THEY are old and frail but move effortlessly.

Just as their gaze is locked on each other, I can't take my eyes off them either. I am at a busy road intersection. Traffic lights change but are met with indifference. Lorries, bikes, cars and mopeds dodge and weave in a chaotic ballet and serve up a discordant score.

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It is a visual and aural assault.

I turn my attention back to the old couple. They are waltzing. I get closer to where they dance, on a specially paved area just inside the ornate gates of Gucheng Park, and realise there are others, gently swirling around each other. Some are performing tai chi, others waltz, some dance alone. It is a surreal contrast to the clamour.

This is Shanghai. Frenetic yet calm, ultramodern yet antiquated, slick yet rustic.

Past and future collide here. It is China's largest city, its most dynamic, its most Western and it is booming. China is on the up and Shanghai is its billboard.

Yet this is not an oil-rich metropolis that has sprung from an empty desert. There is history here. The elegant inter-war boulevard of The Bund sits directly across the Huangpu River from the gleaming skyscrapers of Pudong.

Old and new staring at each other like boxers at a weigh-in. Class versus glass. I check into the Fairmont Peace Hotel, built in 1929 by Sir Victor Sassoon who lived here until 1941.

An art deco masterpiece, it has recently undergone a three-year restoration. Dark wood, Lalique glass and marble, inlaid with geometric patterns, set the tone.

I am transported back to a time of The Great Gatsby, flappers and the Jazz Age. It seems right that Noël Coward is a former guest. This is where he penned Private Lives.

My room is large with a luxurious feel and traditional Chinese touches. The palette is cream and pale green; silky furnishings complement dark wood furniture. The marble-clad bathroom has a roll-top bath and a flatscreen TV.

Time for dinner, so time to dress up.

It's that sort of place. I reach for my smoking jacket, cravat and long cigarette holder. Regrettably, I have none of these so I don my smartest suit.

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I meet my fellow guests and we head to the ninth-floor terrace for champagne. As we step out we all gasp.

Shanghai is also wearing its best party frock. Everything is lit up and glowing against the night sky. The architectural features of The Bund are carefully picked out, the skyscrapers across the river bathed in neon. Even the ugly-by-day Oriental Pearl TV Tower, with its concrete and gaudy pink baubles, looks stunning at night. It is all reflected in the water, one of the world's best night-time skylines.

We are summoned to dinner in the adjacent Cathay Room and the Blade Runner set segues back into The Great Gatsby.

The service is top-notch, the food even better. Caviar, no less, followed by hokkaido scallop and succulent beef tenderloin. Delicious. After dinner we head to the Jazz Bar.

There has been a band here since the Jazz Age and some of them may well remember it.

They have an average age of 79. Can they still swing? You bet.

An early start the next morning sees me heading out to the Old Town.

The City God Temple was built 600 years ago, the famous Huxinting Tea House on the small, artificial lake dates from 1784. Entering the 16th-century Yuyuan Gardens, the urban uproar fades.

Giant rockeries tower serenely over dark pools illuminated by orange flashes of carp. Delicate acers, lush banana trees and carefully clipped pines cast shadows on the white walls that frame the maze-like layout.

The surrounding narrow streets of the bazaar sell everything from glass-encased tarantulas to waving Chairman Mao watches. Freshly cooked food adds an exotic aroma. The dumplings taste great. . . but whole quails, complete with heads and beaks? I'll pass this time.

There are no nasty surprises for dinner at Yu Shanghai though. The decor is funky and a bit clubby but the food is traditional Shanghainese including shark's fin soup.

After dinner I head to the roof terrace bar. Another dramatic view, this time across the ancient temples and intricate twisting roofs, delightfully illuminated with the massive Pudong towers providing a dramatic backdrop.

AH, THE skyscrapers. "The higher the building, the lower the morals, " Noël Coward once said.

The next day I can ignore them no more. The 1,400ft Jin Mao Tower is a delight, a modern skyscraper that actually looks Chinese.

Towering over it though, looking like a giant bottle opener, is the Shanghai World Financial Center. The lift warps me to the top in no time. I head straight for the observatory.

It is the highest in the world, a glass tunnel clinging to the "opening" at the tower's summit. Alarmingly there are windows in the floor, the brave (or foolish) stand on them, seemingly in mid air. I choose just to peer through them.

Alas, my final day arrives. I take a coach trip out to Zhujiajiao, a Chinese water village. It's almost too obvious to describe it as an Oriental Venice but it's a fair description. They've embraced tourism here but it still has a gritty authenticity and the crowds are mostly locals.

The next morning I am streaking through the countryside back to the airport on the sleek Maglev train. It is one of the world's fastest and can hit 268mph. We are moving so fast the scenery is a blur. It is an apt metaphor.

I am conscious that I have witnessed an ephemeral Shanghai, a snapshot. I know it will be different should I return, such is the pace of change, but I really look forward to doing so.

GETTING THERE:
Bales Worldwide (0845 057 0600/balesworldwide.com) is offering a "Power Break" to Shanghai from £1,845pp (two sharing), B&B. Price includes seven nights at the Fairmont Peace Hotel (fairmont.com), return flights with Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow to Shanghai and transfers. CIBT (0844 800 4650/uk.cibt.com) can arrange Chinese tourist visas. China National Tourist Office: 020 7373 0888/cnto.org.uk