Chris Billman

Recent Actions

• Posted Shampoo-sniffing security coming to a pool near you to Shanghaiist
  Swimming just got a whole lot safer. State media reported on Friday that all Shanghai public swimming pools will now have "specially trained staff" smelling the shampoo and body wash of all swimmers before entry is allowed in an effort "guard against explosions or other "terrorist attacks". Recently "some 400 of the city's more than 450 pools had passed safety examinations", but what of the remaining 50 pools? Well they may be "oblivious of the...
• Posted Shanghai authorities warn of illegal satellite TV crackdown to Shanghaiist
  Looks like the life of that satellite dish you have covertly installed on your patio may be coming to a premature end if the Shanghai government has its way. From Shanghai Daily:Seventeen government departments will launch a joint city-wide campaign to wipe out illegal television satellites that can receive foreign TV programs across Shanghai. There are a few places where satellite dishes are allowed, essentially military/government compounds and expat havens. If you aren't in one...
• Posted Opening Soon: Boxing Cat Brewery to Shanghaiist
  We were invited to a private beer tasting at the soon to be opened Boxing Cat Brewery, and we always enjoy free food and beer (even if it is in Minhang). Boxing Cat Brewery is a collaboration between Gary Heyne (former brew master of Henry’s) and Kelley Lee (from iiiit!). They’ve put together a nice pub/restaurant that has a warm homey feel, a place likely to draw a lot of “regulars”. Gary plans on keeping...
• Posted The death of the plastic bag to Shanghaiist
  In a surprise move that if enforced will lead to an undoubtedly cleaner Shanghai and China in general. The powers that be have decided that as of June 1st those ultra thin plastic bags (.025mm) that accompany virtually every purchase in China will be banned. The regular thickness plastic bags will still be allowed, but grocery stores and other vendors will be forced to charge for those bags and prices will need to be clearly...
• Posted The air we breathe to Shanghaiist
  The idea of Mask Week (11/17/2007-11/24/2007) got us thinking about the air we breathe in Shanghai. We know it's bad for us, we can see the haze nearly every day, but just how bad is it. So we got on the web and found the historical records for Shanghai air quality provided by the Shanghai Environment Education Centre, you can also go here to find records for 84 Chinese cities. Since the beginning of the...