Locals cynically call him "papa," or praise him as their "king." Some expats, meanwhile, call him "big head." Whatever the moniker applied to him these days, Tajik President Imomali Rahmon is showing himself to be a man full of surprises. more ›

Ever thought of what you're doing to offset your carbon footprint? This Saturday, instead of driving your car or taking a taxi, why don't you try taking public transport, cycling or walking instead? Residents will be asked to avoid driving private cars within the Inner Ring Road, and while compliance is not mandatory, driving will be banned outright in some areas.
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So everyone is reporting what we warned you about. Here's what the AP said: more ›

Fans of rap and hip-hop, take this down: Jay-Z is coming to Shanghai. Probably. The Grammy-winning rapper reportedly will be performing at the Hongkou Soccer Stadium on Monday, October 23, as part of a tour that will also see him making stops in Taipei and Seoul, according to Shanghai Daily. more ›

If we're lucky! The Chinese TV sensation is launching a nationwide concert tour. The Saturday concert series kicks off Oct. 1 in Sichuan's Chengdu. The tour will hit 10 cities, focusing on cities that played host to regional qualifiers for the American Idol-esque show. Was Shanghai one of those cities? Shanghaiist has no clue. Perhaps a reader can help us out? Each concert is expected to cost around RMB 1 million. more ›

Greetings, music fans. Below you will find, in Shanghaiist's humble opinion, all the music you should have been listening to in the first half of 2005. And if you haven't been able to check these albums out yet, you still have plenty of time to load them on to your mp3 player of choice before 2006. Five Shanghaiist contributors submitted five albums each for a total and 25 -- and they wrote exactly 25 words about each one (exactly, only if you are very lenient with your rules of hyphenation). And yes, we are aware that these "Best of the Year (so far)" lists should really happen at the end of June and not at the end of July. But we're a start-up blog in China -- you expect us to be organized? more ›

The Crystal Method at Miami's 2005 Winter Conference music festival more ›