A seemingly boring and greenish pale looking Imperial Chinese bowl smashed pre-sale estimates by about three folds, fetching nearly $27 million at the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong. Evidently, one cannot judge a book… or a bowl by its cover, lest it contains such a significant history and price tag inside it. more ›

Currently 'disappeared' artist Ai Weiwei's work, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads', has just been unveiled at the Grand Army Plaza in New York City, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaking out on Ai's present detainment. Bloomberg declared that the occasion was 'bittersweet,' and that the lack of information regarding Ai's whereabouts was 'disturbing.' more ›

Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to what will happen after Expo - apparently, some of these pavilions will be taken apart and rebuilt elsewhere and people are now bidding on the chance to own them. Most recently sold: the Taiwan Pavilion for 97.2 million RMB ($14.45 million USD) to Hsinchu City in Taichung County, Taiwan. The price tag includes the design of the Taiwan Pavilion's day and night view, LED screens and the flying-lantern platform, the globe-shaped theater, logo, and its metal frame. more ›

For the past year, the non-profit and non-governmental organization Hands on Shanghai, with the help of ad agency TBWA and Kodak, has been putting cameras in the hands of children from migrant families and teaching them principles of photography both inside the classroom and out in the field. Several of the photos taken by the kids through this learning program, called "Shutterbugs," will be on display and up for auction this Sunday at Glamour Bar, with the proceeds going towards expanding the program in Shanghai and Chengdu. more ›

Are we about to enter Auction Relics Drama: The Sequel? This time around, French auction house Beaussant-Lefevre put up a jade Chinese imperial seal on the block. The piece, also originally from the Summer Palace, is said to be worth between 300,000 to 400,000 euros (2.7 million RMB to 3.6 million RMB). more ›

A month after the tragedy in Sichuan you’d be forgiven for feeling a little compassion fatigue. Whilst the focus of the recovery process has changed from the desperate speed of the first few days, there is still a lot of work to be done repairing damage both physical and emotional. more ›

By Benjamin Cohen more ›

We seriously LOVE some of the things we hear about going on in our city. Yes, some of the people we meet here can be harsh and mean, but this story goes to show that humanity still exists in Shanghai. Two weeks ago, Rebekah Pothaar, an executive with Ctrip.com, found that her ayi's husband was in a serious motorbike collision. They went with her to the hospital and found that surgery was going to cost... more ›

If we’re a day late picking up the buzz on Xu Haojia—the 16-year-old girl auctioning her breasts for charity—it's because the story was so baffling, it took us 24 hours to sort it out. more ›

Shanghaiist wants to spread the word about an upcoming charity event this Saturday night organised by members of Shanghai's Flickr community. Local Flickr identities ShanghaiSky, ThomasTribe, OppoHash (among others*) have organised a fund-raising night for local student charity, Shanghai Sunrise. more ›

Still recovering from your May Holiday partying? Well, there's no respite. Here are a few things that Shanghaiist is keeping an eye on over the coming week. more ›

Then we have just the event for you: The 2006 International Bachelor Auction, this Sunday, September 10, at Pier One's Monsoon Bar. You can bid on a date with one (or more) of 20 eligible bachelors. All proceeds go to a great cause -- Shanghai Second Chance Animal Aid -- at a time when China's animals could sure use some aid. Admission is RMB 300 if you buy your tickets before Thursday, and RMB 350 after. That price includes a "walking dinner" (we assume that means a buffet) and two drinks. more ›

They pretty much roll like your average rap star. The Hurun Report surveyed 600 of Mainland China's wealthiest, those with at least RMB 10 million in the bank or under their mattresses. The results aren't really too surprising, but Shanghai's rich search the Internet with Google, while the rest of the country prefers Baidu. And Shanghai's wealthy like to travel to Europe, while Beijing's like to jet to the United States. We have reproduced the Shanghai survey findings below. For the other lists, follow these links: Nationwide, Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Northeast, Shandong, Sichuan/Chongqing. There is also a China Daily story about the list. more ›