Large crowds turned out last week at Shanghai’s West Bund Art & Design and ART021, two of the top international art fairs in Asia. Given that Basel, FIAC and other top international art fairs were cancelled this year due to the pandemic, the excitement surrounding these fairs was even higher than usual. VIP days, which cater to important collectors and celebrities before the fairs were opened to the public, attracted larger than usual crowds and long entrance queues. On the first VIP day alone, 60 million yuan (US$9.1 million) worth of artworks traded hands. Some private collectors even complained they were unable to purchase artworks they wanted at ART021, because those pieces had already been sold. Clearly, the city’s art market has come back to life, on course to become one of the world’s leading art trading centers.