Shanghai surprise...

If Beijing is the beholder of the glorious past, Shanghai is the promise of a youthful and bright future.  Bright lights, big noise and super sized Luis Vuitton beckons to all those with a will and a wallet to match.  There is however also a soft, pleasing "boutiquey" side to Shanghai.  Just off the glamour and glitz of  Nanjing Road West where the decadent and status-conscious luxury shoppers hang, narrow tree-lined lanes abound with astonishingly narrow shop fronts of young designers, music makers and street stylists and poses a stark counterpoint to the more upmarket and high end European and American designers that liberally dot Nanjing Road.  As exhilarating and enticing as I found the new Shanghai in these lanes, it was one of the quaint bijou cafes of the quarter that really appealed and convinced me to part with a fist full of Yuan.  Actually it was the "Frosty Lemon Martini" I discovered on the drinks menu that really got me in.  Where on earth did the proprietors find the Boru Citrus Vodka and Pallini Limoncello that one needs to mix with fresh lemon juice and sugar for this wonderful concoction?  Of course...I was in Shanghai, where everything can happen...and probably will!