SHANGHAI SLOWS DOWN

IN SHANGHAI, a restaurant open for 10 years is considered old, and a house that’s been standing for 30 is practically a landmark. “Everything here is fast,” says Wayne Zheng, director of guest experience at the Middle House, a sleek boutique hotel that opened in April 2018. Zheng was born in Shanghai and has seen the relentless pace of change. But as the city hustles forward, the latest change is about looking back.

For years, the trend in hospitality was toward large, glitzy restaurants, bars,