The first instalment of our weekly travel link round-up, featuring Chernobyl tours and Einstein's favourite Shanghai hotel

Every week we find lots of bits and bobs on the web that we really like, but we're not sure what to do with. Usually we brush them into a big virtual cupboard - a "to-do list" that we rarely get round to. Not any more. Our weekly travelinks will be a small collection of travel miscellany that we find interesting, amusing or just want to share - new blog posts, images, hotels, festivals, people, news stories, yadda, yadda.

Here's our first offering. After the jump, find out how to swing a travelink our way.

Weekly Travelinks

• World Hum recently posted a great gallery of Sao Paulo's graffiti, including the paint-soaked Batman's Alley in Vila Madalena.

• In the week that Street View burst onto the UK scene, Google Maps Mania and Google Sightseeing have been having all sorts of fun. The latter's painstaking research has discovered naked people and celebrities.

• While researching Shanghai stuff for Tessa Thorniley's Shanghai Swing piece last weekend, we discovered the Pujiang Hotel. It has quite the backstory - this (old-ish) piece from the Shanghai Daily News offers a précis of the guestbook, including Ulysses S. Grant, Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin.

• We still can't work out the difference between Lomography and being accidentally brilliant at photography. But we like it.

• Chernobyl tours are increasingly the rage. Lord knows why. Anyway, this bloke went on one and took lots of pictures.

• The summer festival scrum is gathering pace. One popped into our inbox this week that looked particularly interesting, if not only for the line-up. The Sunsplash Festival in Antalya will be headlined by Jamie Lidell, Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay. Oh, and the venue aint bad either - on the grounds of the swanky Hillside Su boutique hotel, darling.

• Across the pond, NewYorkology alerts us to the news that master piano craftsman Sante Auriti will constructing Steinway pianos in the window of Midtown's Steinway Hall this month.

• Afrigadget shares the inspirational tale of Alfred Sirleaf, Liberia's blackboard blogger.

How to submit a travelink

• Email benji.lanyado@guardian.co.uk or georgia.brown@guardian.co.uk with the word "Travelink" in the subject field.

• Tweet any links to @guardiantravel, @benjilanyado, or add #travelink to your tweet.

• Post a comment below and we'll put our faves in next week's round-up.

*** Please no PR submissions. Thanks. ***

•  Tessa Thorniley samples Shanghai's live music scene

After a long hibernation, the live music scene is thriving in China's hippest city, with a host of new jazz and blues clubs

Standing next to a white piano, between the colonial pillars of a dimly lit lounge on Shanghai's Bund, Coco Zhao purrs into his microphone. "All you couples at the back, come closer!" he says, drawing listeners around him for a playful but assured rendition of Cole Porter's songbook. Dressed in black, with an impish trilby, Coco is the face of Shanghai's jazz renaissance, a sudden blooming of live music after decades of hibernation under communist rule.

Jazz clubs are multiplying across the city at a rate not seen since the decadent 1930s, when Shanghai was Asia's most glamorous city, bustling with everything from big band dancehalls to Viennese showgirls. Once again, Shanghai is an essential stop on the circuit. George Benson and Al Jarreau recently wowed Chinese audiences at a sell-out, one-off gig at the 1,600-seater Yun Feng Theatre, while late last year Gilles Peterson, the British world music and acid jazz DJ, drew a large crowd at the annual JZ music festival organised by the city's most committed jazz venue, the JZ Club (jzclub.cn).

But much of the talent is homegrown, and Coco, whose tremulous voice and ambiguous sexuality hide years of classical training, is leading the way. At clubs across the city, he improvises in English and in Chinese, helping to create a scene where western and local performers are feeding audiences everything from Dixieland to fusions of Chinese folk songs with swing beats.

Shanghai's colonial past is the perfect backdrop for jazz, and couples are once again ballroom dancing at the art deco Paramount Ballroom. Coco has his night, 4Play, at Lounge 18 (lounge18.com), inside the neo-classical former Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China on the Bund, built in 1923.

A rickshaw ride north along the waterfront, in the former warehouse district of Hongkou, is Chinatown (chinatownshanghai.com) the creation of skateboarder-turned-burlesque promoter and nightclub designer Norman Gosney and his showgirl wife, Amelia Kallman.

Gosney, who was born in Bristol, made his name importing skateboards to the UK in 1975 before moving to New York, taking up residency in the Chelsea Hotel and opening the Slipper Room, the club that sparked the burlesque boom.

The couple moved to Shanghai in 2007. "Burlesque had become a dirty word in NYC," Ameila explains, "mainly because it wasn't being performed well. It's about telling a story, it has to be clever, to be funny. It's not just about taking your clothes off."

Chinatown's eagerly anticipated opening is scheduled for early April and the duo have hired Joey Altruda, who helped score the movies Swingers and LA Confidential, to be their musical director. Also on board is a burly American, Frank Bray, who looks like a rugby player but croons "like Sinatra at his best", according to Gosney.

The club itself is a former Buddhist temple, now tricked out like a Victorian theatre, with private boxes, footlights, trap doors, and red velvet draped across every surface. Miss Amelia, a former Shakespearean actress, will put together a floor show, calling on the expertise of her multi-ethnic burlesque troupe, The Chinatown Dolls.

Further north still, in Shanghai's Moganshan Lu art district, is a monthly gathering run by one of Coco Zhao's pianists, the American Steve Sweeting, who set up a residency inside the Two Cities Gallery (twocitiesgallery.com) and plays everything from bossa nova to music from the central Chinese province of Hunan, to a crowd who come to sip tea and wine.

Sweeting, whose collaborations with the soft and sensuous sounding Chinese chanteuse Jasmine Chen have been likened to the work of the 1970s Broadway duo Barbara Cook and Wally Harper, draws a dedicated crowd of enthusiasts to an elegant and whitewashed space so intimate that microphones and amplification are unnecessary. For such simple instrumentation, Sweeting manages to create a huge range of sounds and tempos that provide a swinging backdrop to Shanghai's night scene.

Acoustic jazz-hounds are also making their way to The Melting Pot (themelting-pot.com), the newest venue in a chain of three across the city, situated in the heart of the French Concession on Hengshan Road next to the down-at-heel Can Can bar.

Ruby Hsiao, Shanghai's jazz matron, insists her bar is "all about the music" and is maternally protective of her house band, a jazz and blues outfit called Keepers of Swing (KOS), led by charismatic New York old-timer Ronnie Williams, currently Shanghai's most sought-after drummer.

Bigger venues are also opening at an exponential rate. One enthusiastic Chinese fan sketched a "jazz map" on the back of a napkin to show just how much good music it is possible to cram into one night in the city. Almost all of his seven must-see venues have opened in the last six months.

Brown Sugar (brownsugarjazzclub.com), a Taiwanese import, has quickly carved a niche for itself despite having only opened in December. Situated among the converted stone shikumen houses of Xintiandi, the swanky club is not faithful to any particular genre, but is packed out on most nights with glamorous Chinese, foot-tapping to the jazz and blues on offer from the All Stars house band. On the night I drop by, a celebrity guest singer from Taipei, David Huang, has packed the place with executives and artists from Shanghai's pop scene. Huang is best-known as a hit composer for Asian stars, but nevertheless flits from atmospheric melodies to grander, bolder arrangements of what is more pop than jazz.

