China is really delivering today.

An extended day in the office was accompanied by cool spring breeze blowing through. A pleasant, if slow day. What made it special was the sound of Chinese flutes drifting up from the park land below as if organised by some welcoming committee, though my new-found colleagues deny it.

So, another nocturnal visit to Shanghai, but a nice one. I met Klara once again and we went to Future Perfect which is a very nice renovated restaurant in a side street of a side street. Their food was excellent and it was certainly possible to discern an increased level of quality, perhaps because of the masse of French ex-pats resident in the city.

Afterwards, Klara suggested that we go to a warehouse party to check out some underground local deejay talent and live electronic music. It was an incredible location, looking out over the city with music wafting out. The surprise moment came when I bumped into my friend Huygn that I met in Sydney – a friend of Nelson in Taipei and someone I had been meaning to look up. An incredible feeling to be bumping into people so quickly and picking up where Nelson left off when he left the place. Amazing – small continent.

We rounded off the evening at JZ jazz bar. Very Shanghai, or at least my idea of it. An astonishing Sino – French band with soaring vocals, accompanied by delightfully esoteric and fun loving backing musicians. Very memorable, and close to the vision in my head of the old days. Smoky bars. Opium (or at least Whiskey). Jazz. And another night with not quite enough sleep.