Don't let that sweat running down your neck on the subway this morning fool you, Shanghai. Just in time for the October holidays, we are getting hit with a cold snap beginning tonight and lasting at least through the weekend. Temperatures are expected to drop 8 to 10 degrees Celsius and stay there for at least a few days as a cold front moves in from the north and autumn tries to earn its earliest start in 25 years. Lows of 17 and highs around 22 are expected through Monday. As as we're catching the edges of Typhoon Nesat, currently bearing down on Hong Kong, we should also get a few other goodies like rain and drizzle pushing into next week. Happy holidays! more ›

If the cool temperatures stick around for just a few more days, we may see the earliest fall in Shanghai since 1986! The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau follows the same guidelines for declaring seasons as they do in Spring - "autumn is announced by the bureau when the 24-hour average temperature drops below 22 degrees for five consecutive days." We've been sitting around 21 degrees so far this week, but averages are expected to rise over the next few days and will probably postpone the announcement. While the average autumn start date over the last 30 years was September 27, many of us living in the city the past few years have appreciated much later autumns. But from last Friday to Monday, the city saw a drop of 10 degrees C! more ›

On Sunday, we enjoyed our first hairy crab of the season for the ridiculously eye-popping price of RMB15 at the Lisboa Yum Yum Pot Restaurant at Infiniti Plaza (138 Huaihai Zhong Lu), and it tasted not too bad. Under the terms of the promotion (see picture on the right), each diner is limited to one crab to be consumed at the restaurant (ie., you can't get it at that price as a takeaway), and if you want more, you'll have to pay more at RMB28 which is still a very good price. At first we wondered how the hell the restaurant could make a profit at that kind of price but all questions disappeared by the time we left the restaurant, stomachs content. If this was a marketing gimmick, it worked on us alright. more ›

Welcome to the latest episode of Chinese Soundbites, a podcast series brought to you by ChinesePod and Shanghaiist. Every week we'll be bringing you topics and words pulled straight from the headlines, in Mandarin Chinese. more ›