Finally there is Cabaret (jozhou0519@gmail.com), a new club on the Bund around the corner from the Shanghai mainstay, House of Blues and Jazz (blues_jazz01@yahoo.com.cn), a sexier, plusher affair with a cut-crystal bar from which to order your bellini-tinis. Heidi Krenn, an Austrian Fulbright scholar, is an experimental musician whose style of singing behind the beat has drawn comparisons with the late Betty Carter, who used to sing with Ray Charles. Sometimes playful, sometimes soft and sensual, she interprets American songbook with a mixture of vulnerability and defiance.

While the city's newest venues are creating the biggest buzz, a music-fuelled session in Shanghai is never complete without a night at the JZ jazz hub, where all the artists mentioned here still play regularly. It's a venue that combines a serious approach to music with a party atmosphere and is always on the look out for the freshest talent in town.

Shanghai's famously fickle nightlife doesn't let the grass grow under its feet. But, for now anyway, most toes are tapping to the same beat.

• See cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai for music listings. Expedia.co.uk (0871 226 0808) offers flights with Gulf Air from Heathrow to Shanghai plus seven nights room only at the Astor House Hotel on the Bund (0086 21 6324 6388, pujianghotel.com) from £667pp, or flight-only with Gulf from £391.

Tessa Thorniley

• This article was amended on Saturday 4 April 2009. Heidi, not Helen, Krenn is the Fulbright scholar and singer living in Shanghai whom we mentioned above. She is Austrian, not American. This has been amended.

•  Video: A day on the Bund waterfront in Shanghai

On the western banks of the Huangpu river, Shanghai's Bund waterfront is one of the city's most symbolic venues. Dan Chung spends a day filming the scenes

•  Video: 'Neighbours take care of each other'

A resident of the Longchang apartments, Shanghai, takes Dan Chung on a hypnotic tour of his block

•  House of Barbie in Shanghai

A preview of the soon to be opened House of Barbie in Shanghai - Mattel's first Barbie department store

•  Shanghai nights turn chic with boutique hotels

It is known for big-brand hotels, but a clutch of boutique establishments is changing the face of China's second city, says Kate Graham

When it comes to hotels in Shanghai, size matters. For years international brand hotels have dominated, wooing guests with dizzying skyscraper views and hundreds of bedrooms. Crowds loved to mingle in their lavish lobbies, busy bars and numerous restaurants. Big has been beautiful. But the city is now discovering the small and stylish. Mixing historic buildings with personal service, a clutch of new boutique hotels are making their mark.

Design-driven boutique hotels are a long-established feature of most major cities. So why have they taken so long to reach Shanghai? At URBN, one of the hottest new hotels, owner Scott Barrack says it's all about timing. 'Shanghai has matured in sophistication. It's no longer just a business hub; it's a vibrant, hip city. As the lifestyle has improved so has the demand for hotels and services.'

In other words the newly fashionable and fabulous want more than a marble could-be-anywhere lobby and a bland bedroom. And while the new boutiques have elements in common (such as shunning the waterfront Bund for quirky locations like the French Concession, and using period buildings) they are also all different. For example, Mansion oozes old-fashioned gangster glamour while JIA prefers a fashionable hotel-as-your-home feel. For URBN it's all about the environment: it boldly claims to be the first carbon-neutral hotel in China.

The recent opening of Pudi, a boutique offshoot of the worldwide Accor chain, is a sign that the big brands recognise the potential of this market.

For now, boutiques are far outnumbered by the big brands. But with Shanghai's cool quota rising and a burgeoning Chinese middle class, it's little wonder there are bold expansion plans. In the coming year expect more Art Deco decadence and a boutique eco-retreat. Until then here are five of Shanghai's best.

Jia Shanghai

Jia means 'home' in Mandarin, a concept Singaporean owner Yenn Wong has applied to her playful designer boutique. Entry to the 1920s building is by room key or doorbell only, creating an exclusive and peaceful city retreat. While it is clearly in love with design (the theatrical lobby features cascading birdcages and giant bears as art), it's not at the expense of kick-your-shoes-off comfort. Each of the 55 large bedrooms feels more elegant apartment than city hotel. White walls and large mirrors act as a backdrop to eye-catching bespoke furniture. Subtle flashes of Chinese design include wardrobes lined with traditional wallpaper, and old fashioned local sweets are artfully piled next to gleaming fruit. The room rate includes not only breakfast, but help-yourself afternoon tea and evening drinks.

· 931 West Nanjing Road; jiashanghai.com. Doubles from £135

Urbn Hotel

Think China and concern for the environment doesn't naturally spring to mind. But URBN puts the issue front and centre with its claim to be carbon-neutral by offsetting its carbon footprint. Guests don't suffer for their principles; here you protect the planet through lavish luxuries and stylish design. The entrance is so discreet it would be easy to miss: from the busy street you walk into an oasis of towering trees and gravel. Inside the converted warehouse, recycled materials are everywhere: the lobby mixes reused slate with warm wood and there's a quirky feature wall of rescued brown leather suitcases. The 26 rooms are sleek and uncluttered, with large beds raised above a sunken seating area. Concierge services range from walking tours and cooking classes to language lessons and tai chi.

· 207 JiaoZhou Road; urbnhotels.com. Doubles from £103

Mansion Hotel

Most businesses are keen to hide their shady past; at Mansion they revel in it. Once the party villa of infamous syndicate boss Du Yue-Sheng, the beautiful 1930s building is now a luxurious 30-room boutique. The large lobby is a carefully cluttered 'old Shanghai' creation: antiques from opium pipes to photos of gangster gatherings are scattered between chintzy sofas and green palms. Guests enjoy high tea surrounded by polished gramophones and muskets. On the roof an open restaurant and bar offer views of the low-rise neighbourhood and skyscrapers beyond. The bedrooms continue the winning mixture of old-fashioned glamour and modern comforts. Perfectly placed for the bustling French Concession, guests are just a hop from antiques markets and lively local restaurants.

· 82 Xin Le Road; chinamansionhotel.com. Doubles from £150

Pudi Boutique Hotel

Despite being part of one of the world's largest chains (Accor) Pudi is all about personal attention. Enter the Art Deco building through a small side street and a butler guides you through lobby and corridors discreetly decorated with sculptures and tanks of tropical fish. The 52 rooms are ready for business but leisure guests will feel at home too. The design is certainly decadent: piles of cushions, colourful art and copper-accented bathrooms with deep tubs and separate rainforest showers. After an early breakfast in the guests-only eighth-floor lounge (champagne scrambled eggs are highly recommended), it's two minutes' walk to Fuxing Park, where locals practise tai chi and take dance classes.

· 99 Yandang Road; boutiquehotel.cc. Doubles from £100

Lapis Casa Boutique Hotel

With just 18 rooms Lapis is one of the smallest hotels in Shanghai but, tucked behind a shop facade, it's a genuine city gem. It may lack the bells and whistles of some boutiques, but it delivers the essentials with simplicity and style. The design has a Mediterranean feel, with heavy wooden doors, whitewashed walls and monastic arches. Narrow corridors are brightened by mirrors, light floods through stained glass windows, and scented candles burn in the stairwells. Bedrooms are decorated with simple white linens and dark antique furniture. If guests are inspired by the interior, they have the chance to recreate it - all the hotel furniture is available for sale. Best of all, you're minutes from expat-friendly shopping and dining haven Xintiandi.

