The Danish journalist and writer Olaf Linck visited Shanghai in 1926 and later wrote about his stay at Astor House's rival, the luxury hotel Hotel Majestic:

And it is truly tasteful in the great domed hall with its many tables covered in tablecloth surrounding the eliptical dancefloor, in the middle of which a fountain soothingly drizzles like rain above a bed of water lillies both blue and the color of the dawn.

     Here was that the I, unworthy being that I am, sat and saw to the base necessities of life by starting my meal with a divine turtle soup served in ”bowl” the shape of the animal the soup was based on. I lifted the shell, breathing in the spiced aroma. Amazing what human ingenuity has contrived of for the enjoyment of the gourmand. And how considerate that when the asparagus was offered, I was presented with a pair of silver pliers to hold the things with!

(...)

People dance when the liquors show up, the light shimmering during the dance. The fountain shimmering in the colors of the rainbow and across the domed ceiling colored dots can be seen playing, making the curve look like a giant, skittish chameleon. Mysterious dimness gradually settles through the room.

(From Olaf Linck: En dansker i Østen. Laurits Andersens eventyr (A Dane in the East. The Adventures of Laurits Andersen), Gyldendal 1927. Translation Christina Maria Jessen.)