Ben Overton

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• Posted Search for China's first female astronaut begins to Shanghaiist
  China has begun the preliminary stages for selecting its first female astronauts and will formally announce the selection plan by the end of the year, according to China Daily. Shanghai Daily has also reported that a few details have been leaked: She will be selected from the Air Force and be 1.65 to 1.75 meters tall, Beijing Times today quoted Yang Liwei, China's first spaceman, as saying.
 But no other selection criteria have been...
• Posted Happy Valley amusement park's opening delayed to Shanghaiist
  A rocky start for Shanghai's newest amusement park means that Happy Valley in Sheshan will be delaying its official opening until August 16th. The park opened yesterday for a limited amount of members and other "privileged" customers, but crowds ultimately left disappointed after numerous mishaps - including long lines and a severe lack of dining, first-aid and other facilities. In addition, the park's landmark wooden roller coaster was forced to stop seven times and...
• Posted Travelist: Longjing Tea Mountain to Shanghaiist
  Sure, Shanghai is a great city. But after going up the Jin Mao Tower for the fourth time, eating at Wujiang Lu for the tenth time (this week), and seeing, breathing, and hearing nothing but Expo all day, every day, a little bit of nature is more than appreciated. After searching around for day-trip recommendations, we finally decided on the tea mountains of Hangzhou, and we weren't disappointed. Longjing Tea Mountain (龙井茶山/龙井茶园), located just outside...
• Posted Interview: Adam Schokora and the new NeochaEDGE to Shanghaiist
  Adam Schokora, of 56minus1 fame, recently grabbed our attention after co-founding NeochaEDGE, a website and consultancy focused on showcasing creative talent in China. We asked him a few questions about the future of NeochaEDGE and the creative scene in China. Tell us first a little bit about the idea behind NeochaEDGE. We didn't really come up with the idea for NeochaEDGE, it sorta kicked us in the shins on its own. It's the product...
• Posted China's own Loch Ness monsters to Shanghaiist
  Normally, when we imagine searching online for information on lake monsters, we expect to be forwarded to sketchy Geocities-esque websites ran by 40-year-old men from their parents' basement. So we were a bit surprised to find that the latest update on China's lake monsters has been posted on People's Daily Online. Not that we don't think People's Daily doesn't fit the above description, it's just that we were surprised to find out China had...