· 68 Taicang Rd Shanghai; lapiscasahotel.com. Doubles from £75

•  China special: Tales of two cities

Arriving in Beijing or Shanghai - two of the biggest, busiest and most exciting metropolises in the world - is daunting. So we asked local writers for a few tips

With so many itineraries starting in Beijing or Shanghai, visitors can get two very different first impressions of China. Beijing (literally "northern capital") has been the political centre for over 600 years, but has only recently acknowledged its heritage; traditional buildings from the pre-communist past, once dismissed as imperialist embarrassments, have been renovated to lure tourist dollars and the Forbidden City recently lost its Starbucks: a modernist step too far. Beijing residents who lived through the tumultuous 20th century are often baffled by foreigners' interest in it - the wide-open space of Tiananmen Square, the ghoulish piety of Mao's Mausoleum and the dank, dripping shadows of the Underground City fallout shelters are all popular with out-of-towners.

Beijing food has echoes of the city's multicultural past, with noodles or dumplings preferred to rice. Don't miss the chance to check out the last remaining hutongs. A few of these old-style Manchu enclaves survived Mao-era demolition, but might still fall victim to Olympic hotel bulldozers.

Shanghai (meaning "on the sea") has long been a centre of river and maritime commerce, as reflected in its sweet seafood dishes. But there is also a sense of rivalry with the capital and it regards itself as a hub for fashion, fads and food. The future is writ large in many of the city's attractions, starting with the Transrapid Maglev train that catapults new arrivals into town at 430kph. The rocket-shaped Oriental Pearl Tower, prominent among the many space-age skyscrapers of the Pudong district, has become Shanghai's most recognisable modern landmark, supplanting the 1920s architecture of the Bund across the river, where European emigres once hobnobbed with spivs, spies and flappers.

Shanghai is also convenient for a look at an ethnic Chinese past distinct from the Mongol and Manchu influences of Beijing. In less than two hours, trains from Shanghai can reach three other major sites: Nanjing and Hangzhou, former capitals of China, and beautiful Suzhou. This makes Shanghai an ideal centre for a dedicated holiday of its own, for those who want something more sedate than a rushed 24 hours on the traditional fortnight's China scramble.

· Jonathan Clements is author of Beijing: The Biography of a City, published on February 7 by Sutton Publishing at £12.99.

Beijing

Where to stay

High style has finally hit Beijing with the opening of Hotel Kapok (+10 6525 9988, hotelkapok.com, from about £94 per night), right next to the Forbidden City. Its translucent lattice shell is a shocking contrast to its venerable neighbour but subtly evokes traditional Chinese windows and lanterns.

For a bed with real history, try the exquisite Hotel Côté Cour SL (+10 6512 8020, hotelcotecoursl.com, from £94), a courtyard that 500 years ago served as the imperial musicians' living and rehearsal spaces. Located in a protected hutong area and decorated in contemporary chic and classic Ming, the 14 suites are a peaceful sanctuary, complete with lily pond.

A more affordable (and less slick) hutong experience can be found at the Lüsongyuan Hotel (+10 6404 0436, 22 Banchang Hutong, from £57) - once part of a general's mansion.

In the shadow of Guozijian, the serene grounds of the Imperial College established in 1287, the Swiss Road Hotel (+10 8409 0922, swissroad.com.cn, from £47) is another courtyard gem. Its red-gated facade hides an ultra-modern lobby and the owner's collection of contemporary Chinese art.

Where to eat

In the early 19th century, travellers from Hubei Province in central-southern China feasted at Huguang Huiguan (3 Hufang Lu, Xuanwu District, +10 6351 8284), a lovely guild house that has retained its original courtyards and a Peking Opera theatre that is still performing. Today it serves classic Beijing appetisers such as yundao gao (a light pastry of kidney bean flour wrapped around tart hawthorn berries) or yuanmeng shaobing (small naan stuffed with spiced ground mutton). But its Hubei entrees take centre stage - lizhi feiniu (tender beef braised with lychees), sanxian doupi (golden fried egg crepe stuffed with sticky rice, mushrooms and sausage) and hanlu zhengya (steamed duck). Spareribs stewed with lotus root is hearty and warming.

The exotic southwestern fare at Yunteng Shifu (7 Donghuashi Beili Dongqu, Chongwen District, +10 6711 3322 ext 7105) - inside the Yunnan provincial government office - makes a change from the stir-fries more emblematic of Chinese cuisine. Try the lemongrass-braised fish, succulent fried cheese, spicy mint salad, or a prosciutto-like cured ham. Wash it down with a metre-high bamboo pitcher of sweet rice wine.

The mellow decor of foliage, tropical colours, warm lighting and playful carved idols make No Name Restaurant (1 Dajinsi Hutong, Xicheng District, +10 6618 6061), another Yunnan restaurant, one of the most relaxing and beautiful places in town. Cool down from a spicy meal with sweet bolo fan (pineapple rice).

For adventurous foodies, Jiumen Xiaochi (1 Xiaoyou Hutong, Xicheng District, +10 6402 5858) is a must. Just off the north bank of Houhai, several of Beijing's most-renowned family-run speciality snack stands have earned a second life in a restored courtyard residence. A stroll down the indoor alley is a time-capsule tour of Beijing gastronomy. Sample Muslim milk pudding, flash-boiled tripe, golden-fried meat pies, mutton liver stew and dou zhi, the sickly-sour fermented green bean juice - accustoming oneself to its particular odour is a rite of passage for Beijingers.

Where to drink

Beijing's best cocktail is found on the breezy rooftop terrace of Q Bar (top floor of Eastern Inn Hotel, Sanlitun Nanlu, Chaoyang District, +10 6595 9239), where George and Echo mix signature martinis and capture the spirit of the classics in a stylish, relaxed atmosphere.

For a taste of the good old days, before Beijing's infamous bar street was destroyed seven years ago, visit the strip behind the 3.3 Market on Sanlitun North Street. There in the Tongli Studio, a windowless four-storey building packed with bars and dance-spots, a band of Turkic-Chinese Uighurs called the Tribesmen play a polyglot set of flamenco-style jams and hometown hits at Cheers (+135 2044 6062) around midnight.

The best beer in town is at Beijing Okhotsk (7 Business Street, Phoenix City, Shuguang Xili, +10 5866 8552), a microbrewery-restaurant with a Russian name, German decor, a Japanese owner and Italian food. Okhotsk's food is just passable, but it's worth it for the pilsner, weisen, stout and ale, all served in steins.

The spartan underground disco White Rabbit (C2 Haoyun Jie, Maizidian, +133 2112 3678) holds regular drum'n'bass events, an alternative to the thriving big-brand laser-lit discos at the west gate of the Workers' Stadium.

What to see

While it's hard to enjoy a moment free from tour groups at the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple, all prayers for tranquillity will be answered at sleepy Zhihua Temple on Lumicang hutong. Musicians perform Ming-dynasty court music even for audiences of one - you may well be the only visitor - and the wooden Buddhas are wonderfully serene. A curvaceous white stupa graces the Tibetan Baita Temple, on Fuchengmen Neidajie, and five more can be found at Wuta Temple, just north of Purple Bamboo Park. Visit Beijing's oldest temple for a glimpse of monastic life - monks go about their daily business within the lush grounds of Fayuan, southeast of Niujie on Nanheng Xijie.

Few stretches of the Great Wall can compare in sheer majesty with the precipitous ruins of Simatai. A four-hour hike along the wall ends at Jinshanling, past incomparable views of battlements strung along mountain spines. Hire a taxi for the three-hour drive out (about £30); hikers can ask for pick-up at Jinshanling.

What to do

Stray off the main drags for a glimpse of Beijing's hutongs. Albeit haphazardly protected, they offer a glimpse into a slow-paced life, where it's OK to go out in pyjamas and play chess on the street.

