Dan quit his newspaper job in the Bible Belt to move to Shanghai in 2002. He founded Shanghaiist in 2005 and has been amazingly wealthy ever since. He works as a writer, runs an online boutique, maintains a personal website (he stopped updating this one in 2007) ... and in 2006 he got married and adopted the two cutest dogs in Shanghai. When he is not driving his taxi, Dan tries to find time to work on his upcoming book about golf in China.

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After a short stint in Cologne, Singapore-born Kenneth Tan arrived in Shanghai with a one-way ticket and a backpack in January 2003, stuck it out in a youth hostel for two months and stayed on ever since. He is the city's most notorious media whore public relations specialist turned underwear salesman who has been known to flash his latest designs to unsuspecting customers and journalists in his store. In his spare time, Kenneth can be found indulging himself in a bubble bath dreaming of world domination while his cat sits on the edge of the tub.

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Most experts contend that Eric most likely peaked when he placed 2nd in his 1st grade spelling bee. In the two decades since, he's been on a mission to recapture that glory, a journey that has taken him from his home-base of sunny California (both south and north) to his ancestral home on the mainland. After nearly four years here, he still finds himself laboring for the same corporate giant and pining for fresh San Francisco air, while loving every minute of the hot, thumping, craziness that is Shanghai. Feel free to slap him on the ass next time you see him in line at Coffee Bean or thumbing through copies of Criterion Collection DVDs at your nearest bootleg shop (in Puxi, of course).

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On arrival in Kunming in the summer of 2007, Maggie quickly found herself in the middle of the Chinese sports boom. In just one year, she has worked out with China's women's soccer team, drank Tsing Tsao with the coach of the men's basketball team and played the best golf course in China. She is the editor of China Sports Today, a new site about the China sports scene, and writes a weekly Chinese-language sports column for the 21st Century Business Herald. Maggie is based in Beijing and unwinds from chasing after stories by playing basketball at the Dongdan courts and coaching water polo at a Beijing sports school.

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Born in the wilds of Northern Idaho, Abe left small town life for Seattle at the age of 20. Working various jobs and studying various things Abe finally made his way to China in 2001 and Shanghai in 2005.

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JQ has been playing jazz in Shanghai since he arrived almost 5 years ago, and started writing about it last year. Recent times have seen his entry into the world of the day job, beginning last fall with the opening of local jazz academy JZ School, and from the beginning of this year overseeing the musical side of things at Soulfire, a new radio program that broadcasts out of Hangzhou and Zhejiang province. JQ is the author of the Shanghai Jazz Scene blog.

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In the past, Micah has lived in four different countries, earned a degree in applied physics, taught English to little kids, worked in a bookstore, dropped out of a masters program, traveled overland from Costa Rica to California, and gotten hitched to a beautiful woman. Currently, the author of the Shanghai Public Transportation Blog is teaching math and science at a private international school in Shanghai, raising a chinchilla, and trying his darndest to be a good husband. Maybe in the future he'll be a tour guide, or a reporter. Or write a book, or go back to school. If you see him, say hi.

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Julien Bertrand left Europe to move to north Jiangsu Province in August ’04 and decided, after a few months of getting his fill of rural China, that Shanghai would be his next move. Apart from teaching at the French School since then, he has ambled his way around China and written columns about his strange experiences in the French Community quarterly publication Le Petit Shanghaïen (“The Little Shanghainese”). You’ll probably bump into him at the JZ Club or around the French Concession, looking out for the best café terrace.

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Pete is yet another New Jersey resident, hailing (proudly) from the state's capital. Having only been in Shanghai for less than a year, he is a newcomer to the world of Shanghainese, xiao long bao, and hot weather. In between graduation and his arrival in Shanghai, Pete spent a year in the "Ice City" of Harbin, spreading the Jersey accent like the plague (a glass of "wooder", please). When not bragging about living on the same street as the anthrax post office, he can be found roaming around Pudong looking for a flight (or canoe) to head over to Puxi.

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"Swiss" James is a prolific blogger, so-so photographer, and table-football supremo. He enjoys binge drinking, riding ferries and teasing crickets. His ambition is to eat yu xiang qie zi in every restaurant in Shanghai, and do two laps of the 100 shot menu at the Blue Frog on Tongren Lu.

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Having spent more time dreaming about the big city than living in one, Thalia is resident expert on semi-obscure places, like Chongqing and Tulsa, which exist almost exclusively to provide the contrast against which places like Shanghai may be better appreciated. When not writing for Shanghaiist or stalking the net under her superhero alias, Chinkerfly, you'll find Thalia poring over Dianping listings in search of a better hole-in-the-wall restaurant than the one she raved about last week.

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Ryan Pollack something interesting about past life experiences here. Talk about hometown and the situation for being in Shanghai. Discuss diverse interests, such as microwave cookery and animal husbandry. Close with misspelled Chinese phrase learned from outdated edition of travel guide. Use big words. Be witty, self-deprecating, and ironic. Omit all-consuming desire to see own name in lights. Also: find stylin' picture.

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Rebekah is a travel bum who enjoys randomness and weirdos. She's been kicked out of countries from A to Z (Australia-Zimbabwe), spent time in a township jail in South Africa, been arrested in China, attended university on 3 continents (Europe, North America, Africa) and worked on 5 continents. She's worked such odd jobs as a chef in England, a Guinness pourer in Ireland, a chicken killer in Canada, a champagne pourer on a yacht in Australia, a cook for a professor's dog in Italy and a tour guide from South Africa to Mozambique. She has lost count of the number of phones she's lost and countries she's visited. Rebekah dislikes carnations, babies, French wine and exclamation points. She is fond of sharp kitchen knives, large accessories and creative tattoos. Her life mantra is: 'Not all who wander are lost' by J.R.R Tolkien. She works as an editor/writer for Ctrip and ChinaTravel.net.

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Derek was mired in a post-collegiate funk, selling books to children out of a van, when he decided to make a great leap forward by moving to Shanghai in 2006. When not writing for Shanghaiist, he spends his time wandering city streets throughout the worker's paradise, visiting every single tourist attraction (no matter how boring) and writing about it for Chinatrackers. Derek is originally from Kansas City and often gets nostalgic (salivates) when the word 'barbeque' is mentioned.

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Beijing back in '04 fascinated Wee Ling with its strange clash of new and old, so much that she decided to return after she finished school proper but a chance opportunity led her from Singapore to Shanghai instead. These days Wee Ling is working on taking better party/street photos, among other things. In the meantime, she can usually be spotted at random street-side food stalls trying to recreate fond memories of Newton Hawker Centre and Blk 85 in Bedok back home.

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Singapore lass Sue Anne doesn't know how she landed in Shanghai. After a decade spent studying and doing nerdy foreign policy research in the US, she's finds herself happily working for "The Man" in Shanghai's bright lights big city. Pudong is her playground of choice for she finds it a burgeoning, veritable playground teeming with possibilities. Sue Anne enjoys sarcasm served with a side of wit.

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Executive Editor and co-founder: Jen Chung