"We're so young and so gone, let's chase the dragon from our home!" This is a line from the English rock band Suede's song "So Young," which featured in a recent Chinese film of the same name, a movie that has caused an upsurge of nostalgia among people born in the 1970s.

According to the West China City Daily based in Sichuan Province, the film, directed by actress Zhao Wei, has taken 400 million yuan ($65 million) at the box office in only nine days. 

Zhao, born in 1976, adapted the film from a 2007 novel To Our Youth that (is) Fading Away, reviving this tale of university students in the 1990s. The plot shows the popularity of the Taiwan TV series The Legend of White Snake during these years, as well as ubiquitous Hong Kong pop songs such as "Red Sun." The action also recalls the goings-on in student clubs located in shabby on-campus buildings.

And for those born in the 1970s, the reminiscing doesn't have to stop in the cinema, with a number of Shanghai venues taking customers on this same trip back in time.

Innocent days

Rusty metal pencil boxes, a Communist Youth League badge, a scrapbook of reports from the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and a pile of literary magazines from the 1970s and the 1980s are all featured at an ongoing exhibition, The Museum of Innocence at Me Library (Room 101, No.122 Longshan Xincun, Lane 988 Zhongshannan'er Road 中山南二路988弄龙山新村122号101室, 139-1873-7591) in Xuhui district.

"For me, memories of childhood are contained in the items that kept me company during those years," said Luoqi, 28, the owner of the library.

Inspired by the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk's novel The Museum of Innocence, in which a man creates a museum of his estranged lover's personal belongings, Luoqi decided to display his own, and other people's possessions, from the 1970s and the 1980s.

Luoqi also invites private collectors of retro articles to preside over cultural salons in which participants share experiences of their youth. Details of upcoming salons can be found on Me Library's homepage on douban.com.

Another retro-themed activity in the venue is handwriting letters. Letter writing was once the predominant method of communicating over great distances at a time when computers, and even telephones, were not a common sight in China.

"Not only was writing the letter enjoyable, but so was the anticipation of waiting for a response," Luoqi told the Global Times.

Admission is free to both the exhibition and handwriting letter event, and the library opens from 10 am to 10 pm, Tuesday to Sunday and from 2 pm to 9 pm on Monday.

Make yourself at home

Since it was first unveiled to the public in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 2010, the 70s Restaurant chain has become one of the most popular themed eateries in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Located on the ground floor of a modern high-rise in downtown Shanghai, the red brick-facade of the Changde Road branch of 70s Restaurant (1217 Changde Road 常德路1217号, 6040-2808) effortlessly evokes feelings of nostalgia in its customers.

Opened in November, 2011, this was the first of the chain's outlets in Shanghai. At the door of the restaurant hangs a welcome sign that announces, "to live a life, rather than being alive." And inside the three-story venue, customers can appreciate vintage memorabilia such as dated TVs, clocks and radio sets, as well as well-worn sewing machines and mottled suitcases. 

Featuring Sichuan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisines, 70s Restaurant also provides a selection of home-cooked dishes that were popular 40 years ago, among them steamed egg with pork, egg dumplings, cold curd pork, and malted milk drinks.

Customers are encouraged to serve themselves rice and tea just as they would at home. And diners can also play a game of traditional chess, or the Chinese version, weiqi (known as "go" outside of China).

The chain's other two Shanghai branches are the Xujiahui outlet (7/F, 1000 Zhaojiabang Road 肇嘉浜路1000号7层, 6426-0517) and the Zhonghuan Bailian outlet (4/F, 1288 Zhenguang Road 真光路1288号4层, 6139-7933).

End of an era

Since it settled in a historic British-style building in 1960, the Natural History Gallery (260 Yan'an Road East 延安东路260号, 6321-3548), has impressed generations of Shanghainese with its fascinating exhibits.

A trip to the original gallery is an indelible memory for anyone born in the city in the 1970s, when most pupils paid a visit under the guidance of their school.

An eight-meter-long replica of the skeleton of a Yellow River elephant was among the most eye-catching exhibits of the more than 260,000 items on display.

But the elephant has now been removed for restoration before rejoining every one of the other exhibits at the gallery's new home, planned to open in Jing'an Sculpture Park in 2014. 

The building was officially recognized as a heritage architecture site which means that any structural modifications are not permitted.

The embalmed bodies of two individuals who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the history of paleontology and paleoanthropology sections are still on view on the second floor, while the third floor features examples of invertebrates and fish species. The museum opens from 9 am to 5 pm from Tuesday to Sunday (admission stops at 3:30 pm), and the entry price is 5 yuan.