In a decaying residential street in northern Shanghai, between a soft drinks shop and a cheap hotel, stands an imposing facade with exquisite stone carvings of the lotus flower.
It is the front of the Saihongan temple, built by two Japanese architects in 1906, a monument to Japan's influence on the city. Since 1945, it has been used as a dance hall and karaoke parlour, and it is now a protected building.
Shanghai is home to 40,000 Japanese, who account for 60 per cent of the city's long-term foreign residents. They were attracted by the same economic opportunities and low living costs that made their compatriots the largest foreign community here before the second world war.
The first Japanese came here to live in 1870, two years after their government allowed them to go abroad. By 1915, more than 7,000 Japanese residents surpassed the British as the largest group of foreigners - a position they maintained until 1945. 'Most of the homes, factories and office buildings they constructed did not have a specially Japanese design,' said Jian Xiaohong, a history professor who organises tours for Japanese in the city. 'The tour groups I take there are amazed to see it, in the middle of a small street.'
She also takes visitors to homes, from modest to luxurious, built for the staff and managers of the many Japanese flour, textile, shipping and financial companies that flourished here before 1945.
'In those days, Shanghai people preferred European or American firms over Japanese ones. They paid better and were more democratic,' she said. 'It is the same nowadays. A job in a Japanese company is considered not as good as one in a western firm but better than one in a Hong Kong or Taiwan company. Many Shanghai people study Japanese.'