India, May 4 -- Dear Reader,

China doesn't feel repressive. We are on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, crowded with couples, young families and tourist groups.

The horizon is filled with futuristic looking skyscrapers; the city feels like a glitzy and glamorous version of Mumbai, more modern than even Chicago.

Let's walk to the Bund, the historic street on the Huangpu river, where the colonial powers lived. Here's where the British built their clock towers and warehouses. It's a world I know vividly from Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, a historical novel that follows the lives of two sisters in 1939 who move from Shanghai to LA.

Then a Timeout Shanghai listing with Seven Shanghai Bookstores pops up. Two bookstores are right here - so that's wher...