At the corner of the Bund and Nanjing Road stands one of Shanghai’s most legendary landmarks, the Peace Hotel, or He Ping Fan Dian, its green copper spire and Art Deco granite façade capturing all the elegance and modern flair of 30s Shanghai. Built between 1926 and 1929 by Sir Victor Sassoon, heir to a wealthy Sephardic family from Baghdad, it was originally known as the Cathay Hotel, and Sassoon set out to create the finest establishment in Asia—something he unquestionably achieved, as with its thirteen floors and height of more than seventy metres it became the tallest skyscraper in the Far East. Inside the luxury was unmatched, with air conditioning and telephones in every room and décor inspired by Japanese, Indian or Chinese themes, while the ballroom, lit by Lalique chandeliers imported from France, came alive each evening with the sound of jazz. Victor Sassoon, an eccentric and charismatic host, welcomed all of Shanghai here, from diplomats and artists to writers and international stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Noël Coward. The Cathay Hotel quickly earned the nickname “the most beautiful hotel east of Suez”, a place where the world’s elites mixed in a whirlwind of celebration and modernity. After 1949 the building was nationalised, and became the Peace Hotel, and despite decades of change it preserved its spirit, especially thanks to the revival of its Old Jazz Band in the 80s, made up of elderly musicians, some of whom have been performing here for more than half a century—a true living treasure of the hotel’s story. In 2010, after a major restoration, it reopened as the Fairmont Peace Hotel, faithfully preserving its original charm with marble floors, Art Deco ironwork and that unmistakable atmosphere that seems to pause time. Today, the ground-floor bar still fills with jazz each evening, carrying on the magic of the days when Shanghai was already, perhaps more than ever, the Paris of the East, so don’t hesitate to step inside and discover this iconic place.