News from the subway in the past couple weeks:"Can't the city give some street performers some space?" - Street performers in Shanghai are often lumped together with beggars as public nuisances, but often they are just free spirits chasing a musical dream. One cited example are Tuotuo and A-qing, a couple of guys who play the guitar and sing every evening at the City Plaza Mall in Jing'an, often attracting a crowd of mostly young... [continue]

Frequent travellers such as grade B Shanghainese men should be painfully aware that airports the world over (LAX, we're looking at you) love to gouge their guests with prices inflated above those in the city. News that the Shanghai Airport is clamping down on this practice should then come as a relief. Shadowing a promise by the Beijing's airport to keep prices low at the new Capital Airport's new Terminal 3, the Pudong Airport Authority... [continue]

China's professional baseball league started off with a sweep last week as the Tianjin Tigers swept the Guangdong Leopards in three games, 11-1，13-10，and 8-5. Being the league's official opening series the first game was preceded by a red carpet ceremony and boasted of, surprise surprise, cheerleaders. And while it may not promise cheerleaders, don't forget that Shanghai Eagle's home opener against the Guangdong Leopards is this afternoon at 2:30. Just a 10-minute walk west from... [continue]

In the news recently, Shanghai's taxis:"Where's the difficulty in the taxi smoking ban?" The passengers, that's where. Dazhong taxi's "Welcome the World Expo with no smoking in Dazhong taxis!" campaign has stopped taxi drivers from smoking on the job through strict supervision and heavy fines, but drivers are finding the passengers aren't as cooperative: some taxi drivers have even been fined and lost stars due to passengers' complaints of bad service after they were... [continue]

Play ball! On Tuesday the China Baseball League released the official schedule for this year's games. The Shanghai Eagles, cheered on by their newly named mascot Tianyi the Eagle will play 9 home games this year, all in the first pre-Olympic half of the season. The home opener is April 18 against the Guangdong Leopards at Pudong's Kangbei Baseball and Softball Stadium. With the opening of the new metro lines making the trip out to... [continue]

Last night's Shanghai Evening Post contained several meaty public transportation related articles covering the following topics: Documents have been released suggesting that an extra Puxi-Pudong line could be added to the plans for Shanghai's metro system, turning Lujiazui into a two-line interchange station. With the completion and opening of Lines 6 and 8, plus the rapid development of the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Line 2 has become more and more crowded at all hours. In addition... [continue]

Photo of qingtuan, a traditional Tomb Sweeping Day treat that turns glossy when steamed, by mofli1982 小米 on Flickr Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos at shanghaiist.com.... [continue]

Photo of Tomb Sweeping Day supplicants at Longhua Temple by lucksnow on Flickr Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos at shanghaiist.com.... [continue]

According to the Xinmin Evening Post, on Sunday afternoon the southern half of the historic Waibaidu Bridge will be going to Pudong for repairs, followed by its northern half later this week. The former Garden Bridge was closed to all traffic on February 29th and workers have been hard at work preparing the bridge for tomorrow's trip. At approximately 9:30 in the morning when the tide is at its lowest point, a barge will be... [continue]

A summary of some of the Shanghai public-transportation-related stories making the news lately:The longest ocean-crossing bridge in the world is set to open near Shanghai on May 1. According to the Shanghai Daily, "the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which starts in southern Shanghai and ends in Ningbo, will shorten the trip between the two cities by more than 120 kilometers". Construction on the bridge began in 2003. Nanjing will soon join Beijing in banning foldable bicycles... [continue]

A summary of some of the Shanghai public-transportation-related stories making the news lately:An intelligent, wireless signaling and control system already successfully implemented on Lines 6, 8 and 9 will be used for all new lines built between now and the World Expo in 2010, theoretically cutting the lowest time between trains to 90 seconds.According to news reports, the new 3G cellphone network being rolled out in Shanghai has complete coverage on all metro lines and... [continue]

Two recent stories from the Shanghai subway system might be worth your notice:A score of news reports are heralding new measures to alleviate passenger load on Line 2 trains on the Pudong side, where Zhangjiang High-Tech Park station has become one of the metro system's highest trafficked stations due to what the Xinmin Evening Post calls “白领客流”, the "white-collar passenger flow". More trains are being added to both the morning and afternoon rush hours, and... [continue]

Wednesday morning saw the first passengers boarding planes and taking off for domestic and international destinations from Pudong Airport's new Terminal 2. According to the Shanghai Daily: Terminal 2 offers passenger transit halls covering 4,000 square meters with 40 service counters designed to improve transit efficiency. The new terminal will offer passenger-friendly services, airport officials said on Monday. The new traffic center connecting the two terminals offers access to airport shuttle services, long-distance buses, the... [continue]

The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres this weekend at Beijing's Olympic baseball stadium. Seating capacity is limited to 13,000 spectators, and sure enough Emma has sold out their allotment of the cheap seats here in Shanghai. We're curious as to the scalper situation in Beijing, but for the risk-averse, other Chinese ticketing websites still have a small number of tickets left. A little internet sleuthing can still get you into the... [continue]

Taco Bell, we hardly knew ya. An article in this morning's Metro Express commuter paper reported that a Yum Enterprises spokesperson has confirmed the closing of Shanghai's two Taco Bell Grandes, at People's Square and in Gubei, as well as the chain's single Shenzhen location. Instead of pushing Americanized Mexican food in a tough market, the owners of KFC and Pizza Hut have chosen to concentrate on expanding their new Chinese "quick service" venture East... [continue]

The lonely orphan of the Shanghai subway system, metro Line 9 will be opening this Saturday along with new Lines 6/8 and the extensions of Lines 1/4. Line 9 has been nicknamed the "Ancient Speedway" because it passes through several historically significant satellite towns of Shanghai: Qibao, Jiuting and Songjiang. Because stubborn neighbors have delayed Line 9's connection to Lines 3/4, a bus connection between Guilin Rd and Yishan Rd will substitute for a direct... [continue]

As Saturday, December 29 approaches, Shanghaiist wonders if the addition of three new lines to Shanghai's subway system will do anything to relieve the congestion on the city's metro rail system. Let's ask the Shanghai Daily: Longest wait times expected on Line 6 Crowding expected on Metro 8 Longer hours, bigger crowds on Line 4 Ouch. 'Nuff said. Photo of sardines in a tin by stijn.... [continue]

There has been plenty of criticism leveled at the Shanghai subway system, both on Shanghaiist and elsewhere, for things that could be better about it: it closes too early, the interchanges take too long, it's too crowded and too hot/cold, it doesn't reach XXX place, etc. If you fancy yourself on optimistic person, though, you know that one way to change the negatives into positives is to change your complaints into things you're looking forward... [continue]

Line 1: The 2nd northern extension: Bao'an Highway, Youyi Road, Fujin Road. People's Square now a 3-way interchange (photo from the Line 1 platform):... [continue]

Time to top-out your public transport cards, all RMB 999 folks, Opening Day is upon us! The Shanghai metro system will soon be welcoming into the family "three lines and two segments," as the opening as been nicknamed, consisting of new Lines 6/8/9, the 2nd northern extension of Line 1 and the final stretch of the Line 4 loop line. Thanks to "planning with Chinese characteristics" it is still unclear whether the first day of... [continue]