Kunming–born, Shanghai–based Louis Li is the hospitality giant behind the award-winning Jackalope hotel brand, as well as the CEO of Black Star Pastry.

Shanghai

"My favorite inner-city hotel is PuLi, because it was a pioneer 10 years ago for an urban resort offering. Now, 10 years later, it’s still standing strong and hasn’t aged significantly, and the service is as good as the initial stage."

The PuLi Hotel and Spa

"My favorite rural hotel is called naera. It’s about a 45-minute drive from Shanghai. It has appointed a leading abstract Chinese artist, Ding Yi, as its creative and artistic director. He has commissioned over 20 domestic leading artists to complete the hotel, so it often reminds me of the process of creating Jackalope."

naera Hotel

"Go to Xintiandi for wandering around, shopping and site checking."

Xintiandi

"BOR Eatery is my favorite eatery right now. It’s Nordic cuisine. You walk into a fully open kitchen — it’s just like you’re walking into someone’s pantry so it’s quite welcoming and inviting. The menu is so shareable — you don’t need a lot of formality when you have dinner with your close friends."

BOR Eatery

"Speak Low is one of the 50 best bars in Asia. It’s a heavily Japanese-influenced bar which is a hidden gem in the city. It has no signage and is hidden on the second floor of a knife shop. It’s quite discreet and only people who know it can get in."

Speak Low

"J Boroski is another place I often visit. It doesn’t have a menu so you have to spend like 10 minutes with a bartender telling him the things you like, and he will tailor one drink for you."

J Boroski

"Shanghai is quite an advanced city in terms of fashion. Eth0s is another hidden gem of the city. The shop has a dramatic staircase that leads you to the basement, and all the clothing is displayed in a 1000-square-meter brutalist showroom underground. It reminds me of shops in London or Berlin."

Eth0s

"Long Museum is my favorite museum at West Bund. A lot of West Bund museums are government funded, but Long Museum is the most successful, privately-owned and funded museum in China, and it represents the most prestigious shows each year. It’s world-class architecture and overlooks the river."

Long Museum

"I like a coffee shop called SLAB TOWN. It’s located at the old French concession. It’s a blend of South American beans with Chinese beans, so you get quite a unique flavor out of the blend. The branding and the interior is so well done, and it’s one of the very first coffee shops that has a neighborhood intention. It’s a really warming and welcoming concept."

SLAB TOWN

"I think Black Star is one of the most conceptual landmarks in Shanghai. On the first floor, we are telling the story of interstellar travel. On the second floor, which is Black Star Gallery, we curated an exhibition space called ‘Meta Habitat’. It’s like you landed in a parallel universe, and everything related to human beings and civilization has turned into altered states."

Black Star Pastry