The rapidly gentrifying Nanluoguxiang area has reached a premium level of hutong hipness. Plastered T-shirts (plasteredtshirts.com) appropriates Beijing's kitsch icons for their witty line of apparel. Pick up handmade, brightly patterned notebooks at Xingmu, or ethno-chic clothing and knick-knacks at an array of shops. Time has literally stopped at Sandglass Cafe, where it's always 8.08pm. For a more potent kick, try Salud's heady homemade spice-infused rum.

Factory 798 (Dashanzi art district, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, 798space.com), a former industrial site transformed into an art disctrict, is the nerve centre for modern Chinese art. Ullens Center of Contemporary Art (ullens-center.org), which exhibits many of the Chinese avant-garde movement's early stars, is a good place to get your bearings before plunging deeper into 798's maze of galleries.

Factory 798's grittier northern neighbour, Caochangdi Village, is usually braved only by the serious art lover, but don't let the scattered galleries daunt you. Check out Korean-owned doArt Beijing (doartchina.com), Ai Weiwei's China Art Archives & Warehouse (archivesandwarehouse.com), Galerie Urs Meile (galerie-meile.ch), and the outstanding Three Shadows Photography Center (threeshadows.cn) - China's first major gallery dedicated to contemporary photography, with a library, an extensive collection and working spaces to boot.

Shanghai

Where to stay

Jia Shanghai (+21 6217 9000, jiashanghai.com, around £135) is the first sibling of the Philippe Starck-designed Jia in Hong Kong. The neoclassical building on the main thoroughfare of Nanjing Lu has 55 bedrooms blending low-key modern design with quirky Asian features.

In a beautifully restored French Concession villa once owned by infamous gangster boss Du Yuesheng, the 32-room Mansion Hotel (+21 5403 9888, chinamansionhotel.com, around £135) oozes 1930s Shanghai opulence, with 15ft ceilings, gas fireplaces and stone balconies.

The 26-room Urbn (+21 5153 4600, urbnhotels.com, around £150) near Jing'an temple is the newest boutique on the block, and also claims to be China's first carbon-neutral hotel. The contemporary Asian rooms come with futons, sunken lounges and open bathtubs.

More affordable is the Old House Inn (+21 6248 6118, oldhouse.cn, around £60), a B&B on a residential alley. The 12 guestrooms are connected by creaking stairs and rickety corridors but come adorned with Ming-style furniture.

Where to eat

Fu 1088 (375 Zhenning Lu, by Yuyuan Lu, +21 5239 7878) is too new for the guidebooks, but it may well be the city's best Shanghainese restaurant. This opulent three-storey mansion serves modern but undeniably Shanghainese food: slightly oily and sweet, with delicate flavours. Try the crystal shrimp with fresh peas and the delicate xiaolongbao filled dumplings. For a mid-priced alternative, try Yuan Yuan (201 Xingguo Lu, by Taian Lu, +21 6433 9123).

Central China's Hunan province is renowned for its repertoire of heavy, sour, hot and salty flavours. Authentic Hunanese food is rarely found outside China, so be sure to try it while you are here. In Shanghai, Di Shui Dong (56 Maoming Nan Lu, by Changle Lu, +21 6253 2689) is an excellent, inexpensive place to try mouthwatering, tongue-numbing favourites like cumin spareribs and spiced bullfrog. But don't expect pristine surroundings or proper etiquette; this is a bustling local-style restaurant.

Southern Barbarian (Area E, 2/F Ju'Roshine Life Arts Space, 56 Maoming Nan Lu, by Change Le Lu, +21 5157 5510) claims to be the most authentic Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai, although the lighter fare at Lost Heaven (38 Gaoyou Lu, by Fuxing Xi Lu, +21 6433 5126) may be better suited to western palates.

Where to drink

Tourists are often drawn to Bund strongholds like Bar Rouge (18 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, by Nanjing Dong Lu, +21 6339 1199) or Glamour Bar (5 Guangdong Lu, by Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, +21 6329 3751). That's fine, but don't stay long - Shanghai's real nightlife takes place well beyond the over-hyped waterfront. For classic cocktails, head to Constellation Bar (86 Xinle Lu, by Xiangyang Bei Lu) where the owner, Jin Zhonglei, was apprenticed to a master Japanese bartender, which explains his impeccable attention to detail.

If you are looking to find Shanghai's DJ pulse, skip the mega-clubs and go underground - literally. Veteran DJs and promoters Gary Wang and Gareth Williams recently opened The Shelter (5 Yongfu Lu, by Fuxing Lu, +21 6437 0400) - a former bomb shelter - to showcase emerging rock, hip-hop, house and experimental acts.

Finally, spend an evening at Kong Yi Ji (36 Xuegong Jie, by Wenmiao Lu) to glimpse a side of Shanghai rarely seen by tourists. This gritty local establishment offers up brimming carafes of huangjiu grain wine and Shaoxing snack foods like anise-flavoured beans and the notoriously pungent stinky tofu.

Where to shop

You can get a bespoke wardrobe at the South Bund Fabric Market (399 Lujiabang Lu, +21 6377 2232). Bring your favourite clothes - or even a clipping from a magazine - and have Shanghai's legendary (and incredibly cheap) tailors whip up made-to-measure replicas in just a few days.

The best place for souvenirs with style is around Taikang Lu, where the grungy warehouses and tangle of alleys are now home to fashion, furniture and lifestyle boutiques, craft workshops, advertising companies and courtyard cafes. At INSH (200 Taikang Lu, +21 6466 5249, insh.com.cn), young Tokyo-trained Shanghainese designer Helen Lee creates modern, streetwise fashions.

What to see

The Zendai museum (Fangdang Dian Road, Pudong, zendaiart.com) is the city's pre-eminent venue for contemporary art. Currently running is Intrude: Art & Life 366 offering a different cultural event for every day of the year. The ISLAND6 art centre (island6.org) occupies an old flour mill by the Suzhou Creek, but the work on the walls is cutting edge.

· Contributors: Beijing: Matt P Jager, Venus Lau, Shelley Jiang, Gabriel Monroe and Alice Xin Liu from listings magazine That's Beijing (thebeijinger.com) and the Insider's Guide to Beijing. Shanghai: Rebecca Catching, Amy Fabris-Shi and Lauren Hansen from That's Shanghai magazine (urbanatomy.com).

•  'Super typhoon' to hit Shanghai

Women's world cup matches were rescheduled, schools closed and more than a million text message warnings sent out along China's southeastern coastline as the typhoon moved closer to the country's manufacturing and commercial heartland yesterday.

Since it was upgraded on Monday from a tropical storm, Wipha has gathered force. With gusts now estimated at 198kmph, it has been classified by the Chinese meteorological agency as a "super typhoon".

The fringe of the storm battered Taiwan yesterday. Flights were cancelled, offices shut and the stock market was closed. According to the island's Disaster Relief Centre, one construction worker was killed and another injured when gusts blew down scaffolding in Taipei.

With the eye of the storm set to make landfall near Shanghai early this morning, the authorities began taking "level one" emergency measures - the highest level of alert. Oil rig workers were evacuated, ships and fishing boats ordered back to port. Yesterday, state media said a million people had been relocated in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu and the evacuation was still under way. In some areas, shopkeepers piled sandbags next to windows and doors to prevent flooding. Heavy rains had already deluged many streets in Zhejiang and pushed the water levels of some rivers and reservoirs up to their warning marks, local media said.

