The World Expo Tunnel, which stretches beneath the Huangpu River, connecting Pudong and Puxi reached its full length on August the 20th: it's 2.67 kilometers long, and located 1.117 kilometers below the river.The soccer World Cup qualifier match between North and South Korea has been moved from Pyongyang to Shanghai, because the North had refused to play the anthem or fly the flag of its opponent (technically the two Koreas are still at war). The... [continue]

After losses for its women's basketball and volleyball teams last night, China has just one shot remaining at a gold medal in a team sport. The women's field hockey team takes on the Netherlands in the final tonight at 8:30, Beijing time. China upset European champions and 2004 gold medalists Germany to reach tonight's final. Both the women's basketball and volleyball teams lost in semifinal games Thursday night. The basketball squad was handled easily by... [continue]

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Chinese Soundbites, a podcast series brought to you by ChinesePod and Shanghaiist. Every week we'll be bringing you topics and words pulled straight from the headlines, in Mandarin Chinese. In this first episode Jenny and Amber talk about Liu Xiang (刘翔, Liú Xiáng), the Chinese hurdler who carried the hopes and dreams of the Chinese nation on his back but was brought down by an Achilles' tendon injury before... [continue]

With the Olympics winding down, the underground gigs seem to be finally picking up. We still aren't sure what is going on at Yuyintang, their webpage isn't loading and the message they were sending out on Facebook was vague on when they were planning to re-open. Yesterday we text-messaged them regarding The Gar, who were scheduled to play tonight and YYT confirmed the gig was still on. Shanghaiist plans on showing up tonight, but with... [continue]

There's a pretty sweet interactive feature on the NY Times website right now that let's the reader have a virtual experience atop the 10M diving platform at the National Aquatic Center (aka "Water Cube"). It includes a minute long audio description from American Olympic diver Thomas Finchum, but the real highlight is playing around with the panorama. We wish we could be there ourselves except we're afraid of heights. And water. And mobs of... [continue]

OMG was our first reaction when we saw this recreation of the Olympic Village in Beijing — yes, the Bird's Nest, Water Cube, the media tower and all — which took world record cardstacker Bryan Berg several days to build (in a Hong Kong shopping mall), 140,000 cards and NO super glue! We've seen the real Olympic Village, but this is awesome shit. Apparently some of Berg's works can even support up to 108 kg... [continue]

We heard that Beijing has made an effort to rid the city of Chinglish in all public places. Finally the public education banners are also in English so the foreigners can get some proper education too! Thanks to QuirkyBeijing for photos and translations.... [continue]

Photo by Wee Ling Soh We've always wanted to go try out Pho No. 1 in Gubei because we have been teetering on the brink of the desperation for a piping hot bowl of good pho for as long as we can remember. But oh well, so far mere mention of the word "Gubei" is enough to make us retreat nicely into our homes and boil water for those nasty instant Hongshao Niurou Lamian... [continue]

These three fantastic jazz vocalists will do a unique performance this Saturday night at a venue we haven't been to yet, called Lounge 18 (18 on the bund, 4F, 18 Zhongshan Dong Lu, near Nanjing Lu). Coco says it's a fantastic space, which means it should be perfect for the magical evening the group has planned for Saturday. Joining the three singers will be Tinho Pereira, the extraordinary Brazilian bass player who joined Coco and... [continue]

Many businesses in Beijing expected the Olympics to bring a boost to the local economy, but an article in The Economist has proved the opposite. Due to visa restrictions and the temporary shutdown of many bars, restaurants and street vendors, local shops have actually witnessed a downturn in business. Furthermore lower than expected visitor numbers have also left many hotel rooms unoccupied during the games. The article reports:At least the police are not rigorously enforcing... [continue]

Yin Guoguan, former deputy director of the Shanghai Housing, Land and Resources Administration Bureau was sentenced to death for taking bribes in return for real estate approvals. His sentence will be suspended for two years. The IHT reports that usually these sentences are commuted to life imprisonment. His wife also got seven years imprisonment for her role in the corruption. Photo by norsenut... [continue]

Benjamin Boukpeti: Picked up the first medal for Togo bronze in the men’s slalom kayak event but the French-born sportsman has only been to Togo once as a child to visit his paternal grandmother! According to Reuters, Boukpeti "only decided to compete for Togo when it became clear he was too old to make it into the far more competitive French team". Michel Phelps: This American swimmer won his 11th Olympic gold, making him... [continue]

Both Xinhua and Channel News Asia have run stories about the Beijing delicacy Peking duck as a favorite amongst athletes staying in the Olympic Village. A spokeswoman for the Olympic Village reported at a press conference that the supply of the duck dish was doubled from 300 birds per day to 600 to satisfy the demand of the 10,000 or so athletes living the village. Husband of Australian gold medalist for the 100m individual butterfly,... [continue]

Photo of the panda couple Yuanyuan and Tuantuan by Xinhua News Agency Yuanyuan and Tuantuan, two giant pandas who made the headlines two years ago when Taiwan's government refused to accept them as a gift from mainland China, will now at long last be moving to Taiwan. Since the pandas' names together form the word "tuanyuan" (团圆) or "reunion", the gift was seen as having rather political undertones. With the newly elected KMT ruling... [continue]

Just when the story of Spain's basketball team's slanty-eyed mischief was on the verge of exiting the news cycles, it gets a dose of revitalization from the blogosphere...with a little assist from their countrymen/women. From Gawker: But maybe Asia-mocking is actually a favorite pastime of all Spanish athletes—because their 2008 Federation Cup Tennis team, which beat China to move into the finals, was photographed in the same god damn pose! One of these tennis players... [continue]

Chinese women had a great morning in the pool, notching two silvers, a gold and a new world record. China only won two swimming medals in the 2004 Olympics. Liu Zige (刘子歌) won gold and Jiao Liuyang won silver in the women's 200 meters butterfly competition, in a rare 1-2 finish for Chinese swimmers. Liu swam a 2:04.18, a new world record, and Jiao a 2:04.72. China went on to win silver in another women's... [continue]

Here's one shared by Tim Johnson of China Rises:“At the closing ceremonies, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge announces that the IOC has decided that the next Olympics will be held again in Beijing instead of London since the games were so successful. The news sends millions of Chinese into a faint. Even the doctors swoon. Only the police are strong enough to withstand the news, and they immediately shout in unison: “Go to hell,... [continue]

Loretta Chao of the Wall Street Journal looks at the Olympic tradition of pin trading and talks to several Olympic pin fans. For those of you in Beijing and interested in taking a look at exactly what these pin traders do and how they bargain with each other, visit Coke’s "Shuang Zone" at Chaoyang Park.... [continue]

A small group of Tibet activists held a small demonstration at the entrance of the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park not far from the Olympic stadium yesterday around 12.30pm. According to Austin Ramzy of TIME Magazine who was there on site, the demonstration was "hardly a blockbuster". He described the protest as follows:The first attempt at unfurling a banner on the overpass was apparently a diversionary tactic, so the other demonstrators could barricade themselves behind a... [continue]