SLICE magazine

We think we can safely say that SLICE is Shanghai's best English-language magazine about golf. This is, of course, not a difficult title to lay claim to -- kind of like saying Acropolis is the city's best Greek restaurant. (It's the only one, and we still have nightmares about our only visit there three years ago -- sometimes the nightmares are about the "moussaka," other times they are about the roach that crawled across our table.) But SLICE, which debuted in October, isn't playing the game like it's the only game in town. It's a slick little magazine that, style-wise at least, gives all the local English language rags a run for their money. This week, TIME Asia even gave SLICE a nice plug.

We know, just what Shanghai needs -- another English-language magazine. But SLICE doesn't target the same old crowd. It's going after a niche, a sliver, a ... um ... small slice -- there aren't that many golfers here ... yet. And maybe that's why it's only 21 cm by 16 cm and 102 glossy pages. But they pack a lot in there. We just wonder if they will eventually run out of material. There's a section called "The 19th" and they already hit many of the usual suspects in the first issue: Face, The Long Bar, Sasha's, The Blarney Stone, Zapata's, M on the Bund, 239, Mint, Laris, Mexico Lindo, T8, Shintori, T8, Kathleen's 5, Simply Thai and Boca, which we're pretty sure is long gone by now. They boast "MANY MORE wining & dining hotspots in coming issues." And maybe, with the high turnover rate of eating and drinking establishments in this city, they'll continue to be able to deliver on that promise. That fact that SLICE only comes out every three months should help their chances.

More shaky is SLICE's promise, according to TIME, to "profile five courses in the Shanghai area" in each issue. Last we checked Shanghai had 16 courses, and SLICE already hit five of them in the first issue. Maybe, thanks to that new fast train ride, Beijing will be considered in the "Shanghai area" by the time issue No. 4 comes out. (A side note: SLICE calls Sheshan Golf Club "Tuscany on the Huangpu." And Shanghaiist knows, after a long five days of long bus rides out to Songjiang District, Sheshan is nowhere near the Huangpu.)

There's actually quite a bit stuffed into this small magazine -- even a regular section on "grooming." We'd love to link to all these stories, but SLICE's website isn't live yet. A new issue is set to come out in January. Where can you find it? Think of all the places in the city you probably can't afford, and go to one of them. We saw stacks of SLICE not too long ago at The Dublin Exchange.

SLICE Shanghai -- "the golfer's essential lifestyle guide to China's most dynamic city" -- is published out of Hong Kong.

UPDATE: We forgot to mention that SLICE is free.