Results tagged “angeles”

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 RMB 88 section! As far as the line-ups, San Diego is bringing a mix of veterans and new players to Beijing:

The Padres traveling contingent includes players with substantial experience in the Major Leagues (closer Trevor Hoffman), up-and-coming regulars (Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff) and a host of players who will play in the Minor Leagues in 2008.

The Dodgers seem to have left their star players in Florida in favor of featuring their two Asian prospects:

None of the pitchers on the roster played more than 16 games in the majors last year. Non-roster invitee Chan Ho Park, who is seeking to revive his career, is the most experienced with 11-plus years of major league service, and will be joined by pitchers including Hong-Chih Kuo, Eric Stults and Eric Hull, who spent most of last year in the minors.

That's disappointing for True Blue fans, but the chance to see Joe Torre leading a team in America's national pastime still has us excited to be there. For the unlucky, unadventurous, or just plain lazy, baseball will show its face in our lovely hometown starting next month. The China Baseball League 2008 season runs from early April to late September, with a three-and-a-half month break over the summer for the Beijing Olympics. Shanghai's Special Olympic Stadium, Kangbei Baseball and Softball Field in Pudong, will host the city's Shanghai Eagles in 12 games this season. According to the official schedule posted to the CBL's site last month the Eagles' first home game will be on April 18. Take us out to the ballgame! Major League Baseball Spring Training in China, San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (split-squad), Wukesong Baseball Field, Beijing, Friday and Saturday, 1 pm. Previously on Shanghaiist
Dodgers, Padres to play in Beijing
Spring training in Beijing
Interview: Gil Kim, US player in the China Baseball League
The 2007 China Baseball League schedule Video, from 2007, about Major League Baseball's grass roots efforts in China.

Having soft-opened since February 9th, Lawry's the Prime Rib is ready to put on its best face for Shanghai's beef lovers beginning with its grand opening tomorrow. Shanghaiist was able to do some preview dining and we were left with one distinct impression: this place takes its prime rib traditions very seriously.

Steven Spielberg's decision to withdraw from arranging the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics caused press around the world (except for China) to rub their hands with glee this week at the prospect of China's dirty laundry being flown from the flagpoles of Beijing.

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

SFist partook in some hipster bashing.

Shanghaiist uncovered all the sordid details of Hong Kong's biggest celebrity sex scandal ever.

DCist was concerned about a new reality TV show in the works that might make people who live in Washington look like privileged jerks.

Phillyist wants a pet baby more than anything in the world.

Chicagoist had a time honored motorists vs. cyclists debate.

Austinist reported on seven-time Tour de France champ and crybaby Lance Armstrong's hissy fit at a local venue.

Earlier we had reported that America's favorite pastime might soon be making its Chinese debut and now it's official. The China Series 2008, as its being called, will feature two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres on March 15-16. The games will be held at Beijing's Wukesong Baseball Field, which will also be used for the upcoming Olympics. No word yet on when tickets will be available or how much they will be.

Photo Credit: Malingering

The last time an anchor from our favourite TV channel made it to the news, he created such a brouhaha that culminated in the eviction of one coffee company from the Forbidden City. In the news this time is New Zealand-born anchor Edwin Maher who for many years before arriving in China was a weatherman with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Los Angeles Times published a profile of Maher that started it all off. It...

New Burger on the Block: Thanks to the always up-to-date Christine Lu from the China Business Network, we learned that Los Angeles based burger joint Fatburger is planning on expanding big into China, starting with their first restaurant at the Venetian in Macao. From their press release: Additional Fatburger restaurants are scheduled to open in Hong Kong in the coming months: the first on Queens Road East and the second at Jia Hotel in Causeway...

There isn't a live music update this week, but it's art shows galore TONIGHT. Three picks that aren't in your conventional Moganshan Lu / Taikang Lu destinations.

He's performed shows around the world from London to Los Angeles, from Vegas to Berlin and from Zurich to Tokyo. Earlier this year, world-class magician Marco Tempest, the Virtual Magician, was hired by Daihatsu for Auto Shanghai, apparently the world's second largest car fair. Watch him in this newly released video as he goes around Shanghai, rehearses for the big show and impresses the girls backstage. Pretty interesting stuff. At least we now know one car company is not just counting on the tall svelte models dressed in metallic mini-skirts to pull in the crowds.

China hurting in world opinion polls [China Post]

In a survey covering 18 countries which account for 56 percent of the world's population, 38 percent said China can be trusted to act responsibly while 52 percent said the country can't be trusted.

Letter accuses China's party of drift [Los Angeles Times]

A rare open letter signed by 17 former top officials and conservative Marxist scholars ahead of a key party meeting accuses China's top leaders of steering the country in the wrong direction, pandering to foreigners, and betraying the workers' revolution.

