Many of you have probably already heard the story of "Nanjing Peng Yu" - the Chinese man who, in 2006, helped an old injured woman to the hospital and got sued for his troubles. The iconic case has been used as an explanation for the lack of Good Samaritans in China, as most of the public fears repercussion for getting involved with strangers' injuries. But in an incredibly sick twist six years after the fact, this week we find out that Peng actually DID push that old woman off the bus! more ›

A few links to start off your day: In Bloomberg, Adam Minter takes a look at the debate raging over anti-radiation maternity suits in China, and why the bizarrely popular trend is likely coming to an end. Check out the new Sinica Podcast about the Wukan uprisings, and the debate that Han Han has recently inflamed over liberalization in China. The Telegraph looks at the explosion of Chinese luxury shoppers arriving on English soil and how it impacts luxury retailers, who are quickly hiring Mandarin-speaking staff and being advised to avoid topics like “politics, Japan and communism”. more ›

Adam Minter, author of the Shanghai Scrap blog, who has spent hundreds of hours wandering in China's scrap recycling markets says he was intrigued by the large white sacks caught on the CCTV footage of the Yueyue incident. He says Chen Xianmei is more accurately discribed as a "scrap peddler" rather than a "trash collector" and offers the following reasons: more ›

• After six hours of surgery, a pair of 4-month-old conjoined twins were successfully separated yesterday at the Shanghai Children's Medical Center. The twins shared a liver and pericardium, but thankfully each had their own heart.
• Supposedly somebody somewhere is thinking about extending the 48-hour transit visa length in Shanghai. They wont tell us when or for who or how long, but hey, here's hoping!
• And hey, did you guys know we have a 48-hour transit visa on arrival in Shanghai?

• The 14th annual Shanghai International Film Festival (affectionately dubbed SIFFilis around the Shanghaiist 'office' this week) kicked off last night with Francis Lawrence's Hollywood romantic drama Water for Elephants. Red carpet stars this year included Susan Sarandon, Matt Dillon, and Rupert Murdoch.
• Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap draws some interesting comparisons for Bloomberg between the two largest crowds he saw gathered this week around Shanghai: Nervous gaokao parents and Kungfu Panda fans.
• What do you get for hating the rich and keying nine of their cars in Shanghai? One year in prison.

We told you earlier this is the gift that keeps on giving. And sure enough, it is. Now, the ever-excellent Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap has two more points that haven't been mentioned heretofore. One of those points, namely the second, is potentially damning, and should (we think) cause heads to roll: more ›

With the exciting, exciting news that Bob Dylan is making it to Shanghai, Shanghai Folk Rock United is putting on a show to welcome the musical legend featuring 6 singer/songwriters performing their original songs: Liu Jian, Bai Yu, Jian Bin, Samantha Sprole, Tom Mangione, and Adam Minter. Say whaaat? Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap is a folk rock singer? Since when? We asked one of their organizers and we got this interesting tidbit: Minter used to be a singer/songwriter in the US whose songs were played pretty often on college music radio stations. He even toured over the US and had a cd. more ›

We did it. Several Shanghaiist readers did it. And you -- you admit you did it too! But the award for Most Scientific Controlled Study in this category goes hands down to Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap. And he has lived to tell the story. more ›

As far as demolition, construction, and restoration projects go, China tends to top the list for sad and wasteful. Adam Minter over at Shanghai Scrap has been chronicling yet another victim in Shanghai's ever continuing demolition of its history. This time it's a 135-year-old Carmelite Convent in Xujiahui. But the bizarre twist here is that instead of high rises or shopping complexes, they've instead replaced the convent with... the convent, only one fifth smaller. more ›

Another souvenir post?! you might groan, but checking out the souvenir stores of each pavilion is an integral part of any Expo visit. more ›

Rarely would one associate the words 'paradise' with 'dictatorship'. However, North Korea, at least if its pavilion at the upcoming Expo is anything to go by, would care to differ. Thanks to Shanghai Scrap's Adam Minter, we've been treated to a few inside shots of a building whose walls bear the title 'Paradise for People.' Readers, judge for yourselves whether the interior matches up to your ideas of Pyongyang. more ›

As we already brought to your attention, this weekend will see a host of bar re-openings and a delicious mix of live musical treats from Britpop to electronica. more ›

Speaking of the Expo, Adam Minter (of the Atlantic, Foreign Policy and his always informative blog Shanghai Scrap) has put up two previously secret documents relating to the USA Pavilion. As you probably know by now, there's been questions about how exactly the USA Pavilion came to be - who chose the team, how come the money's taking so long to raise and heck, why it needs to cost $61 million in the first place. Now memos uncovered by a Freedom of Information Act have lifted the veil on at least some of it. Read Minter's most recent post on it. more ›

