uber class, Shanghai still has a place for an older lifestyle that harks back to the days when only the basics will do. In the side streets and byways small businesses thrive providing affordable sustenance and services for the ordinary man. Pavement barber taps power for electric shears from a renovation site. A chair and a mirror, with the day's clippings swept up against the wall. Catching a meal on the run.

Take a seat. Join the conversation. Once the epicentre of intellectual buzz and meeting place for radicals like the League of Leftist Writers, Duolun Lu lost its mojo until it was turned into a pedestrian street cum cultural centre. Many buildings were restored and statues installed to pay homage to the luminaries of their time. There’s a rebirth of sorts, with visitors rediscovering their heritage as they stroll down the street, stopping to admire the historic buildings of varied architectural influences, or take snapshots posing with statues of literary celebrities. Other attractions include the old church, writers’ museums and the Duolun MOMA. Then round off with coffee at the Old Film Cafe to catch a screening of rare Chinese movies from the 1920s. Quintessential old style shophouses. Hongde Tang, church blending eastern and western architecture. Come sit with me. The Duolun Museum of Modern Art where the entrance is itself a work of art. The Ol...