Hong Kong's Bar Leone made global headlines last month when it became the first-ever Asian bar to top the World's 50 Best Bars 2025 list.

Now, that same sense of flair and craftsmanship has arrived in Shanghai, where Bar Leone has opened a new branch at Sinan Mansions, No 527, Fuxing Middle Road. Within days of its debut, it has already begun shaping up to be the city's next nightlife landmark.

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Yet Sinan Mansions has always been about more than glitz and glamour. Just a few doors down from Bar Leone, the historic compound is embracing another side of Shanghai life, one steeped in everyday warmth and local storytelling.

This side of the city comes alive at Shanghai Wonton · Sinan Living Room, a newly opened cultural space inspired by the upcoming Shanghai dialect film Shanghai Wonton. The movie follows Lao Wang, a widowed retiree navigating family, loneliness, and unexpected romance while trying to set up his son on a date. Adapted from a novella first published in Shanghai Literature, it captures the humor, tenderness, and quiet resilience of city life, much like a humble bowl of wonton soup that is comforting, familiar, and deeply satisfying.

Choosing Sinan Mansions as the setting for this living room could not be more fitting. The area's century-old villas, framed by plane trees and echoes of old Shanghai, embody the city's distinctive blend of heritage and modernity.

Inside the three-story house, visitors step into a vibrant mix of cinema and culture: a coffee retail corner, a film-inspired immersive zone, and a living room that hosts cultural events and community workshops.

Throughout the event period, guests can sip coffee, practice speaking the local dialect, join talks on film and local culture, or attend sessions such as Mao's Cafe, Discovering Old Shanghai Brands, and Wonton Dialogues. It is a space that celebrates not just a movie, but the living rhythm of the city itself, where nostalgia, humor, and community come together.

And that is the charm of Sinan Mansions: contrasts that somehow just work. When Bar Leone's refined cocktails meet the comforting aromas of Shanghai Wonton, the result is not a clash but a portrait of the city at its best, polished yet grounded, global yet unmistakably local.

Source: Official WeChat account of Huangpu district at "shhuangpu"