Shanghai's Bund, which runs along the river and divides the city's former international section (with its old world architecture) from Pudong, with its intergalactic hyper-futuristic architecture, isn't a place for subtlety. This divide makes it a place for big statements, particularly of the fashionable variety, which is why this is where you find the city's big name restaurants (Jean Georges, M on the Bund), major international designers and so on. And it made it an entirely logical neighborhood for Chinese restaurateurs South Beauty Group to select for the Shanghai edition of the LAN Club, following on the 2006 success of its Beijing launch, which was designed by Phillipe Starck.

LAN Shanghai, designed by Patrick Gilles and Dorothee Boissier. opened in a historic building just off the Bund last summer, and it's not about subtlety, no, not even a little bit. Its four floors that put me in mind of the clubs that I used to encounter as a teenager in 1980s New York: an adult version of a theme park. There's a dance club, and several bars, and each floor is home to a different restaurants or, if you will, dining concepts, and they've changed a bit since opening. What was once a Chinese restaurant on the first floor has become O-Supper Club, which is doing a Chinese/Tapas fusion. (This sounds more interesting than it tastes); the French restaurant on the fourth floor had a new name, Papillion, named for the 400 butterfly specimens displayed on its walls. And that's not to forget a seafood restaurant, adorned with an aquarium of living jelly fish, an atrium-like space with a wall of plants, and a full floor of VIP private dining rooms, because in a crowded country, it's luxurious to go to a restaurant to be seen and then have total privacy.

One of these rooms, the Art and Banquet Hall, is meant to accommodate a group, and it is genuinely, no-gimmicks impressive: it was designed around the Liu Ziaodong painting, Migrants of the Three Gorges. It's some 30 feet in width, and was, for a time, the most costly work by a contemporary Chinese artist sold at auction. But favorite space was "La Terrace", the lounge on the roof, which opened this past July. It's view of Pudong and the Bund isn't unobstructed, but I rather liked the Shanghai peep show effect, which was enhanced by the pimp-my-ride lit tables.

I was just in Newport, Rhode Island, although I didn't see that much of it, because on the night of my arrival, I ate what turned out to be a very bad lobster indeed. (Public service announcement: if you're eating lobster, nay, any shellfish, and you detect even the slightest hint of ammonia, put down the fork, leave the table, and immediately procure saltines and electrolyte-enhanced fluids.)

Anyway, maybe it was because I was tinged green, but for the moments when I crawled out of my very comfortable hotel (the Hotel Viking, book a room in the newly renovated wing), I couldn't help but noticed how very white everyone was. Well, rich-people-in-summer-white, which is to say, bronze.

When I was in Shanghai last month, I was reminded that the Western obsession with toasting is not shared worldwide.

In China, which certainly has its own ethnic tensions, but not (as I'm aware of) those relating to the amount of melanin in the skin, the obsession is looking as white as possible, as you can see in the colorful parade of parasols everywhere, what I can only describe as "forearm cozies" – handmade fabric coverings protecting the skin from the elbow to the wrist -- and for bicycle riders, what looks like a welding mask. (Although I think this is also to ward off projectiles.)

Shanghai's The PuLi Hotel and Spa is set to open this summer, becoming China's first urban resort. The hotel includes the "Long Bar," Shanghai's longest selection of vintage and non-vintage wines and champagnes by the glass, a heated infinity pool overlooking JingAn Park, health club, and a library. An opening special includes one additional night with every night paid, complimentary breakfast, mini bar and wireless internet access as well as a degustation dinner by award-winning chef Dane Clouston in Jing'An Restaurant and a spa treatment at the Anantara Spa. Opening specials will be available until the end of September and rates start at around $500 with the most lavish room being the Jing'An Suite which has two master bedrooms, each with its own walk-in closet, a separate living room, large dining table and well-stocked mini-bar which costs close to $3,000.

It's a sign of the times if we've ever seen one that Mercedes has chosen to debut its new flagship sedans at the Shanghai motor show this year. The German automaker has given the top-of-the-line S-Class a mild update for the 2010 model year, and has just released details and photos of the pair of AMG-tuned sport models at the peak of the range.

Like the rest of the line-up, the S63 AMG and S65 AMG get a new grille, LED lighting, revised front bumper and rear bumper with an integrated diffuser to help it stay glued to the road on those de-restricted Autobahns. The interior has likewise been updated, incorporating the full array of electronic systems to make driving these muscular luxury sedans a breeze. But it's under the hood where these two behemoths really shine: the S63 packs a 525-horsepower V8, while the S65's party piece is a twin-turbocharged V12 with over 600 horsepower. Both are aided by Mercedes' latest torque vectoring system to help get the giants around the corner. Although this is probably the last concern of someone buying a machine like either of these, but emissions and fuel consumption have been improved on both models by a meager 3%. Pricing has not yet been announced, but the previous models which these replace sold for approximately $130,000 and $200,000 respectively, so expect similar pricing on the 2010 versions, which you can view in the pair of image galleries below.

