Ever wanted to see R&B star Usher sing in Chinese? We thought so. The popular hunk-o-singer was caught on camera in Beijing over the weekend singing the harmony of 唯一 (One and Only) with Taiwan star Wang Leehom. It was Usher's first concert ever in China, and he asked Leehom to participated because he "wanted to give his Chinese fans a little hometown flavor," according to MTV News. more ›

If tourism officials have their way, visitors to Beijing in 2009 will not only have to climb the Great Wall of China, but also the Great Wheel, says Ben Blanchard of Reuters. At 208 metres tall, the Great Wheel will be the world's largest ferris wheel — higher and bigger than both the London Eye and the Singapore Flyer which opens in March next year. Our eyes were drawn to these lines in the Reuters... more ›

CCTV-9 news anchor Rui Chenggang should be happy now. Finally, a store that serves not just coffee but traditional Chinese beverages like tea too! After all, Rui was the wonderful guy who sparked it all off with a post on his blog which said that having a Starbucks in the Forbidden City, "is not globalising, but trampling Chinese culture". The coffee chain is "a symbol of low-end US food culture presence" which "undermines the Forbidden City's solemnity' and is 'an insult to Chinese civilisation". His vitriol attracted half a million hits within two days, and eventually led to the ousting of Starbucks from the Forbidden City. more ›

We're in Beijing now, in the midst of a dual mother and mother-in-law China visit (the first for both) ... which explains why we were unable to attend the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' gig at the Modern Sky Festival here in the nation's capital yesterday. A YouTube user named zasieia was there, however, and he/she posted a video of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs performing "Honeybear" (or at least part of it). The video is embedded in... more ›

A New Zealand-born contestant of the first series of Big Brother Australia, Gordon Sloan, has died in Beijing on a suspected heroin overdose. more ›

No, this is actually the Summer Palace in Beijing! But that hasn't stopped two laowai's from stripping down to their birthday suits five days ago and enjoying the last of the summer sun in Yihe Yuan (颐和园 or the Garden of Health and Harmony) -- oblivious to the curious stares of the tourists around them. Unfortunately, all good things, as they say, must come to an end. It was not long before some friendly neighbourhood Public Security Bureau guys came and escorted them away. more ›

Via China Digital Times: This 2 minute video clip from buggyrun creatively juxtaposes images of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square in Beijing. more ›

Gold, silver, bronze? Nah. According to Bloomberg.com athletes the world over have smog on their minds when it comes to the quadrennial Olympics competition next year in Beijing. Gunn-Rita Dhale, Norway’s reigning world champion for women’s mountain biking had this to say about her future host city, more ›

Remember the really creepy lovelorn Japanese man, Saitou Takuya (斋藤卓也) who was so madly in love with a girl he saw on the Beijing subway that he put up a video of her on the internet that he secretly took of her, asking people to help him find her? A number of commenters did wonder aloud if the whole thing was a spoof, but apparently not. more ›

Update: EastSouthWestNorth translates a story from Southern Metropolis Daily tracing how the story of the bogus buns was found to be fake, and says kudos to the netizens who raised the following doubts from the beginning: more ›

It has been three weeks since Pope Benedict XVI issued his first letter to mainland Chinese Catholics which stirred up a wide range of sentiments, and since then observers have been eagerly watching for the first signs of Beijing's response to the letter. more ›

Who is the most successful pianist in the world, according to The Guinness Book of World Records? Who sells millions of his albums? Who was referred to as the Prince of Romance by Nancy Reagan? Whose concerts are always sold out, wherever he performs? No, this is not Jay Zhou, Justin Timberlake, or even less André Rieu, but instead the wonderful and charming French pianist Richard Clayderman. more ›

A 29 year old Japanese man, Saitou Takuya (斋藤卓也) who is madly in love (so he thinks) with a girl he saw on the Beijing subway has put up a video of her (that he secretly took with his cell phone, he admits) and asked the public to help him in his search for her. He looks and sounds very desperate to find her in his video uploaded on Youku (we are beginning to LOVE this website!) which includes the following message: more ›

A student in Beijing has been prosecuted for threatening a bookstore in Xidan with a self-made bomb and a note that said: more ›

The new ultra-modern Haidian Christian Church in Zhongguancun, Beijing, is the largest church standing in west Beijing today. According to Answers.com, approximately 3-5% of the Chinese population is Christian (40 to 65 million). And while the powers that be state that only 1% of the population is Christian, western demographers say underground churches house as many as 80-100 million believers. The magazine Christianity Today, estimates that with an average 200,000 Chinese converts every year, Christianity has become the fastest growing religion in the nation, and has outpaced growth of the erm, largest political party here which boasts a membership of 70 million people. more ›

We'll admit it: Shanghaiist has got ear- and nose-piercings and he's still thinking of getting more just to freak the hell out of everyone he meets here in China, but somehow he still hasn't found the balls to get his first tattoo yet (not unless there is a general anesthetist on hand in the house to knock him out first, that is). This unconventional show caught our attention because although Chinese characters and designs have long been the favourite of tattoo enthusiasts around the world, you don't really think of China itself as a land of tattoo aficionados, do you? more ›

The Beijing Haidian District Art Vocational School (北京市海淀区艺术职业学校) has found itself in the centre of a controversy when a video clip of several students abusing a 70-year teacher was circulated online on video sharing sites and enraged netizens across China, sparking a debate over the state of the morals of Chinese youths today. Angry netizens have overwhelmed the school's website (now inaccessible) with comments, and hackers have blacked out the website. more ›

Shanghaiist was surprised today to see well over 7,000 visitors coming in via this post today, and we were curious to know why so many people were Googling Hairong Tiantian, who caused a storm last year by not only posting saucy images of herself on her blog but also soliciting photos of limp penises. more ›

This is a snippet from Reuter's report on yesterday afternoon's case of vandalism in Beijing's Forbidden City. more ›

For our Beijing readers, from James Kynge: more ›

Pornography charges against a 36 year old woman arrested three years ago after taking off her clothes and chatting with other Internet users via webcam have been dropped in Beijing's Shijinshan district after prosecutors found that nude chat rooms were not defined in China's pornography laws. This case is understood to be the first of its kind in Beijing. more ›

Even though we've long put our public relations days behind us, we can't help but think what a day in the life of a PR executive at Starbucks must be like. They must all have been working overtime lately with the Seattle-based coffee company hitting the headlines like crazy lately. First it was the landmark victory against Shanghai Xingbake, then there was the trans fat issue. more ›

Because Shanghaiist is too poor to afford satellite TV, he's often had to entertain himself with China's favourite (and only) English-language channel, especially when he's suffering from insomnia. Today's news coverage includes a story of what is touted as "Asia's first Dark Restaurant" which has just opened in Beijing (we briefly told you about this on Jan. 5). The video to the right is from a Chinese-language CCTV report. more ›

Going to Beijing is a little like embarking on a Chinese safari - we see rare species (honest dedicated government officials), fascinating landmarks (Olympic Buildings, formerly known as Hutongs), and even blood-curdling adventure (Ring Road traffic at 5 pm). more ›

Since "Beijingist the website" won't be happening anytime soon, we figured we'd welcome our neighbors to the north, ever so slightly, into the Shanghaiist fold. Hence, today we unveil "Beijingist the irregular feature," news and views as seen through a Beijing resident's teary-because-there-is-so-much-damn-dust-and-sand-in-the-polluted-air eyes. Occasionally, like today, we'll even allow these posts to be written in the first person -- because it's a little weird having a Beijinger refer to himself as "Shanghaiist." more ›