•  Paul Oakenfold on clubbing in China

A trip to Ibiza 20 years ago helped Paul Oakenfold reinvent dance music, but he says clubbers in search of new thrills should head for China

For 20 years, I've been travelling around the world as a DJ: Thailand, Columbia, Chile, India, Israel, Malaysia, Miami - you name it, I've played there. Going to all these countries - and through the contacts you make there - you seem to build up an idea of what place is happening at a particular time. And right now, nowhere is more exciting than China.

I've been going to China every year now for more than a decade. I was there for the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. Everyone was in a state of high panic, thinking there was going to be drastic change overnight, with tanks and soldiers sweeping in from the outskirts of town. I was working, playing a set rounding off a party for 10,000 people in Kowloon Bay. There was an air of chaos and pandemonium, and then, just like the millennium bug, nothing happened. The morning dawned and things continued pretty much as they were.

But change did begin to come, slowly, at first, but now accelerating all the time. Every time I go, I can see, smell and feel the changes since my last visit.

By the late 1990s, I'd kind of got over Hong Kong and was looking for more. I felt the place to go was definitely Shanghai, and friends who lived there were saying the same thing.

In those early days, you felt the hand of the military. If they said a show had to end at 2am, that's when it ended. Obviously there were bars and people were drinking, but you'd come out and sense the military were just round the corner, always monitoring what was going on. A friend of mine, Mian Mian, wrote a book called Candy about the underground scene of that period, about how the creative work of artists, painters, singers, writers, was being monitored, and also about how people would stay out beyond the curfew and go back to people's houses to party. It was published in several countries, but banned in China.

Now though, it's almost gone the other way. The clubs go on until six or seven in the morning. There are shopping malls, Gucci and Prada everywhere - and not just in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. There's a chain of nightclubs called Babyface in 12 of the major cities. If you had a chain of 12 British clubs, it wouldn't be perceived as creditable - but it is out there, because the country's so vast, and Babyface is one of the most credible chain of clubs in the world. Every major DJ goes through there at some stage during their career.

Shanghai set out to take over from Hong Kong and I think it's done that. It's got the most amazing futuristic skyline which rivals and even betters Tokyo. When I'm in town, I stay at the Grand Hyatt which starts on the 54th floor and goes up to the 87th floor of the Jin Mao tower. So sometimes you are sitting on the 60th floor, above the clouds, looking down at the Bund, the city region on the bank of the Huangpu river. Everywhere you look are futuristic buildings but it's also steeped in history, and there's so much going on. It feels like you're at this magical place at exactly the right time.

There is a definite Chinese pop sound developing, but I was shocked at how influenced it is by American music. Even the dress sense is very American and hip-hop influenced. Yet it doesn't seem to cross over into dance music, which remains very much the underground sound of what's going on. I'm about to start working with a singer I met on my last trip: she'll get international exposure, and I'll have a song out in that market sung in Cantonese.

Shanghai and Beijing may be out in front, but I often play in Guangzhou and I have been all over the country. I have used private planes, but usually I just take a domestic flight from Beijing. Often, if we're heading out to rural China, it's just me, my support DJ, my tour manager in one row, and no other Westerners on the plane. Playing in somewhere like Shenzhen, a big, polluted, overpopulated, industrial city, you can be the only Westerner in the club. You are a long way from home and you feel it.

I once did a gig on the Great Wall too. I like the idea of taking DJing out of the realms of the nightclub but that was a challenge. It was pouring with rain, we were on a wall in the middle of nowhere looking over into Mongolia. It didn't help that it was in the middle of the Sars virus scare.

So where's next? To be honest, my main focus these days is scoring films, but I still love DJing and travelling and am always looking for ways to push the boundaries. So for the last three months, we've been working on setting up a big event for next year. It's in Siberia.

Where to paint the town red

Tom Pattinson, editor of Time Out Beijing, picks the best places to party

Beijing

Coco Banana
6 Gong Ti Xi Lu, Chaoyang district (00 86 10 8599 9999)
The younger and smaller sister of Banana, one of Beijing's longest serving clubs, Coco Banana has taken up the reins as the capital's must-play destination for international DJs. This relatively intimate club holds only around 800 people and superstar DJ Tiesto helped the opening go off with a bang. LED screens and light panels on the floor ensure the dancefloor is filled - often with girls in hotpants - while the awesome sound system means the DJs stay on the decks all night.

Shanghai

Bon Bon
2F Yunhai Tower, 1329 Huaihai Zhong Lu, by Hengshan Lu (00 86 21 133 2193 9299)
While newer clubs such as Attica have encroached on the Shanghai clubbing market, it's still Bon Bon that attracts the biggest crowds of the trendy Shanghai youth. UK dance brand Godskitchen holds the DJ residency and international DJs take to the booth every weekend to play some of the best music ranging from hip-hop to drum'n'bass to house, rather than the usual Chinese techno. With sleek, minimalist design, Bon Bon is one of the few clubs that put the music before the whisky and green tea sales.

Jinan

Cinderella No.23 Club
East Gate of Provincial Sports Centre, 124 Jingshi Lu (00 86 531 8290 6586).
In what only a few years ago was the back of beyond for the club scene, Cinderella's has put Jinan on the clubbing map. The independent club that isn't owned by one of the huge nightclub chains such as Babyface has gone out on a limb by forgetting the commercial house and techno music, keeping to a strict policy of refreshing modern dance. Expect to find international DJs on occasion thrown in with the best DJs China has to offer. Expert bartenders and quality sound and light systems attract the young, rich and beautiful of Shandong Province.

Hangzhou

G-Plus
169 Qing Chun Lu (00 86 571 8721 5152)
Formerly known as SOS, this 2,500-capacity club has recently been taken over by Shanghai club giant G-Plus. Stylish and spacious, the management are among the best in the game, providing the perfect mix of big-name DJs with their own music policy. A favourite of Dubfire, Deep Dish and Paul Van Dyk as well as the stylish elite of Hangzhou.

Guangzhou

Yes
2nd floor Liuhua Plaza, 132 Dong Feng Xi Lu (00 86 20 8136 6154).
The biggest club in Guangzhou, if not China, has huge open spaces and tall ceilings that allow clubbers to move freely around without feeling crushed. A great sound system and a policy of booking some of the biggest names in the world mean this vast space is regularly packed. However, when no big-name DJs appear, the space can look cavernously empty.

· Time Out Beijing is published monthly in English and is available from newsagents in China.

· Paul Oakenfold - The Authorised Biography is published by Bantam on 24 September. To order a copy for £17.99 with free UK p&p go to observer.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0885. Paul's new album Paul Oakenfold: Greatest hits and remixes is out on New State Music/Perfecto on 22 October.

•  The slow traveller: Ed Gillespie continues his low-carbon trip

Shanghai's brash consumerism is overwhelming but, continuing his low-carbon trip of a lifetime, Ed Gillespie finds a clean, green alternative just a train ride away

We arrived in the heart of China's second city by ferry from Japan. Shanghai is one of the biggest engines of the speeding Chinese economic juggernaut. But it's clear in Shanghai that much of the burgeoning commercial success of the new China is based on counterfeit goods. Plus a mind-numbing array of what might be uncharitably described as 'plastic crap'.

We walked past the historic colonial architecture of the riverside Bund, opposite the futuristic, whimsical buildings of Pudong, all brash, surreal, space-age globes, probes and spires. All the while street vendors proffered us entirely useless products: irritating 'stones' emitting screeching noises when thrown into the air; glowing red devil horns; stuffed mice on strings that scampered convincingly when tugged.

