I was having dinner with a dear friend the other day at the newly opened Shanghainese restaurant, Lynn. While we were enjoying the great food and nice atmosphere, our conversation turned from relationships to work, and then the renovation work being done on the Peace Hotel. Formerly known as the Cathay Hotel on the north building and Central Hotel on the south, it has been one of my favourite domestic-run hotels in Shanghai; its century-long history alone makes it one of the most prestigious and charming hotels in the world. I always wonder how many sad or happy stories have taken place inside its walls.

I never stayed in the Gothic building (looks like I should have), but I had a chance to see a room years ago when a friend stayed there on a business trip. I remember I was walking on the wooden floors in the dimly-lit hallway to her room. It was like traveling back to the 1930s. No wonder so many celebrities and westerners like to stay here when they come to Shanghai.

News of the RMB 500 million renovation of the Peace Hotel stirred the pot a while ago, especially when a bunch of nostalgic customers quickly raced to Shanghai to spend time there before it closes.  Perhaps the most famous was a German dentist who flew all the way from Munich to Shanghai. I always thought it would close for good, based on the negative comments on many Chinese forums that I came cross. But it looks like the hotel does indeed need to improve a lot in terms of service and room facilities.

I was surprised when I learned that Jin Jiang International Group actually signed a deal with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to form a joint venture to undertake the refurbishment of the north building. The new hotel will open in 2010 as the Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai. It says Fairmont is known for stewardship of historic properties across the globe, including London's Savoy and New York City's Plaza Hotel. Jin Jiang formed another joint venture with Swatch Group for the south building, which will open as the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. It will present a unique concept of a retail environment and a hotel where only artists live and work.

It sounds all dandy, however I have the same worries as the nostalgic loyal customers of Peace Hotel. Given the previous unsuccessful attempts at renovating historic hotels in Shanghai, including the Yan'an and Hai'ou Hotels, something tells me they are going to screw up this project. Ruining a historic building is not something that money can compensate for.

Shanghai, or China as a whole, has never paid too much attention to its historic buildings or cultural relics. I recalled when I visited the famous Stone Steles Museum in Xi'an during Chinese new year, I was shocked to find out there wasn't anything between the visitors and the cultural relics, and there was no staff in the museum as well. Anyone could ride on the magnificent tomb guard animal statue to take photos, or maybe even steal a small piece.

Then there is Jeffrey Huang, a 73-year old Canadian Chinese billionaire who is preserving some exceptional old buildings at his own expense by taking them apart piece-by-piece and moving them to his own property close to Shanghai for people to visit. To date, he has salvaged over 150 historic buildings, and the collection ranges from temples to tea houses. His generous contribution, however, isn't appreciated by the government. It's reported China has over 400,000 historic buildings that need government protection, but only less than ¼ are preserved by the government at the moment.

How many Jefferies would we need to preserve them all? This is going to be a loss, and our government will surely regret it in the future. Unfortunately the officials and the real estate developers are too blinded by instant profits, and preserving culture, history, and national treasures is only an afterthought. This is just sad. We Chinese often say 旧的不去新的不来, which can be literally translated as "If the old didn't go, the new wouldn't come."

I'm unfortunately one of those who believes not everything can be replaced by the new.