Strolls down Xinhua Lu were designed to be lazy. Walking past London plane trees casting shadows on old villas transports you back in time to the days before Shanghai became the economic centre of China. TALK wandered through this quiet Changning oasis with Cotton Ding, owner of the expat favourite Cotton's bars, at our side to show us her choice spots to relax on this sleepy street.

Cotton's

We meet Cotton at the 1930s Spanish villa that houses the second installment of her eponymous bar. Cotton's on Xinhua opened a couple of years ago, but the bar's location had been 10 years in the making. "I actually looked at this villa several years before, but it didn't work out. When the realtor showed it to me in 2008, I didn't even wait to look inside before I took it. It seemed like fate," says Cotton. She recommends grabbing one of their specialty mojitos and heading out to the terrace as the daylight fades. "Come 4 or 5 o'clock, the big trees make you feel like you're in a small house in the middle of the forest," she adds.

294 Xinhua Lu, near Fanyu Lu. Tel: 6282 6897

Perfect Nails

Cotton gets her weekly manicure just down the street at this busy nail salon. In typical Chinese fashion, Perfect Nails sits opposite a competing manicure spot, but it wins over customers with cheap prices and huge windows that create the ideal setting for peaceful people-watching. "I like the ambiance here because you can see the street and enjoy the quiet, which is rare in a city like Shanghai," explains Cotton as she selects a pale pink hue and settles into the comfortable chair preparing be pampered.

92 Xinhua Lu, near Fanyu Lu. Tel: 6281 7880

Wu Guan Tang

This vegetarian restaurant is already well-known to the herbivore-inclined population of Shanghai for its tasty congee and soups, but Cotton calls this establishment her own personal restaurant. "When we were doing construction on Cotton's down the street, I would come here every day for lunch. After a day of fighting with suppliers and talking to workers, it was a place I could come to get away from the stress of it all," says Cotton. With traditional gu zhen music lilting overhead and a menu interspersed with Buddhist poems and foodie stories, Wu Guan Tang's quiet and relaxing atmosphere is an ideal urban oasis.

349 Xinhua Lu, near Dingxi Lu. Tel: 6281 3695

Five Metals

This small jewellery shop is housed in a quaint blue building just around the corner from Wu Guan Tang. The store has a friendly staff, as well as earrings, necklaces and rings made from a variety of metals, precious stones and pearls. A big fan of eclectic earrings, Cotton often stops in to Five Metals on her way to work to check out their silver selection.

335 Xinhua Lu, near Fanyu Lu.

Tel: 5230 1529

Marco Polo

This bakery serves up loaves of multigrain and whole wheat bread in over 20 locations around the city. The Xinhua Lu branch is split into two buildings featuring a bakery, where chefs knead dough in front of a storefront window, and a café, one of the quietest places on the street to get a caffeine fix. "I come here about once a week for afternoon tea. It's a great place to go with my girlfriends. Sometimes our small book club meets here," says Cotton.

186 Xinhua Lu, near Fanyu L.u Tel: 5306 3867

Shanghai Film Art Center

Located above City Shop, the Shanghai Film Art Center is one of the main venues for this month's Shanghai International Film Festival. Built in 1991, it was the first five-star movie theatre in town. With nine theatres featuring top-of-the-line equipment and a Starbucks and Iceason located in the lobby, this haven for movie lovers screens domestic and international blockbusters. Cotton likes to take her parents, who live on Xinhua Lu, to the movies here. "We saw Avatar here and they loved it! The special effects and free spirit of the movie were so amazing that I cheered during the movie," Cotton says.

160 Xinhua Lu, near Fanyu Lu. Tel: 6280 4088