We then suffered the indignity of being practically thrown out of a chemist's shop. Our heinous crime was laughing at and then jotting down in a notebook the different condom brands. I was particularly taken by the Romantic Love Rubbers, the Wonderlife, 'for happy hours by two', and the just plain scary-sounding Nanometer-Silver Cryptomorphic Condom. Clear favourite though was Jissbon, and then we were out on our ears.

We caught the sleeper train to Xiamen, supposedly the cleanest city in China, and it didn't disappoint. It had breathable air, violent blue skies and more than an occasional glimpse of the sun. The journey didn't mean we'd escaped the entrepreneurial culture of Shanghai, however. Even the train guards were in on the act.

One appeared with a basket of 'indestructo-socks' and a highly polished sales pitch. With a real 'I'm robbing myself here, guvnor' tone he gave a lively practical demonstration of the socks' rugged resilience. He raked the hideous, shiny synthetic material with a wire brush, ran a lighter flame over it then held the ends of one sock and swung his whole bodyweight on it from the luggage rack above. The socks just screamed 'sweaty foot hell' even if they would last forever, which they probably will - only to be unearthed by future archaeologists who'll marvel at the durability of early 21st-century Chinese sock technology.

Xiamen is famous for its live seafood, making a trip to a restaurant a grisly experience. You wield awesome power as you make arbitrary decisions on which beasts to devour. The waitress then goes into action with her net, the chef does his bit with the wok and it's bubbling aquarium to plate in literally seconds. Seafood doesn't come much fresher than this.

Adjacent to Xiamen sits the small island of Gulangyu. A former treaty port hang-out for foreign concessionaries, it's a gorgeous mix of grand, elegantly dilapidated Mediterranean-style villas and lush vegetation. Known as 'Piano Island' it apparently has more keyboards per capita than anywhere else in the world.

As we disembarked the ferry we heard the gentle tinkling of distant ivories. It was a magical moment as we sucked in the sweet air, admired the beautiful buildings and listened to the mellifluous tones of the music. At least it was until we turned the next corner, heard the same tune being played and spotted the speakers secreted in the flower beds. A nearby sign on the harbour wall warned us that there was to be 'No tossing', of what exactly remained unclear. We left Gulangyu and China mulling this conundrum with piped piano muzak ringing in our ears.

www.lowcarbontravel.com

•  Top 10 boutique business hotels

You wouldn't design your house around your laptop, so why would you stay in a hotel that fails to offer creature comforts? Max Levene rounds up the best luxury hotels for turning a business trip into a holiday

The "business hotel" is a truly frightful phenomenon. Terrible aesthetics, miniscule lodgings and vile furniture all justified in the name of functionality. The global chains have become masters in the art of selling business travellers short (for often astronomical prices) but I implore you not to be fooled: a fast wireless connection will never be a substitute for beauty, warmth and character. You wouldn't design your house around your laptop, so why would you stay in a hotel room that does?

Fortunately, the frequent flyer now has a choice – where all hotels used to look and feel the same, design visionaries (Schrager, Starck and Balazs among others) have radically changed the lie of the land over the last 15 years. The "boutique hotel" – rich in cutting-edge design, loaded with artistic merit and dripping with aesthetic appeal – has revolutionised leisure travel over that time.

The discerning jetsetter has stopped frequenting any kind of hotel chain (the Hyatt and Four Seasons excepted) for his precious vacation. The lure of a lodging with immaculate, personalised service, spacious rooms and impeccable design has simply become overwhelming.

Businessmen are following suit. Indeed, as a community, I think our mood is changing. A hotel is no longer just for conducting business, executing email and sleeping for six hours. It's also for pleasure. The pleasure of eating and drinking well. The joy of conducting business or just lounging with clients and colleagues in a beautiful environment. And the thrill of being able to fly in your friends and family for an indulgent, hedonistic weekend.

Here are my top ten hotel choices for mixing business with pleasure in the world's great cities:

1. The Mercer Hotel, New York

Is there a better city hotel anywhere in the world? If there is, I haven't seen it. Gorgeous décor, large rooms (especially for SoHo), fabulous food and extraordinary service. The centre-piece, its understated but much photographed lobby, is the perfect lounge for a working lunch or an exuberant dinner. If you can, book a Loft Studio to sleep in; room 507 is especially brilliant.

2. Park Hyatt, Tokyo

If it's good enough for Scarlett Johansson, it's good enough for you. The real star of Lost In Translation, this towering masterpiece is the best way of retreating after a bewildering working day in Tokyo. The New York Bar on the top floor is super-hip and the swimming pool/spa, on the 53rd floor, is breathtaking. The Diplomatic Suite, with its own library, dining room and grand piano, is a spectacular way to wow your clients.

3. Widder Hotel, Zurich

An extraordinary project that took five years to complete, this Swiss lodging meshes together eight immaculately restored townhouses. No two of the 42 rooms are the same and yet the same philosophy imbues all of them: stunning interiors faithful to the original, historic design plus state-of-the-art technology (Bang & Olufsen stereos are a particular highlight). The hotel's dog friendliness is an extra bonus.

4. Sukhothai, Bangkok

"An oasis of tranquillity" may be a massively overused phrase in travel writing but it is a perfect description of this wonderful venue. The ridiculous hustle and bustle of Bangkok is quickly forgotten on entering the Sukhothai's beautifully sculpted grounds. Lounging by the pool and pottering around in your vast one-bedroom apartment are bound to be highlights.

5. Murano Urban Resort, Paris

Paris is beginning to do boutique better than any other European city. Competition appears to increase by the day, but the Murano is surely still the best. It's restaurant – with stalactites hanging from the ceiling – looks as stunning as the models dining within. And its rooms, to be opened by fingerprint only, are fabulous: the suite with its own swimming pool is the one to book (if you can afford it).

6. Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai

More grand than boutique, this Mumbai icon still deserves its place in the top 10. The haven of businessmen, politicians and celebrities for decades, the Taj maintains the very highest of standards. Its restaurants serve the finest Indian cuisine, its spotlessly clean pool doubles up as the hotel's social hub, and its club (Insomnia) is irrefutably the best in India. Best of all, the hotel makes every guest feel truly special.

7. Grand Hyatt, Shanghai

The Hyatt delivers again (and remarkably it is a chain). Set on the top floors of the Jin Mao Tower, the highest hotel in the world is also one of its best. I can't ever remember more scrummy room service or more delightful cocktails. A wonderful base from which to enjoy the delights of China's best city.

8. The Setai, Miami

If you have business in Miami, don't make the mistake of staying in faceless downtown. Stay on South Beach and enjoy the delights of this spectacular venue. Its funky neighbours – the Delano and the Shore Club – tend to try a little too hard, but the Setai strikes the perfect balance. Hip but laidback, its Asian-themed décor is unique in the US. The perfect place to fly your friends and family in for a holiday.

9. Hempel Hotel, London / Dylan Hotel, Amsterdam

Anouska Hempel is something of a legend. Both of these signature hotels, splendidly located in Notting Hill and overlooking the Keizersgracht Canal respectively, have set new standards for boutique living in Europe. The gorgeous furnishings – almost exclusively black-and-white – are to die for. Never have hotels felt more like home.

10. Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles

Built in 1929, this might be the world's first boutique hotel. The self-styled hotel of the stars, Marmont has a remarkable history – everyone who's anyone has stayed there and John Belushi famously died there. In the 1990s it was taken over by Andre Balazs, and the beauty and comfort of its hallowed turf has (remarkably) increased even further. Los Angeles simply wouldn't be the same without it.