Italian publisher Skira is about to release the gorgeous catalog of an exhibition at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art commemorating the eightieth anniversary of design house Ferragamo. Founder Salvatore Ferragamo died in 1960, but his name lives on in the firm which has become "synonymous with shoes that embody wildly creative design, painstaking construction techniques, blissful comfort, and the finest materials" - not to mention over-the-top items such as the $250,000 crocodile trench coat we wrote about the other day.

Salvatore Ferragamo: Evolving Legend 1928-2008 is a "fully illustrated monograph of the legendary Italian purveyor of luxury, this book also serves as a journey through the history of fashion from the 1920s to the present." Mr. Ferragamo made his name creating footwear for the most beautiful movie stars in Hollywood including Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Deitrich, and Audrey Hepburn. The book is filled with a rich collection of photographs, archival material, sketches, and drawings exploring Ferragamo's design process.

I hadn't heard of this project until the PR people showed me pictures but apparently it made news last month, the ATP has commissioned French sculptor Laury Dizengremel to create terracotta models of eight top tennis players in the style of the ancient Chinese Terracotta Army which is on display at the British Museum in London. The sculptures are being made for the Masters Cup in Shanghai which will take place in late November. Warrior statues of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have been commissioned and five spots are still still up for grabs in the field, The original Terracotta Army was created to be buried with the Emperor of Qin in 210-209 BC and 8,099 figures have been unearthed around the Emperor's tomb.

When Nakheel announced the project to create The World, the cluster of Earth-inspired man-made islands off the coast of Dubai, some people, myself included, wondered if they would ever sell them for the exorbitant prices they were charging. For a while there it looked like the project was more rumor and speculation than hard cash. But as the islands are emerging from the water, more and more developers from around the world seem ready to plunk down the cash. The Gulf News reports that Nakheel has sold has sold 35 plots of The World this year. Around 45% of the 300 islands have been sold. The latest big deal is for the Shanghai island which was sold to Chinese businessman Bin Hu for $28 million. Hu is shown here on the island planting the Chinese flag (rather like Richard Branson did on the Great Britain island last year). Other big sales this year include the Greece island which sold for $15.5 million and the Tokyo island which went for $45 million.

[Thanks, Lana]

Previous stories on The World:
Nakheel sells Ireland to Irish consortium
Schumaker gets a piece of the world
Angelina and Brad checking out The World?
Perseus Spa Hotel Planned For The World in Dubai
Michael Jackson Tours The World

Last year a bunch of stories came out about Tomson Riviera, the priciest condo complex in Shanghai, China. Last year the company sold a $16 million condo that set a record for the area. Maybe that record was a little too good to be true. Now comes news that the developer will no longer be able to sell the property. It has been shut down pending an investigation. The Shanghai municipal housing, land & resource administration bureau are looking at the developers of Tomson Riviera, along with several other companies, for forging sales. The bureau has found evidence that the company reportedly sold their apartments at outrageous prices and then canceling the contracts. Wow, and I thought the U.S. condo market was rough.

Way back in November, I wrote about the ultra-pricey apartments of the Tomson Riviera development in Shanghai, China. Now the most expensive apartment on the Chinese mainland has just been sold for over $16 million. They buyer is from Southeast Asia and the over 3,000 square foot apartment is the first sale in the Tomson Riviera development.

The Millionaire Fair, which we last saw luxe-ing it up in Moscow, has taken their deluxe act to Shanghai. China Daily reports that the offerings at the fair include multi-million dollar villas, private islands, yachts, a 30-carat diamond, rare wines and much more. The picture here shows a gold bathtub which is attracting attention at the fair which started on Friday and ends on Sunday. The invitation-only event is China's first on such a large scale according to the organizers (although there was another lavish event last year). Admission costs 350 yuan ($44). The luxury market continues to grow by leaps and bounds in China and  The Porsche Cayenne Turbo 2 made its China debut at the fair as did the 2006 Range Rover Super Charge and the Jaguar XK.

The Millennium Hongqiao Shanghai is a new five-star hotel that is set to open this summer. It's the first Chinese property for Millennium & Copthorne. The hotel is in Hongqiao, Shanghai’s commercial and residential district and near the Shanghai Exhibition and Convention Centre. The hotel will have 350 rooms and suites and has some interesting features, unusual for Shanghai hotels. It will have a contemporary design and will also have gardens, trees and water features in order to offer guests a quiet retreat in an urban area. The site of the hotel was previously a retreat area for senior Chinese union and political leaders. Ah, capitalism...

[via Travmedia]