After hours of waiting in line, the army of scalpers that descended on Beijing's Sanlitun Apple Store to buy the iPhone 4S have reportedly been told that there are no iPhones and that they all have to go home due to scuffles that occurred throughout the night! more ›

As the internet (and particularly Weibo) mourns the death of Steve Jobs, so too do those in the mortal realm of flesh and bone. more ›

Shanghai's new Apple Store on East Nanjing Road (which we've been prattling on about for over a week now) opened its doors to the public at 9am this morning, and we aren't exaggerating when we say we haven't seen Chinese people this giddy about something, ever. Since we're rather China-centric at Shanghaiist, it's par for the course to compare random social phenomena to some previous kindred thing from the dark murk of bygone Communist epochs, and we'll be a running dog if the assembled crowd weren't the happiest, most hopped-up Chinese people Shanghai's seen since Liberation. more ›

The largest in China, the new East Nanjing Road location is the third Apple Store in Shanghai, and the fifth nationwide. Replete with the same products and accessories available at most Apple Stores worldwide (variation does occur: the iPad 2 3G was just released in China today, trailing other markets by six months), the new Nanjing Road Apple Store will feature plenty of personal attention from its in-house staff, so that a visit with the royal blue-shirted Apple Helpers will mean anyone who hasn't already swallowed the Mac Gospel will be ready to click around their new OSX desktop with a measure of familiarity. more ›

You can start lining up now, Apple Borg devotees! Word on the internet street says that Shanghai's third Apple Store, located at the tourist-trap section of East Nanjing Road, will open before China's National Day on October 1st, and even possibly as soon as next week. Perfect timing for the Golden Week hordes! more ›

This just in! Ever since that mysterious Forever 21 sign was spotted over on Nanjing Dong Lu, we've been wondering just what exactly they've got in the works over by the Bund. Lo and behold, Nanjing East is planning something called a BIG BRAND SHAKE UP! Whereby they plan to make their strip equally as popular with the young and fashionable as their Nanjing West counterpart. Here's what you can look forward to: more ›

From a press release I just received (but on the web here): "Apple today announced that iPhone® 4 will be available to customers in China beginning Saturday, September 25 at 8:00 a.m. at Apple Retail Stores including the new Apple Store Hong Kong Plaza in Shanghai... Customers who buy their iPhone 4 at an Apple Retail Store will receive free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their new iPhone by setting up their email, loading their favorite apps from the App Store, and other tips to get up and running before they leave the store. iPhone 4 will be sold in China through Apple’s retail stores for a suggested retail price of CNY4,999 for the 16GB model and CNY5,999 for 32GB model without a contract. At China Unicom stores, iPhone 4 will be available for qualified buyers with a new two year contract, sold separately." more ›

Some even waited overnight for the China launch of the iPad, once again making me question what the hell is wrong with Macnerds. Even more weird, one of them more ›

Back when we covered the opening of Shanghai's first apple store in the IFC building of Lujiazui, we mentioned that this was just the beginning of a full retail onslaught Apple had planned for China. Now several people have reported seeing the next Shanghai Apple Store on Huaihai Lu. more ›

Perhaps it wasn't immediately obvious from our pictures, but the stairwell leading down to Shanghai's first Apple Store is pretty translucent, i.e. not a good place to wear skirts. Unfortunately, women are wearing skirts to the Apple store and dudes are taking the opportunity to leer up at them. According to Shanghai Daily, one customer on opening day thought men were admiring the architecture of the staircase until she went to admire it too, and then looked up to find out what they were really looking at. She alerted staff to the situation and left, only to encounter two more men leering with "wicked smiles" on their faces. Heh. more ›

By now you've seen all the interior pics of the brand new spanking Apple flagship store in Shanghai, and you've heard about their new "Briefing Room" strategy for business customers... but what can you buy there? Obviously, everything - but there were two exclusive Shanghai Apple Store items you won't find anywhere else. more ›

As if being the first Apple Store in Shanghai wasn't enough, there's something even more unique about the soon-to-open flagship store: The Briefing Room, a special VIP place to learn about and try out Apple products. more ›

Gizmodo said that this new Apple Store, which incorporates certain elements of traditional Chinese architectural style, will be opening in Shanghai. However, most of the reports in the Chinese media are saying this is Beijing's second official Apple Store. It seems that the architect is American Benjamin Wood (the man behind the various 'tiandi' projects around China and who lives here in Shanghai). An Apple store—is it really necessary? There are plenty of places to buy Macs here and there are official repair stores that have genius bars. On the other hand, there's a certain convenience for the consumer to have a one-stop shop. Plus, you can always exchange knowing winks with other fanbois and grlz as you congratulate yourselves for choosing the world's most advanced operating system for your computing needs. We've always wanted to get a job at the Apple Store—the Beijing store offers classes and demonstrations of Apple software and systems, just like in the rest of the world. more ›