Tuning sales pitch to celebrities' homes(2)

The former residence of Lin Fengmian (1900-1991), the pioneering modern artist renowned for his paintings and aesthetic theories, was even less fortunate. Next to Lin's former residence at Nanchang Road, a sex-toy store had been operating for months until it was shut down in late February for operating without a license.

"I have nothing against a sex-toy store, but I don't think there is a reason for it to be running beside a conservation, the two places just do not fit," said Chen Junde, a 25-year-old man who works in a nearby bookstore.

Such buildings are protected under conservation laws but those in their surroundings and their usage are not similarly regulated.

As ownership of old buildings in Shanghai has been transferred under various circumstances, some residences of celebrities have been transformed into something that is perhaps unimaginable to the former owners.

A former house of writer Zhang Ailing in Jing'an district was turned into a class for Shanghai dialect learning, as the community committee members said that many newcomers to the city have a "Shanghai complex" that emerges when they read Zhang's novels set during the time when the city was under Japanese occupation.

The former residence of Yao Yulan, the fourth mistress of Du Yuesheng (1888-1951), himself the "godfather" of old Shanghai who amassed great power and wealth through gambling operations and opium sales, has morphed into a restaurant featuring Shanghai cuisine.