If you're dying to see a drag show like no other, you are in luck! Starting yesterday 7:30pm at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Broadway musical Hairspray made its debut in Shanghai and will continue to play nightly for about two weeks. Based on the 2002 Broadway musical (which was based on the 1988 movie), Hairspray is a celebration of American music of the 1960's, as well as a social commentary on segregation and race......

To help foreign media confront the challenges posed by covering the Beijing Olympics, the International Federation of Journalists has teamed up with Play the Game, a non-profit democracy advocacy organization working in global athletic coverage, to produce a series of helpful tools for reporters on a new website — Play the Game for Open Journalism. The aids include an online discussion forum and a series of background and tips for reporting in China. Most impressive,......

Last week we reported that those sexed-up Olympians could continue taking Viagra despite evidence of performance-boosting qualities on the field as well as in the sack. But the situation may be different if animal genitalia is involved: turns out the traditional Chinese injury remedy of deer's penis (usually taken soaked in alcohol) may contain banned substances. There's a lesson in there somewhere, we're sure of it.......

Pups in the PRC may have a rough time of it this summer, at least those in Beijing who are used to a diet of Royal Canin dog food. The International Center for Veterinary Services announced today that because of restrictions on non-Beijing registered vehicles entering the city as of July 1, the specialty dog food brand would not make it into the city until after the Olympics. Whether humans have the same mark-ups, hassle......

By Hilary Faxon and Adrienne Wong Youku.com, one of China's two largest video sharing sites, announced at midnight last night that it has closed a funding round of $30 million. Youku said in a statement that it netted $30 million from existing investors Farallon, Sutter Hill, Chengwei, and Brookside, and an additional $10 million in venture debt from Western Technology Investment. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, Youku has more than 100 million video views a day. Ku6.com......

With less than six weeks before the Games, the Chinese visa situation Shanghaiist reported on earlier this month is not getting any better. Many foreign residents living here for years are now being forced to leave China, and some of them are reconsidering "how much of their operations they keep in China," Andrew Work, executive director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said. The Wall Street Journal follows a story similar......

With opinion polls indicating that Chinese sentiment towards France has greatly deteriorated after the Paris Olympic torch pro-Tibet protests, it's not completely surprising that tourism from Beijing to France has fallen by 70 percent in the past few weeks. But suspicions have arisen that Beijing's official tourism body has taken measures to stop the city's potential travelers from patronizing France. "We were given the assurance that there had never been an order for tourism agencies......

Turns out that the ever-miraculous Viagra can do more than help you get it on: recent findings show that the drug increases blood flow to the lungs, potentially enhancing performance on the field, as well as in the bedroom. But Olympian users of the famous little blue pill, or "Vitamin V" as it's known in the athletic world, shouldn't have to curb their habits just yet, since testing is probably still in too early a......

A few kilometers northeast of Shanghai, developers have been dreaming of a 400,000-citizen sister city. Rapid development is nothing new in China, as this recent cement-production graph shows. And, as the global community is more and more quick to point out, all those new factories, highways and residences do considerable damage to the whole world’s environment. But this new city comes with a catch — it will be powered entirely by renewable energy. Ten wind......

In our past life as a media whore public relations executive, we learnt that one of the defining elements of PR with Chinese characteristics is that cash is not only frequently extended in return for positive coverage, it is actually industry standard that you hand out the cash to journalists in nice little envelopes discreetly tucked into the media kit as "travel expenses" (车马费). That this is standard practice is hardly news, but tough luck......

With Rem Koolhaas's eagerly-awaited CCTV headquarters nearing completion in Beijing, many are considering the role of architecture in China's quest for status as a world power. Great buildings have always played a role in a regime's strength and prestige, and for the last decade China's central government has been hellbent on constructing impressive city skylines. Shanghai's own horizon has progressed at a breakneck pace, with its latest undertaking, Xintiandi II, (dubbed Xintiandi's "big sister" by......

A friend of ours went to the Huashi Pharmacy, at the Portman, to purchase the inhaler she uses due to asthma. She didn't have a prescription, but she never needed one before. As long as she had lived in Shanghai, such meds were always over-the-counter, perhaps because of the excellent air quality found in the city. But on Saturday, the workers at the pharmacy told her she could no longer buy the inhaler she needed......

That's right, expert auditors sports prognosticators PricewaterhouseCoopers have already determined China will out-medal the United States, 88 to 87. Says, the AP, "The report lists significant factors behind a country's performance at the Olympics since 1988, including population, average income level and being the host nation." We're still rooting for September.......

China releases 1,157 involved in Tibet unrest [Channel NewsAsia] “BEIJING - China has released a total of 1,157 people who were involved in riots in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March, the official Xinhua news agency reported Friday, quoting a senior Tibetan official.”Opening the flood gates: airlines allowed to fly between China and Taiwan [flightglobal.com] “In a long-awaited political breakthrough, Chinese and Taiwanese carriers will receive a much needed boost with the launch early next......

The Olympic athletes coming to Beijing in August might not be the only ones competing at the Games. Many Christian missionary groups are salivating at the opportunity to compete for all those heathen souls in the Orient. As FaithWorld blogs reports: Doing covert missionary work in difficult areas — usually Muslim countries— is a challenge some Christian groups relish. James Catford of the UK's Bible Society said in a statement, This great sporting event presents......

