There's the MiDi festival of course and a score of after parties we covered earlier. Friday starts off with a terrace opening and a new bar opening. And Brownstone is trying to do something a little different: if you live or work in their area, you're invited to theirs to have a welcome shot and 50% off of all alcohol in an old fashioned block party. Baobei farmer's market will be bringing lots of fresh produce out for sale or you could go on a strawberry picking trip to a field in Pudong and pick up some organic fruits and veggies straight out of the field yourself. And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. more ›

The biggest piece of concert news this spring season is that Bob Dylan is playing Shanghai Grand Stage on April 8th--you already knew that unless you're on some type of news media fast for Lent--however, there's a lot more going on besides that especially in the Canto and Mandopop arena. Here are some big name Chinese singers to look out for these next two months. more ›

It has been just over a month since the earthquake hit Sichuan, and while much of the media coverage has moved on to other disasters, we can still catch musical tributes while waiting for the subway. From the very beginning, we were impressed by how quickly state-owned media mobilized to air reel after reel of footage to inspire citizens across China to action and in many cases rally hope. Popular musicians all over Asia have banded together to sing for the all those who have been effected by the event, and faithful Chinese web users have uploaded countless such MVs to video sharing networks like Youtube and Tudou. Here is a sampling of what we have found. more ›

A group of about a dozen celebrities including Andy Lau (刘德华), Sammi Cheng (郑秀文), Joey Yung (容祖儿), Gilbert Lam (林韋辰), Joey Meng (萬綺雯), Grace Cheung (張家瑩), Bowie Lam (林保怡), Astrid Chan (陳芷菁), Zhang Guoli (张国立), Chen Daoming (陈道明), Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚) and Jiang Wenli (蒋雯丽) are part of a contingent of celebrities taken to visit the earthquake zone in Sichuan Province and to rally the troops that have been serving non-stop in rescue operations.
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For this week's Shanghaiist Sunday Show, we present to you over a dozen songs that have been submitted to the Olympic committee. Some of the biggest names from across the Chinese music universe have been roped in, including Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Emil Chau, Joey Yung, Han Hong, Nicholas Tse, S.H.E., Zhou Bichang and Wilbur Pan, and even companies like Coca Cola have also jumped onto the bandwagon hoping to up their brand exposure ahead of the Olympics. At the moment, there's still no word on which of these songs will be selected as the Olympic theme song, but clearly, some of these singers (who are barely known outside of China) are going to benefit greatly from the international exposure given to them through these songs. more ›

None of the recent wuxia martial art epics can seem to avoid the the endemic schlockiness of the genre, so as a viewer we are just content to find one that isn't altogether too offensive in this regard. We think that Three Kingdoms manages to do that. There's some good action, though nothing you haven't seen before — the hail of spears and arrows, the beheaded enemies, the evil vixen (Maggie Q) playing pipa while men are being slaughtered, and of course, the de rigeur moral message about the evils of war and humanity's inability to end violence with violence. more ›

We came across an odd story about a guy who's had a lot of shit luck on account of his name: Liu Dehua, which is the same as the Chinese name of Hong Kong megastar Andy Lau. Unfortunately, instead of getting mad chicks, this Liu Dehua has been derided by business partners and dumped by girlfriends because of his name. One of his girlfriends told him that people would always take the piss by comparing him to the "real" Liu Dehua, which made her feel like she had no face, which is why she ended up dumping him. Liu himself said that his business deals went sour because of the name, because someone how people just couldn't take him seriously. more ›

At a recent Andy Lau concert in Chengdu, one fan managed to slip past the watchful eye of the security guards to get to the stage so as to present a bouquet of flowers to the mega-popstar. As soon as he got down though, he was surrounded by a mob of security guards and manhandled by them (it is not clear from the video whether the fan was actually hit by the guards). Upon seeing... more ›

Wondering what the Chinese media are saying about Lust, Caution? We found the following story from the Information Times (信息时报) entitled Survey: Fans rushing to imitate positions in Lust Caution 调查:影迷争相模仿《色,戒》经典床戏 dated 7 Nov on Xinhua — yes, the website everyone goes to for high-quality Chinese journalism. Shanghaiist was so inspired by the spirit of investigative journalism exhibited by this reporter that we decided we had to translate the whole story to share with you. As an aside, it's been said that Chinese journalists just can't seem to get over the full frontal nudity and the brutal sex scenes, and director Ang Lee was supposed to have ticked off a Chinese journalist who insisted on asking questions related to the sex scenes, "Can't you ask a better question?" more ›

Singapore Season, a series of cultural diplomacy events that started in London in 2005, has been kickstarted in Shanghai with a sell-out concert by pop star JJ Lin at the Hongkou Stadium last Sunday. more ›

The China Daily translation staff has a case of the sillies! Earlier today it got a little "freaky." Now it's getting handy:

Donations can be in money, goods, blood, organs and bone marrow. But what happens when you mix heartfelt charity with a handful of self-gratification? Sperm donation.

Shanghaiist has a big, wet crush on Andy Lau. Last time we checked in with our Canto-pop movie star man-love, he was in the business of name-brand fecal experiences and the most valuable spooge on the planet. more ›

...says the Chinese female population. According to China Daily, the Hong Kong superstar topped the list of most desired sperm surveyed by 1000 women and conducted by Self Magazine. The women cited his good looks and wealth. Right on his heels, in second place, was none other than Bill Gates, also due to his wealth great charm and good looks. At a measly and disappointing tenth place came Brad Pitt. more ›

With the release of its first joint-venture film in China, Warner Bros. is taking an aggressive and (we believe) unique approach in trying to minimize the effect piracy has on the release. Could it actually be working? more ›

This story tells us that Shanghai's Madam Tussauds museum will open May 1 and feature 21 wax figures of "celebrities like Jackie Chan." And we always though Jackie was one of a kind. What other celebrities are like Jackie Chan, you ask? Here's a sampling: more ›

singing, film producing, and comic-book-and-radio-play starring, a day did not go by when we lacked the opportunity to reflect on the greatness of this man, this myth, this, this ... Andy Lau. more ›

We seemingly love Super Voice Girls here at Shanghaiist, and so does Shanghai. Tickets for the October 6 SVG show at Shanghai Stadium are selling at a record pace, according to the Shanghai Youth Daily via the AP. Tickets range from 50 to 580 RMB, and the price is right for thousands of local Yu Mi, Fen Bi and Liang Fen (it all makes sense if you read this story). All 6,000 floor seats were snatched up on Tuesday, the first day of sales, as were half of the 39,000 stadium seats. That's quite a bit better than Andy Lau and Jay Chou sold during their most recent trips to Shanghai. Thus, the Youth Daily proclaimed, "The draw of the Super Girls leaves the heavenly kings of pop in their dust." Oh, snap! more ›