Just one week in and 2009 has been largely dull, grey, and wet. Thankfully then, the good people at Split Works have put together a ten day long festival of art and music to warm our cockles - starting today. According to the organisers, Jue Festival is "an excuse to leave your hidey-hole and experience a punk show, an art installation, and everything in between", which sounds pretty good to us. The festival (which is also taking place in Beijing), will showcase some of......

Michael Phelps (菲尔普斯) has signed the biggest ever endorsement contract for a Western celebrity in China, claims DMG Entertainment group, the agency that reportedly signed him to a seven-figure deal with Mazda. Phelps, who captured the awe of China (along with the rest of the world) while winning eight swimming gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, will promote the Mazda 6 through television and print ads, as well as public appearances. According to Bloomberg News, Mazda sold 105,000 cars in China in the first 10 months......

Someone in Shanghai is looking out for us Californians. First, Cantina Agave arrived and delivered Mexican food the way we remember it. Now, a cafe on Jinxian Lu has brought us New England clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl. Yes, this creamy chowder has its roots in the northeast, but when its purveyors serve it in sourdough and name their restaurant after the famed Pier 39 in San Francisco, you're definitely aiming for that Northern California vibe. And that's just what Candy, a former......

Another day, another factory closure, another worker protest. That's not new in Guangdong anymore but with the Chinese New Year drawing close, people are desperate to claim their unpaid wages so they can travel home for the annual reunion with their family. This is an otherwise regular report if not for the......

We pass this billboard (almost) every day, between Shanghaiist headquarters and the gym. For a long time it featured Barack Obama on the cover of the Chinese version of Men's Health. Recently a Twitter user named Shaquille O'Neal has taken the president elect's place. It's an ad for Li Ning basketball shoes, Shaq's brand of choice for a couple years now. (You might remember the real Li Ning from such Olympic opening ceremonies as Beijing 2008.) Here's the text of the ad: 斗硬谁怕谁!...

Photo by fateless_gypsy. A four year old girl in Guangzhou has been found dead in a refrigerator belonging to a migrant worker who is thought to be mentally ill and who once told neighbours that human flesh was "delicious". [BBC] In the latest internet crackdown, Google, Baidu, Sina and QQ, other portals have been deemed "vulgar and unhealthy", and ordered to clean up their act. [Danwei] A total of 14 people were killed in two separate illegal fireworks plant blasts,......

As it turns out, China's 3G licenses will be issued to China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom by Spring Festival. Guangdong Mobile (a China Mobile subsidiary) is already releasing a new set of 3G numbers all starting with "188" beginning this Thursday. In addition GPRS fees will be cut by as much as 2/3 in most cities. According to Pacific Epoch, Shanghai Mobile users can "now pay RMB 5 per month for 30MB, rather than the RMB 5, 10 MB package......

SH's tombstone Late last year we documented SH magazine's trials and tribulations. The English-language weekly stopped publishing in December, but it continues to be a source of drama in 2009. A final "funeral issue" — death themed from front to back — was finished and set for publication on December 19. But the swan song never saw the light of day. Until now. The issue in its entirety can be found after the jump on this post. Here's some back story from......

This warning may have come a little too late for some of you but the story needs to go out anyhow. The dog you see on the right, Addie, which belongs to Ryan McLaughlin (who also writes LostLaowai and CNet Asia's The Tech Dynasty) has just died from contact with aflatoxin-contaminated Optima dog food. Aflatoxicity leads to rapid liver failure and kills 80% of all dogs afflicted with it. After Ryan's local pet store in Suzhou was nice enough to inform him of the......

Photograph of Times Square during the first moments of 2009 by Neil Epstein/Gothamist Gothamist said good-bye to 2008 by looking back at the year and rang in 2009 in Times Square. (God bless YouTube for capturing Kathy Griffin's salty New Year's comments to a heckler.)Phillyist interviewed Robert Bielski, whose father will be played by Daniel Craig in the upcoming film, Defiance.Seattlest entered 2009 shaking off some bad pizza recommendations and debating whether or not the New Year's Eve police......

50 year old Shen Zhengjuan, director of the state-owned assets administration, or SASAC, jumped to her death from her apartment in Shanghai’s Huangpu District on the last day of 2008. Caijing Online speculates her suicide may have to do with the corruption scandal of former mayor Chen Liangyu. More here and here. (Update: The Huangpu District has issued a statement to state that Shen was not corrupt and was "a person of decency" and "an official who showed true conviction to her job.")Approximately 80% of college students in Shanghai are willing to lower salary expectations......

Edison Chen was narrowly beaten by Barack Obama for "Person of the Year 2008" in Radio Television Hong Kong's poll. The public was "cordially invited to vote for the most outstanding personality of the year at RTHK or by calling in during the program "Backchat". The results of the poll were announced on Radio 3, on Friday, January 2nd. The RTHK nominees were as follows: Dalai Lama - Spiritual Leader Edison Chen - Artist and photographer Tony Hedley - Health......