Cotton's is back, bigger and better, and tomorrow night, the new incarnation plays host to what promises to be a very special opening party.

The new Cotton's, at 132 Anting Road, will more than fill the shoes of the sorely missed and perennially popular earlier Cotton's.

Cotton Ding, proprietor of Cotton's, with the fervent encouragement of her many friends, followers and admirers, spent nine months scouring the city in search of another suitable location — the villa she has found is suitable for a king. Previously the property was home to a corporate king in the shape of a YUM! Brands Inc boss and his family.

The imposing three-story building sits back from the junction of Anting Road and Jianguo Road W., hidden from the road by both a wall and extensive foliage.

"My friends kept phoning me up and asking if I'd found anywhere yet so I just had to keep on looking," said Ding, possessed of the very sunniest of demeanors and a winning smile. The estate agents were discouraging and regaled her with tales of the number of other people looking for somewhere they could turn into a bar. Unperturbed Ding persisted and she finally spied the property in September while cycling past on her way to college. "I just thought wow, that's beautiful and it's exactly what I'm looking for," she said.

Over the past three months, an extensive refurbishment has transformed the property from a commodious family residence to a pub that feels uncommonly like a home.

Working fireplaces feature in each of the four main rooms (just the ticket in these frigid conditions), there are two floors, two bars, a patio and a decked area out front.

The garden area will be sublime in the summer especially with the surrounding large trees in full leaf.

Cotton's is the ultimate party house.

"Many of the bars around have a corporate feel and they are too commercial. I wanted this place to have a more personal atmosphere. I want this to be the sort of place where people come expecting to find their friends — a sort of second home," said Ding.

Ding originates from Hunan Province, central China, she studied art in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, in southern China before coming to Shanghai in 2001.

Before starting the first Cotton's in September 2003, she worked in the Maoming Road Blue Frog where her winning ways were noticed by several of her regulars. It was one of these who suggested and helped Ding open her own place.

Idioms are great and, of course, they play a full and wholesome part in Mandarin. It was with an idiom that Ding describes her feelings about the closure, exactly one year ago tomorrow, of her first bar: Sai weng shi ma yan zhi fei fu. In English, this translates to: a horseman who looses his horse might not be as unlucky as he seems — something along the lines of every cloud has a silver lining.

As silver linings go the classic party house bar that Ding now runs is dazzlingly bright and might just be 24 carat gold.

"The last Cotton's was my baby, my first business. I put a lot of me into it and it was a great experience," said Ding. "I was very sad to leave but I'm glad we did now or none of this would have been possible. Sometimes success is based purely on luck — with this new place I'll be able to show that the success of the last Cotton's wasn't just down to luck."

Bold modern colors figure with strong reds and greens, smooth, light, natural woods and the fireplaces, complete with mini wood stacks, blaze comfortingly.

The feel is of a designer Scandinavian type abode albeit a generously proportioned one.

The third floor is currently an office, a delightful combed ceiling type office overlooking the verdant garden.

Food will be coming soon. The music is eclectic but mostly blues based with Santana, Clapton and early Fleetwood Mac predominating the night Shanghai Daily visited.

Prices are good with a pint of Carlsberg selling for 38 yuan (US$4.69), the same for a gin and tonic and similar mixed drinks, shooters are 30 yuan.

A happy hour between five and eight allows two for one.

The party tomorrow night begins at nine with a free bar until eleven and Cotton's will be staying open late.

There was much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth last year when Ding's original and one of Shanghai's favorite bars closed. Doom mongers forecast the end of an era, conspiracy theories abounded and some people stayed home drank bottles of Reeb and watched CCTV 9's Dialogue shows.

With the new Cotton's, the city is blessed with another classic, individual bar that through playing to its intrinsically Shanghainese character is universally compatible and highly enjoyable.

douglaswilliams@shanghaidaily.com