Why Starbucks has succeeded in China where others have failed
38-year-old self-proclaimed virgin creates website to stop youngsters from having sex
Hu Xijin on the Chinese government's (lack of) communication skills
Watch: Amazing Hong Kong in 1961!
Last Friday's Kim Jong-un assassination rumours
Not that we needed another reason to love Chinese mushrooms, but it seems like researchers have figured out that a certain type can shrink cancer tumors by as much as 75%! The Maitake mushroom (or 舞茸蘑菇 wu rong muo gu in Chinese), which is also found in Japanese cooking, managed to help combat bladder and prostate cancer in a study by the British Journal of Urology. Besides cancer, mushrooms also seem to help reduce the risk of heart disease and could be the key to weight loss. That's something worth chewing over.
Not everything causes cancer: Maitake edition
Looks like Shanghai’s Year of Pho will soon have its first cage match. Yes, our pleas for decent pho through the years have been thoroughly drowned out by the sound of so many pho restaurants popping up left and right, front and back. But something intriguing is happening on Wujiang Lu, where Pho Sizzlin’ has, up until now, laid claim to its pho-main with is colorful personality but decidedly average noodle offerings. A challenger has set up shop on the same street, and Pho26 is no glass-jawed pretender.
Daniel Gross of Slate has been over here reporting on the controversial Three Gorges Dam project. And while we can't say anything too bad about his coverage of that - which, while it reads more like a disgruntled travel piece than actual hardhitting journalism, is generally close enough to what little facts we know about the dam that it makes it impossible for us to nitpick - we were surprised by one of his pronouncements:
Hotpot season is upon us, and the first in our series of hotpot reviews this upcoming winter is Three Travellers [sic] (三人行骨头王火锅), a chain that recently opened its newest baby smack dab in the middle of the fantastic restaurant corner that is Fumin/Julu Lu.
Concierge's 10 best Japanese restaurants in Shanghai
Thanks to ShanghaiExpat user TrueNorth, we get a summary of free local Japanese rag Concierge's rankings of the top ten Japanese restaurants in Shanghai, supposedly voted on by 100 Japanese CEOs. "Top" in this case is apparently defined by where these voters would most likely treat their business guests. TrueNorth was kind enough to include links to each of the restaurants that includes addresses (albeit in Chinese) and phone numbers; just scroll down to see the post. UPDATE: D'oh, looks like Smartshanghai was on this one a month ago, complete with English info and short descriptiions. Our bad, Chris, thanks for doing the legwork.
We were sent Silk Guides: Shanghai Eat & Drink Guide a couple weeks ago, but it took us a little while to get off our lazy butts and actually take a look inside... Which is a shame, because the guide, about a size that would fit handily into a purse if not really a pocket, is actually a pretty decent look at what restaurants you ought to try in the city right now.
Hey folks, remember our last Shanghaiist Scrabble night? You can win 250RMB of Cotton's vouchers and the title of Shanghaiist Scrabble champion if you come to the next one we're hosting: Tuesday, November 24th. Pit your vocab and scrabble strategy against the drinks you'll be getting in order to compete. It'll be a cold night, but with the copious amounts of alcohol and Cotton's warm fireplace (with real fire!), you'll be sure to feel as cozy as possible on a Tuesday night.
"I think we're going to need to have chicken for Thanksgiving this year," our roommate told us, faces twisted in dismay. A Thanksgiving traditionalist, she had been adamant about cooking the meal at home for friends rather than head out to any of the many restaurant/take away options other people have outlined.
We mentioned it briefly in this week's Pencil It In, but figured it bears repeating since it combines two things we love: charity and trivia. This Thursday, the Rotaract Club Shanghai and Hilton Shanghai are hosting a World Trivia Night with 100% of the proceeds going to various local charities.
We've got a pretty awesome weekend ahead of us. Even if you're not going to one of the many music parties planned for tonight (which you can check out in our midweek music preview), there's still a lot more going on. For instance...
We've all been there - all you want is a salad and just don't want to make one yourself. And then maybe you do, and it doesn't taste the way you want it to. Total bummer. Well, next time this situation arises, we've found at least one good place to get a fix. Origin, a small café and restaurant tucked around the back of Taikang Lu.
White collar workers in Shanghai have expressed increasing dissatisfaction with the lunch options offered at moderately-priced restaurants around the city.
Twist is a tiny little depot that specializes in cold Taiwanese desserts. They've got smoothies and juices, but what you really need to go to Twist for is the shaved ice. Though we're sure there are similar offerings sprinkled around the Taiwanese enclaves Hongqiao/Gubei, we're positive that in Shanghai proper, Twist has the freshest and most authentic ingredients meant to sit atop a mound of shaved ice.
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