Nine in 10 downed China officials had mistresses [Reuters]

Chinese anti-graft investigators have found that 90 percent of the country's most senior officials brought down in corruption cases in recent years had kept mistresses, drawing a link between sex and misconduct.

Illegal mapping in China by foreigners on rise [China Daily]

The number of cases involving foreign institutions and individuals conducting illegal surveying and mapping in China has been on the rise in recent years, according to the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM).

China PR machine "overwhelmed" by safety crisis [Guardian Unlimited]
Barely a day goes by without some new scandal over a made-in-China product, be it toys, toothpaste, candies or seafood, and China has been quite "overwhelmed".

Photo from js63

Video of Blind Stereo MV

OK, we've never heard of East Star Airlines before, but it has just become the first private airline in China to be authorized to operate international flights. A Xinhua report tells us that under Civil Aviation Administration of China regulations, new airlines may apply to operate international flights only after three years of operations. East Star has been in business less than two years, but it beat rivals Okair, Ueair, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines to be the first. Hmm... we wonder what made them bend those rules!

Air China has been hit by a spate of minor accidents lately. Yesterday flight CA941 (and that's a Boeing 767 you see in the picture), headed to Dubai from Beijing, was ready for takeoff with 148 passengers on board at about 5:15pm, when its "fore-undercarriage suddenly took back, leaving the plane nose on the ground". Ouch! Just two days before this though, yet another Air China flight (a Boeing 747 this time) had to make an emergency landing at the Los Angeles International Airport. The plane had just taken off when the captain reported a tire blowout. Thankfully there were no reports of injuries, although tire debris was found on the runway.

Mercer HR Consulting has once again released the findings of their annual Cost of Living Survey (it's almost as if they release a new report every month, doesn't it?).

If you are familiar with drinking heavily or going to Chinese banquets (basically the same thing), you've probably been forced to chug try some Maotai. Deemed "China's national liquor" by Reuters, Maotai or máotáijiǔ (茅台酒) is one of the most famous brands of Chinese rice wine (or báijiǔ). Although dignitaries like Margaret Thatcher and Richard Nixon have put this put-hair-on-your-chest drink to their conservative lips, the popular liquor is now threatened. You see, Maotai is...

The upcoming May holiday sees a Shanghai band heading to the US and a US band (not Pretty Girls Make Graves) coming to Shanghai.

Shanghai in hot debate over pets

"The anti-pet brigade, angered over noise and mess from domestic cats and dogs, is lobbying the authorities for tougher restrictions on pet ownership, as the number of people keeping them without a license increases."

FedEx plans new domestic China service

"FedEx's domestic China service will flow from its hub at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in east China's Zhejiang province. ... Domestic carrier Okay Airways will provide air transportation, using three Boeing 737 jets." Okay!

Scandal brews over China tea-for-urine samples

"A group of Chinese reporters came up with a novel idea to test how greedy local hospitals were -- pass off tea as urine samples and submit the drink for tests."

Chinese Restaurant Food Draws Criticism

"The typical Chinese restaurant menu is a sea of nutritional no-nos, a consumer group has found. A plate of General Tso's chicken, for example, is loaded with about 40 percent more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day."

Chinese tourist in 23,000 euro duty-free wine spree

"A Chinese man bought carry-on wine and spirits worth a record 23,000 euros (15,600 pounds) at Paris airport's duty-free shop -- including a bottle of 1806 cognac that might have slipped through the fingers of Emperor Napoleon."

Kobe has top-selling jersey in China, U.S.

"The Los Angeles Lakers' star has the top-selling jersey there, while sales of Yao Ming's jersey in his home country continue to fall, according to results released by the NBA on Tuesday."

FedEx to start next-day China service

"FedEx will launch the next-business-day domestic express service May 28, with time-definite service to 19 cities and day-definite service to more than 200 cities across the country, the company said."

Dean at top Chinese university fired

"A dean at one of China's most prestigious universities has been fired after criticizing the school's administration on his blog."

Poison dart shooter found at Hong Kong race track

"Police in Hong Kong are investigating an elaborate device found embedded in the turf at a world-famous horse track apparently designed to shoot poison darts at the animals at the start of a race."

Chinese Travel Website Lost RMB60 Million Over Two Years

"Although it has been in operation for less than two years, Aoyou.com, a joint venture between China Youth Travel and Travelport, has reportedly suffered a loss of RMB60 million."

CNNIC Pushes China's Youth To Use .CN Domain Names

"Following the recent one yuan .CN domain name promotion in China, it has now turned its eyes to teenagers in China and is advocating them to use the .CN domain names."

Experts dismiss claim Shanghai will drown

"Oceanographers yesterday dismissed claims by a British journalist that rising tides will engulf Shanghai, Tianjin and other coastal cities by 2050."