As any English speaker knows, reading translated menus can sometimes be more mind-boggling than struggling through the Chinese. With that in mind, the government has come up with a booklet of 2,000 translated titles for different dishes, which it is distributing to Beijing hotels in time for the Olympics. Sorry kids, no more "Chicken without sexual life." It's "Steamed pullet" now. [Source]......

Are Beijing's anti-pollution efforts paying off? Just yesterday Xinhua published a highly optimistic article on conditions in Beijing 50 days before the Olympics. According to Xinhua, Beijing's skies are peachy-keen: The number of "blue sky" days was 12 more than the same period last year, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. It was a clear sign that years of anti-pollution efforts by the Olympic host city continue to pay off, said Du Shaozhong,......

Just after we so recently expressed our jealousy over the upcoming arrival of the iPod 3G in Hong Kong, Apple has announced the opening of its first botique store in mainland China this August. Sorry Shanghai, the honor is slated to go to Beijing, which will see a three story giant open at Sanlitun Village.The BBC, the only British media allowed into Olympic stadiums, has announced they will not hide demonstrations and protests that may......

Tough times ahead, it seems, for the English-language magazines up north in Beijing. Too months ahead of the Olympics, the powers that be have declared time out on Time Out Beijing, writes Jane Macartney of The Times:The June issue of Time Out Beijing has been banned from distribution by China's censors, The Times has learnt. But the decision seems to have been taken not because of any racy or politically incorrect content. Time Out Beijing......

... the Two Chinese Characters are here to help. Seriously, we've seen this cartoon sent around the Internet a million times, but we had no idea the logo of the Beijing Olympics was meant to be a stylised form of the character for "jing" (京).......

We love this new promotional video for the Beijing Olympics, although Meg in Beijing had this to say:I really like the athletes working out at the Forbidden City’s gates. Although I think the marksmanship bit is a little creepy.......

So that live fish key chain souvenir didn't turn out to be very official, but this latest Olympic cheer, "Go Olympics! Go China!" (奥运加油！中国加油！) definitely is, as it comes with the stamp of approval of the Party Office of Spiritual Civilization Development and Guidance (GODPP), the Ministry of Education, BOCOG, and CCTV. There are four highly complex moves to the cheer, but don't worry because Danwei has this step-by-step pictorial guide to help you along.......

Amelia of ChinaTravel.net draws our attention to this Beijing Olympic keychain souvenir with a live fish in it:I found this picture up at the Beijing Olympics Fan blog and was shocked out of my wits!!! Who would ever buy this??? In 4 hours the fish would be dead, how do you explain that to your 6 year old daughter? I saw some guys selling these on the subway recently, they were claiming that the water......

... was when Ali Khameini was elected the new supreme spiritual leader of Iran right after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, but it was also part of a significant event in Chinese history that for now still remains too taboo to talk about. Here are a collection of stories from around the internet which are well worth a read:Blogging for China has translated an amazing set of first-person accounts of the incident: here, here and......

Tonight is the first public screening in Shanghai for Boomtown Beijing, a documentary by Singaporean filmmaker Tan Siok Siok which debuted in April at the 21st Singapore International Film Festival. The production is a very commendable effort by Tan and her students at the Beijing Film Academy which she got to know as a visiting lecturer there. In the film, she follows the Olympic dreams of three ordinary Beijingers. A 11 year old boy wants......

The Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG) has just issued a 57-para "legal guide" 《奥运期间外国人入境出境及在中国停留期间法律指南》for all you foreigners intending to visit China during the upcoming Olympics. The document is available here on the BOCOG website but curiously enough, it is available only in Chinese and not in any other language. Perhaps they decided to save themselves the effort because they knew all the foreign media would translate them anyway. Here are some lovely excerpts as translated......

Travel agencies in Beijing have been asked to withdraw France as a tourist destination, starting this week. The move appears to have come from the Beijing Municipality. CITS says that they have been asked to suspend travels to France until further notice. Tours to France in June are on, but July's trips are cancelled. BTG International Travel Tours had the same info but CTS said all groups departing for France are now officially off. An......

Scene of devastation at a school in Dujiangyan (都江堰) which collapsed from the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan, China * Over 10,000 feared dead in biggest earthquake in China for 30 years * Earthquake measured at 7.9 on the Richter scale, epicentre(s) in western Sichuan * Second earthquake/aftershocks measuring 5.0 and 6.1 magnitude reported at epicentre today * Relief efforts hampered by terrain and poor weather * 15 British tourists among the missing. The group......

By Sue Anne Tay For those who are looking to contribute to current aid efforts underway, you can now donate money to the Red Cross Society of China which has formed a disaster relief working group to be dispatched to the earthquake-stricken Wenchuan County in Sichuan. They have also published an emergency relief hotline, along with bank account information to receive donations to assist their cause: Account name: Red Cross Society of China 开户单位：中国红十字会总会 For......

By Kenneth Tan, Dan Washburn, Pete Chorba, and Derek Sandhaus digg_url = 'http://digg.com/world_news/Huge_earthquake_jolts_Sichuan_tremors_felt_across_China'; A strong earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale has rocked Wenchuan in Sichuan province, some 92km northwest of Chengdu. The earthquake took place at 14:48 Beijing Time and tremors were felt (by our MSN friends) as far as Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing. This picture on the right shows the aftermath of the IT department of the Sichuan Bureau of the Xinhua......