Taste of nostalgia

He Wen's grandparents sold imported goods in the 1920s, and the collection of items has remained with his family.

In He's mind, these old items are not only the things that marked his childhood, but also evoke his family's legacy of impeccable Shanghai style. He still remembers his grandmother spending a whole afternoon sitting on the European style leather sofa, listening to music played on the phonograph and sipping black coffee in a small ceramic coffee cup.

"These antiques are full of stories, they hint at how people in Shanghai used to live in the 1920s, when people had impeccible taste and were influenced by some of the finer aspects of Western culture," He says.

In May 2014, in order to give young Shanghainese a glimpse at how the city used to be, He started inviting friends and the public to visit the house.

He soon had about six groups of visitors coming in to see his collection every day. He became the guide in the small house, telling the stories behind each phonograph during the 40-minute tour.

After four months of giving tours, he decided to turn his little private museum into a café in order to create a more leisurely and relaxing atmosphere for people to soak up the old Shanghai lifestyle.

"I prefer to make friends with passersby who are willing to sit on the old sofa and listen to the stories and old traditions passed down from my grandmother," He says.