ARCHITECTURE

If Shanghai's ubiquitous Karaoke bars are, as often maintained, Japanese retaliation for their defeat in the War, then smoked glass and tacky tile may be Hong Kong's way of cocking a snook at their more powerful countrymen to the north. Much of Avenue Joffre, which once featured elegant boutiques and cafes, has been renovated with a vengeance by Taiwan and Hong Kong-based entrepreneurs and decorators. It now glitters with facades featuring everything from faux Grecian warriors bearing porticoes to pink checkerboards overlaid with red ideographs, terminally tacky. Only a few of the plane trees, planted by the French so long ago, have survived the ravages of renovation.

The glory of the old hotels is, however, undimmed and several have been renovated to something close to their former splendor. The Peace (formerly Sir Victor Sassoon's magnificent Cathay Hotel) still leads the way, having based its renovation on the original plans. The Park Hotel on Nanjing Road, opposite the old race course, and the Cathay Mansions (now the Jinjiang Hotel) evoke however only a pallid vision of their glorious past. Opposite, the old Cercle Sportif Francais has been incorporated into Okura's Garden Hotel and beautifully restored, even down to the sprung floor in its elliptical ballroom. No matter what their current state, no one could ever accuse these magnificent old hotels and clubs of becoming 'Plastic City'.

Many of the old high-rise apartment houses, mostly built in what was then the new Art Deco style, still survive, sometimes with their descriptive names: the Cosmopolitan, the Uptown, West Gardens, Tiny Mansions, Cavendish Court (this one Tudor). In the suburbs old housing complexes such as Granada Estates and Holly Heath still survive, dwarfed now by towering monoliths of concrete and steel. I found a book listing of nearly three hundred apartment houses, starting with the Aida and ending with Zikawei, where the Jesuits once reigned, with their St Ignatius Cathedral (still intact) and their schools, orphanage and workshops in the Italianate style.

For the monied class, the taipans or top echelon of Shanghai's business hierarchy, there were magnificent estates. It usually featuring large gardens (now overbuilt with housing for the city's work force) and ranging in style from a Gothic fantasy to a mock-Tudor country estate. The villa once belonging to Sir Victor Sassoon with adjoining golf course is now a zoo. Between these extremes were numerous mansions in the French, Spanish and English style, homes of expatriate barons and dukes, triad bosses and KMT high brass. Today they are occupied by foreign consulates or offices.