•  What's new in ... Shanghai

This week's hotspot is next week's has-been in this Chinese boom-town where slick new neighbourhoods spring up overnight. Follow Miriam Rayman's guide to the best places to shop, eat, network, party and possibly even sleep

The top table

The Bund has several destination restaurants, with interiors to match. Jean-Georges is dark and dramatic and Laris is a marble palace (both are at www.threeonthebund.com). Sun with Aqua (2/F, 6 Bund, Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu; 00 86 21 6339 2779) allows you to sample sushi while exotic sea life glides by in the whale-sized aquarium.

If you want spectacular views, put your taste buds in the hands of Paul Pairet at Jade on 36. Those with slimmer wallets can choose from an array of bustling eateries offering local fare. Dumplings are best at Dong Bei Ren (1 Shaanxi Lu by Yanan Lu; 00 86 21 5228 9898), where servers serenade you with folk songs; and lamb comes no tastier than in the city's Xinjiang restaurants - from China's western Muslim province: try Uighur, 1 Shaanxi Nan Lu by Yanan Lu; 00 86 21 6255 0843.

The place to stay

If you're staying for a week or more and don't have friends in the city with de luxe guest facilities, then rent out an apartment and pretend you live there yourself. Inn Shanghai offers a selection of stylishly renovated French Concession flats starting at £40 a night. A maid service is included, so that leaves you plenty of time for grocery shopping.

The Old House Inn is a compromise for those who want a feel of the busy French Concession area but can't face sifting through dried duck tongues in the market. The villa has been restored with wooden floors and Ming dynasty furniture to create a very zen spot away from the zippy streets. Doubles start at £50.

For wow factor, the Grand Hyatt wins effortlessly. Not surprising for the world's highest hotel (it's in the 420-metre Jin Mao Tower). Check out the atrium, above, which spirals up a dizzying 33 flights from the 54th-floor Patio Lounge. Doubles start at about £250 a night.

Fads and fashions

Western pop culture is on fast forward and the current trend among Shanghai's youth is hip-hop. If this is your scene, head to Pegasus (Golden Bell Plaza, 98 Huaihai Zhong Lu) on a Thursday or Club Bon Bon (Yunhai Tower, 1329 Huaihai Zhong Lu) on a Wednesday.

Perhaps as a backlash against the frenetic consumerism that surrounds them, the city's 30-something high-flyers are embracing Buddhism and vegetarianism with new zeal. You'll find them lighting incense at the Jing'an Temple (1686 Nanjing Xi Lu) before visiting Shanghai's first organic restaurant, Shui Yuan, (One on the Bund, Yanan Dong Lu) for the vegetarian set menu.

Everyone's talking about ...

Money. Shanghai is a city of entrepreneurs. Young hopefuls feverishly learn the corporate languages of French, Italian (they're already fluent in English) and golf. Be prepared for your leisurely city break to turn into a crash course in networking, complete with job offers.

Others are directing their energy at creative enterprises. There's the Younik boutique at Bund 18, which sources locally designed garments; philanthropist Mr Yeung, who recently launched a foundation for budding fashion designers (www.chinafashionfoundation.org); and design collectives such as Eno. Are these efforts paying off? Ask the bohemia at YYs bar (125 Nanchang Lu) and Boona Cafe (88 Xinle Lu).

Here today

1918 Art Warehouse hosts a group photography exhibition, Existence, 17 April to 1 May, featuring six Chinese artists; look out for works by Zhao Hua Sen and Chen Qiu Lin.

Kong Gallery (kong@thesource.cn) is dedicated to UK graffiti next month featuring London Police among others. Not so interesting for the visitor maybe, but check the website for May events; a Chinese graphic art show is in the pipeline.

The big night out

One good thing about being an emerging economy is that brands are happy to offer you free champagne in exchange for a little recognition. So the nightlife revolves around product launches and bar or restaurant openings. If you haven't managed to secure invites to any such events during your stay, hone those networking skills, especially if you fancy sipping a red-berry martini and eyeing up the elite at new members-only club, Volar (99 Nanchang Lu by Yandang Lu). Designed by Philippe Starck, it combines baroque riches with Cold War bleak, but it's all fun really - particularly the jewel-studded Kalashnikov lamp-stands.

Those who prefer guaranteed entry and the taste of Shanghai's swinging Twenties, book tables behind the smoke screens at the Glamour Bar on the Bund. It teems with Shanghai beauties at the weekends. They sip mojitos at the bar and save their energy for all-night dancing at the new mega club Attica, a few doors down.

Neighbourhood watch

Neighbourhoods pop up almost overnight from the ashes of old warehouses or knocked-down terraces and it's all a bit soulless really. Avoid the purpose-built plazas such as Xintiandi and head for the boutique and cafe-lined capillaries that feed the main shopping artery, Huaihai Lu, in the heart of the French Concession. The best strip is on Nanchang Lu between Ruijin Lu and Shaanxi Lu. It's great for local designer gear and quality factory overruns. Head south a block to see the clothes above left, of local fashion designer Li Hong Yan at her new haute couture boutique, LG Design (Building 4, Lane 130, Jianguo Xi Lu).

In Taikang Lu you can poke around the craft shops. To plug into the art scene, head for the converted factories along Suzhou Creek.

Essentials

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are in a price war with their direct flights on the Heathrow-Shanghai route. This month Virgin is winning by £10 at £408.90 return.

Visit www.smartshanghai.com for all club and bar listings and the latest nightlife events and comment.

Pick up a copy of free lifestyle magazine That's Shanghai in bars and restaurants.

The best guide out at the moment is Time Out's 2006 update on sale for £12.99.

•  Business traveller's diary: March 4-17

'Go to Asia,' says frequent flyer Max Levene. It might seem bewildering to a first time visitor but its business energy and excitement will leave you inspired

Flights: 10
Miles flown: 29,797
Destinations: Tokyo, London, Munich, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dusseldorf
Nights in a hotel: 12
Nights on a dancefloor: 5
Satisfaction rating: 9.81/10

How time flies. It only feels like yesterday that I scripted my first dispatch on flight BA961 to the world's busiest international airport, London Heathrow. Some 93,128 flying miles and innumerable BA hot chocolates later, I have the joy of writing to you for a fifth time.

To continue the prevailing sense of self-satisfaction, it's been a delight to be back in Asia over the last fortnight. Nothing can provide the cultural, roller-coaster ride of a fortnight on the earth's largest continent. Granted it's hard. The jet lag is violent (I once ironed my head as well as a shirt on my arrival in Beijing) and the simplest exercise appears to be riddled with difficulty. Any business traveller who has tried to reach their destination in a barely functioning Chinese taxi will recognise the sentiment (and accompanying rage).

We may have disparaging views of Chirac and Bush, but we understand France and America. We recognise their culture, their people and, broadly at least, their ways of working. But much of Asia remains a touch bewildering. And so naturally we simplify. Either we think, "all of Asia is the same". Or we are over-influenced by vastly exaggerated film or literature which suggest India is full of ineffectual, head-wobbling dancers clad in pink and Japan is a land where business is conducted by alcoholics in sleeping pods.

What I'm trying to say (and whisper it softly) is that I'm convinced that our predecessors' picture of Asia as a frantic land full of deferential, comically short men grappling meekly with poverty, dictatorship and corporate inactivity hasn't completely been eradicated.

What a crying shame this is. Firstly, most Asians are significantly taller than Jimmy Krankie. More significantly perhaps, the people you'll meet are booming and confident, with a dynamism often missing within our tired manufacturing sector in Europe. The zeal for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial growth among the Chinese and Indians in particular is thrilling for any tired European business person.