Adam Minter is an American writer in Shanghai, China, where he covers a range of topics, including the Chinese environment, religion in contemporary China, trade, sports, and cross-cultural issues between the West and Asia. Minter’s work has been published in The Atlantic, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, Mother Jones, Scientific American, ARTnews, and other publications. He blogs at Shanghai Scrap. Today, he shares five Expo-related reasons he's looking forward to 2010 (in no particular order/ardor). more ›

Adam Minter has the answer: more ›

"China has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest Internet market by number of users, a research firm said on Thursday." more ›

With all the bad press surrounding Steven Spielberg's Olympic boycott, Beijing seems to be scrambling to action to diffuse all the negative publicity by wooing a most unlikely target, the Pope. From Michael Sheridan of the Sunday Times (UK):

TEMPTED by the prize of a historic visit to China by Pope Benedict XVI, the nation’s leaders have authorised a renewed effort in confidential discussions with the Vatican to heal their rift and inaugurate diplomatic ties. more ›

For those of you that found that video of that Guangzhou train station stampede too gruesome to watch, then please, DO NOT click on this video (h/t to Global Voices). The clip contains images of dead bodies, and in fact it's so gory we're surprised that it hasn't been removed from Youku yet. more ›

If you visit Contrasts Gallery on Jiangxi Lu now, you will find lots of migrant workers have actually made it their temporary home, but that is not some avant garde artist doing his latest exhibition. Here's a note from reader Arjen van der Schoot who loaned one of his paintings to the exhibition that is currently being held hostage by the workers:

Contrasts Gallery on Jiangxi Road opposite Hamilton House over a disputed RMB 1 million renovation at the gallery. About 20 workers have squatted in the gallery for nearly a month now, desperate to go home for Chinese new year with money they claim they are owed. The workers are sleeping on makeshift beds on the floor and the walls are lined with mounds of rubbish, mostly empty lunch boxes. Electricity has been cut off leaving most of the gallery submerged in icy cold darkness. The workers are also keeping about 25 works by well-known artist Qian Gang hostage. The 25 works represent two years worth of work, and Mr. Qian is anxious to have the issue resolved and his paintings, some of which are on loan from private collectors, returned. The gallery’s staff is taking turns to keep an eye on the workers.

... with SCAA's Christmas gala which happens this evening at 6.30pm at O'Malleys! RMB 100 at the door gets you a glass of Champagne, two standard drinks, comfort food, lots of free gifts and one Holiday Raffle ticket for a chance to win over 100 prizes totaling more than RMB 150,000! For those of you on the hunt for Christmas trees but don't know where to get them, Smart Shanghai has the answers! 'Tis the... more ›

Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap describes his uneasiness at finding a medicine vending machine on the edge of "the city’s best (if not largest) fake market". Honestly, since Xiangyang was torn down, we're not too sure which other fake market has taken over as "the city's best fake market". This is a really kickass machine, and Adam's got some great close-ups too. Hop on over to his blog for some ‘Cold and flu medication,’ ‘Fever... more ›

Yet another diplomatic tussle looms large between Beijing and the Vatican in the days ahead. It all started when the Catholic News Agency sent out the following really short story a few days ago, alleging that the Bible is "among objects prohibited at the 2008 Beijing Olympics":

Organizers of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing have published a list of “prohibited objects” in the Olympic village where athletes will stay. To the surprise of many, Bibles are among the objects that will not be allowed. more ›

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People who made the news this week more ›

Shanghaiist is somewhat of a frequent flyer to Beijing, and because he isn't employed by some big multinational but rather runs his own little business, he can only afford to put himself on cattle class and often has to scour the internet for the cheapest available deals. We especially love this nifty little function on eLong.com which shows you the cheapest available flight within a week of your selected departure date. That has worked to our advantage in the past because we have relatively flexible schedules, and we have flown to Beijing for as low as RMB530 (that's RMB400 for the ticket and RMB130 for miscellaneous taxes) on Hainan Airlines. more ›

PLUS brolly-toting Premier Wen and X-ray of Homer Simpson's brain! more ›

I don’t want to dwell too much on the letter’s consequences; there are people far more qualified to do that, and they will. For now, I’d just like to point out that - in a small way - the letter serves as a near total and complete repudiation of the rhetoric and methods of the Cardinal Kung Foundation. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Kung Foundation is an American non-profit whose stated goal is support of China’s underground Catholics; in reality, the foundation and its leader Joseph Kung have spent the better part of the last two decades agitating for more division among China’s Catholics (a stance which the Pope’s letter implicitly recognizes as contrary to his and the late John Paul II’s intentions). I outline some of this in my recent profile of Jin Luxian in the July/August issue of the Atlantic.