Smoke, near the water

Shanghai is now home to its very own Cuban cigar shop. La Casa del Habano -- already with locations in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen -- opened its first Shanghai store in the lobby of the Westin on June 17. The store has brought in a cigar roller from Cuba's Cohiba factory for people to watch, but she leaves tomorrow.

According to the China Daily, single cigars sell for as much as RMB 387 ($47) at the store. Thirty-seven Cuban brands are on sale, but 63 have been approved by the government. There are already talks of a second La Casa del Habano opening up in Xintiandi.

"We would like all cigar lovers to treat this like a home," store manager Jeffrey Yu said, "to spend time and trade cigar knowledge."

Aw, that's nice. But Shanghaiist is confident all patriotic red-blooded Americans in Shanghai will avoid these cigar shops like the plague and write letters to their congressmen complaining that an American-owned hotel is housing a Cuban cigar store. Well, maybe we're not that confident. See you there!

La Casa del Habano, Lobby, The Westin, Bund Center, 88 Henan Central Road. Phone: 6103-5058.

Image taken from the Havana Journal.