Margaret Mitchell's epic 1936 novel Gone with the Wind is one of the most enduring classics, the story of Scarlett O'Hara and Tara, her plantation home in the American South.

A few thousand miles east, Shanghai's Tara is a home for those who are ready to hang up their party shoes and appreciate something a little more intimate. The lounge is small but sexy. Red cushions surround the bar, paired with rose-pink satin curtains covering black tiled walls.

Tara's cocktail menu is overwhelmingly extensive-we finally settled on the Green Fairy (absinthe, egg white, freshly squeezed lemon juice, angostura, plain water, RMB 58) and the New York, New York (bourbon, apricot brandy, Bacardi rum, grenadine and sugar cube, freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice, RMB 58).

Shanghai may be a long trip from Georgia, but Tara 57 knows all about Southern hospitality.

Tara 57
Open: Daily 6pm-2am.
Location: 2/F, 57 Fuxing Xi Lu, by Yongfu Lu
Tel: 021-64317027