And they live in countries that are increasingly sophisticated and yet still authentic, that fuse the best of their historic cultures with the modernity of the west. As a roving businessmen, you can stay in magnificent, state-of-the-art hotels but spend the evening munching delicious masala dosas on banana leaves; or you can stay in a ryokan blessed by Japanese samurai but spend the evening listening to English funky house in a super-hip night spot. Cultural exploration plus reassuring familiarity: it's a winner.

And let me not give you the impression that "all of Asia is the same". A month spent working in various parts of Asia can provide unparalleled variety. A week in Mumbai will exhaust you, but provide unforgettable memories of colourful bustle, ceaseless energy, boundless intelligence and genuine warmth. A week in Shanghai (especially if you were there 10 years ago) will leave you a little disorientated but amazed by the rapidity of China's progress and its zealous embrace of Western life. And a week spent in Japan will leave you lusting for more: a better understanding of its dedication to aesthetic beauty and the singular traditions of its people.

So this week I have one, rather simple tip for you. Go to Asia: just as quickly as BA or Virgin can take you.

Before I leave you, however, a quick note on a completely different topic: the highly contentious open skies agreement. For those of you who don't know, currently only BA, Virgin, AA and United are allowed to fly from Heathrow to the US; but now the open-skies agreement has been ratified by the EU, a wide series of airlines (Delta, Lufthansa, etc) will be allowed to pull the same highly lucrative trick. As a deep lover of BA and Virgin, with an avid interest in their profit margins, my first instinct was one of rage. But on reflection, this could be a highly beneficial development for the business traveller.

First, the agreement will also open up other European airports. So BA could fly Frankfurt to JFK or Paris to LA if they wished; and allow you to fly your favourite airline over the Atlantic without returning to London. And second, if we Brits negotiate successfully, BA might also be able to fly internally within the US, ie New York to San Francisco or Washington to LA. Imagine the joy of that. We business travellers crave choice and the whole open skies caboodle might just give us a lot more. Exciting times ahead.

That's it for now. Good night and good luck.

Max Levene

· Max Levene is a management consultant, occasionally based in London

•  Designer China

Most of us will be wearing something made in China, yet few of us think of it as an emerging fashion capital of the world. Imogen Fox strikes shopping gold in Shanghai

When Chinese Vogue launched last August, its print run of 300,000 sold out almost immediately. Quite a feat for a glossy magazine featuring high-end designer clothes in a country where the average annual income is less than £1,000.

Fashion in Shanghai is hugely important on every level. Giorgio Armani has proclaimed Shanghai to be the most exciting city in the world. Look inside your clothes and read the label: it's a fair bet that you will see the words "Made in China". That's because an incredible 50% of the world's textiles are produced there. Everything from top designerwear (though most don't like to advertise this fact) down to £10 jackets from Primark probably started its clothing life in China.

Given that I'm no stranger to bashing my credit card in the more established fashion capitals of Paris, Milan and New York, I decided it was only right that I took myself and my slightly less enthusiastic shopper of a boyfriend, David, off to Shanghai for a week of bargain hunting - and to discover whether the city is really more Marc Jacobs than Chairman Mao.

Shanghai is a perfectly manageable size for a shopping trip: it might be home to around 20 million people and at least a zillion mopeds and bicycles, but nothing is more than a £1 taxi ride away - although a flashcard with your destination written in Mandarin is essential. The river Huangpu, the notorious centre of the opium trade in the 1930s, when Shanghai was dubbed the "Whore of the Orient", runs down the east of the city. On one side is the super-futuristic Pearl TV Tower, a building that closely resembles a giant neon-lit mobile phone charm sitting among the futuristic megalopolis skyline of Pudong. Neoclassical buildings line the west bank and house mega-bucks shops such as Giorgio Armani and Cartier; Dolce & Gabbana is opening soon. The Astor House Hotel, where we stayed, is at the north end of this area.

From the outside, the hotel looks like Harrods; inside is a marble-floored reception dimly lit by a huge chandelier. The air of faded grandeur is enhanced by the fact that previous guests have included Einstein and Charlie Chaplin. Those boys may or may not have received friendlier service than we did, but the room size and decor more than made up for it.

After a quirky communist breakfast of liquid yoghurt, tinned fruit and powdery bread, we set off down the Bund, Shanghai's most famous promenade, past an elderly couple silently practising t'ai chi and countless hawkers offering Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton bags. Meanwhile, utility-clad builders busily repaired the side of a building on bamboo scaffolding. Our first stop was Three on the Bund, a lifestyle megastore housing Giorgio Armani, an Evian Spa and a couple of swanky restaurants. On the second floor is Three Women, an airy store selling labels like Chloé, Lanvin, and YSL; it feels like chi chi stores the world over. Significantly, there weren't any Chinese labels on sale. Richard Hsu, a luxury brand consultant from Shanghai, told me that currently fine arts and film are way ahead of the fashion industry; indeed Wong Kar Wai is currently president of the judging panel at Cannes. "There is not enough international design exposure available to students at the moment, and copying would seem to be inevitable until original creativity develops and takes over," he said.

The shop floor was empty. Although there are an increasing number of rich Chinese returning to live in Shanghai and shopping with gusto, the consumer revolution is still in its infancy. It was ridiculously overstaffed with cool sales assistants wearing deconstructed apron dresses.

In contrast, my next stop was the trashy Xiangyang market. I challenge even the most snobbish shopper not to be seduced by the stuff here. It's unbelievably cheap and the bartering, once you relax into it, is fun and good natured. I bought a keyring in the shape of a Chanel jacket for about 50p, a set of dominos in a beautiful polished wooden box (about £8) and several fake DVDs. Here, according to one local shopper, Dino, fakes are a fact of life. "There's no way out; as long as there are real products, there will be fakes." City officials seem to disagree, however; keen to clean up the Shanghai's image, they are planning to close down Xiangyang.

I just about managed not to buy a "Chloé Paddington" (that's the one with the huge padlock) because although I'm more than happy to buy designer-inspired bags courtesy of the British high street, I draw the line at something with a fake logo. For the record, the bag was 240 yuan here (around £16), as opposed to 16,950 yuan for the real thing. From here it was another taxi ride to the marvellous Lu Jia Bang Road market. Housed over four floors, it resembles a provincial Arndale centre but sells only fabric. Each stall has a resident tailor ready to whip up a made-to measure cashmere coat, cotton shirt or silk dress. I arrived with a copy of Chinese Vogue tucked under my arm. Many of the highly skilled tailors who fled Shanghai in 1949 for Hong Kong have now returned and the workmanship levels are incredibly high. I plumped for stall 212 and conveyed to the tailor that I would like some trousers in a dark grey wool which I'd chosen. Immediately, his daughter Rita appeared - all teeth and tape measure. I sketched out a pair of cartoon trousers while she pointed to the calendar to let me know that in two days my trousers would be ready and would cost about £9. David, who is most definitely not the type to wear a tailored shirt, got measured up for one for experimental purposes; he paid £6. All this shopping brought on hunger pangs so we headed out for food.

Eating in Shanghai isn't the daunting activity I'd been led to believe. True, we did see photo menus of blackened turtles, but armed with a Mandarin sign that read, "I am a vegetarian but I will eat fish" I ate some of the tastiest food I'd ever experienced. From delicious Cantonese dim sum in The Secret Garden restaurant, to £2 noodles at the Ajisen Ramen chain, I quickly became a Shanghainese food