From the 1920s to the 1940s, no place was more modern than Shanghai: a veritable playground amid a sea of Asian and European influences; an urban population clamoring for all that was new and Western, but whose aesthetic sensibilities remained profoundly Chinese. In this rich social and cultural history of Shanghai's art and culture, Lynn Pan guides the reader through the myriad world inhabited by commercial and underground artists and designers, performers, architects, decorators, patrons, as well as politicians, generals, and crime bosses. What emerges is a singular portrait of a city and its art--its life blood, in an era that continues to capture the imagination of art lovers and cultural critics today.

Lynn Pan is the best-selling author ofSons of the Yellow Emperor: A History of the Chinese Diaspora;Tracing it Home: A Chinese Journey; andThe Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. She lives in Shanghai.