More locals rush to marry foreigners

"The average age gap between Shanghai women and their foreign husbands is 10.5, and 13 percent of the foreign husbands are 20 years older than their local brides, the report said."

Sex line says callers just want to talk

"When the city's first sex hotline for the middle-aged and elderly opened in August, operators quickly found out that many of their callers' biggest problem was loneliness."

Chongqing's incredible house gets a face

"While the local media could not publish about the most famous house in Chongqing, the stories kept on spreading on the internet, often hardly based on any facts. But that forced national media like CCTV to bring the story and Venture160 did a great job in translating the interview."

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Photo by jules_shanghai found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.

It is said that the first step toward recovery is admitting that you have a problem. Of course, this begs the question: recovery from which problem? Whatever the impetus for these changes, China has finally admitted to taking the organs of executed prisoners. Does this mean an end of the free-flow, all-you-can-afford, buffet-bonanza on the virile organs of hapless young peasants executed under one of China's 70 capital crimes?

is a hit. It's getting rave reviews, grossing millions, and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour.

Zhu said that after 10 minutes of treatment Bai's lung cancer had been cured and he would recover quickly.

The two photos above are from Shanghai. The second, we think, is Shanghai Railway Station. Barbieri's work comes to our city as part of the Shanghai Biennale and the Year of Italy in China. More Biennale events are listed here.

Shanghai malls haven't been doing too hot lately. The Cloud Nine Shopping Mall in Zhongshan Park can claim to be "the city's biggest shopping center in terms of floor space," but suffers from a severe lack of tenants and had to cede their home-grown basement grocery store to Carrefour in in June due to lackluster sales. In July, the Los Angles Times exposed Shanghai's luxury malls as "ghost malls", spearing Plaza 66 and others for renting space to designer name brands at cut-rates in order to create a façade of prosperity and high fashion for the city.

It's a brilliant idea. And we can only hope she keeps it up for decades to come -- and then maybe we can see some changes. What we learn from this segment of her life is that Asian women don't age much in three years and that Miss Lee abandoned black-rimmed hipster glasses for a short period of time and then decided to give them another try. A good move. They look good.

This may be old news (in fact, according to this link, it's almost three-year-old news) but we just learned over the weekend that McDonald's delivers in Shanghai, so we thought perhaps it would be new to some of you, too. We're not sure if every McDonald's in town delivers, but the one we were at in Yu Yuan (don't ask) does. The sign says they deliver between 9 am and 9 pm and require a minimum order of 50 kuai -- which means Shanghaiist won't be getting delivery anytime soon, since the only reason we ever go to McDonald's is for their ice cream.

We read an interesting piece from the Los Angeles Times about "the left-behind children" or 留守兒童 (liushou ertong): children from rural areas who are left behind when one or both parents migrate to the cities to find work. Evidently, there are as many as 20 million of these kids, or about one for every six migrant workers in China, though this article (in Chinese) states that the actual number depends on how you're counting them. For example, if one or both parents have to be gone, long-term, for the child to be considered "left-behind." That report also includes some interesting data, such as the fact that 19 percent of "left-behind" kids never talk to anyone about their thoughts and feelings, while 46 percent of them occasionally talk to someone. Significant proportions of them have problems with schoolwork, lie and steal, and do other bad things like get in fights and spend too much time on the internet/computer playing games. Of course, most of the parents are working far from their children and families not because they want to, but because they have to. Nonetheless, some still lay part of the blame on the parents, because you can't expect the kids' teachers or grandparents to fill the void that the parents have left.

DCist is screwed in the event of an oil crisis. Not that we're not all screwed in the event of an oil crisis, just D.C. is more screwed. Don't sell your car yet, District resident, a cabbie can kick you to the curb if he doesn't like your address. Not even Metro can save you now.

In case you needed reminding, M:I:3 may not be screened in China, where 20 percent of its scenes were shot, because:

Photo by monkeyking taken from the Shanghaiist photos page. To see your photos on our photos page, use Flickr and tag your photos "shanghaiist". Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site.

Since Shanghaiist has been accused of ruining things like the old Tang Hui, we thought we'd share with you the fruits of our actions -- the new, improved (?), definitely not at all dingy, gritty, divey, '50s-Motown-music-during-the-intermissions place on Xingfu Lu you that once knew and loved. Here's the rundown: Tang Hui has not only expanded and moved to a four-story villa on the corner of Huating Lu and Huaihai Lu (85 Huating Lu, just by the Changshu Lu subway station) but they've also expanded the concept -- there are now four floors and will thus feature simultaneous music (one act on floors 1-2, another on 3-4), so that if rock doesn't strike your fancy that night, you might be able to catch some electronic or more intimate (solo instrumentalist) performance instead. And while they're sticking with the mainland scene, expect them to book some overseas acts when they're in town.