On Friday morning, four of China's prominent state-backed newspapers released scathing editorials of the United State's involvement in the Chen Guangcheng case. As the clock struck midnight that very same day, one of those papers, The Beijing News, succumbed to online criticism and offered a brief apology on its Sina Weibo account. more ›

The Beijing Times and the Beijing News, two influential newspapers that have made a name for themselves for their bold reporting have been taken over by the city's propaganda bureau. more ›

A new directive by the Chinese censorship board, also known as the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), has banned producers of erotic movies, including their directors and leading actors, from participation in domestic film awards. Violators may be banned up to five years from the movie industry and recalcitrant studios may even have their licenses revoked. Xinhua quotes a report by the Beijing News that details exactly what kind of content SARFT frowns upon:

The SARFT asked nationwide studios not to produce films with footage of hardcore activities, rape, whoring, obscene sex exposing human genitals, or sex freaks, the newspaper said. Vulgar conversations, nasty songs and sound effects with sexual connotation were also restricted.

Pigs are back in the headlines once again, and with a vengeance. Here is an interesting juxtapose of three pig-related news stories found via the informative China Digital Times. more ›

Image of algae in pond by Wandering in China. more ›

For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day. more ›

The Beijing News recently reported on the unveiling of a 24-carat gold-plated 7-metre high statue of Chairman Mao in Changsha, capital of his home province of Hunan. more ›

Local police said the lecture was "unacceptable", the newspaper said. more ›

Xinhuanet (news in Chinese) and Shanghai Daily (for non-Chinese readers) report on the bizarre Beijing tale of a two foreigners and their overprotective Chinese interpreter who fought off eight guys who apparently gawked at his clients too long. Those rude guys not only stared at the blond, mustached foreigners, but then they refused to apologize for it! In the Shanghai Daily story, according to a relative of one of those hooligans, that was when the interpreter stopped being Mr. Nice Guy: more ›

Though it's not like any of you care, since any movie that can break Spider-Man 2's box office record in the US is damn well going to be showing up on DVD here (it might have, already?) The New Zealand press reports: more ›

In Beijing, a Norwegian exchange student has suddenly found himself in the epicenter of a campus wide crisis, with thousands of students calling for his expulsion. more ›

The World Cup is still a little more than a week away, so that means you still have some time to enter Shanghaiist's World Cup Challenge. Signing up is free and easy. All you have to do is go to this page and follow the instructions. Once you have chosen your own username and password, you can join our group -- it's called "Shanghaiist" and the password is "shanghai" (we like to keep things simple). The way you play is also simple: You pick what team you think will win each match, and the person who gets the most correct is the big winner. more ›

A couple stories that you may have seen on Shanghaiist recently have ended up in the mainstream media. more ›

Maybe we'll try to hit the MIDI next year, although it doesn't seem like it will be the same. The movie's message is that the festival is getting more corporate -- selling out, as they say -- and that next year people selling homemade T-shirts, buttons and other souvenirs won't be welcome. more ›

Running errands in our neighborhood this afternoon, the same guy tried to give us the same "massage" business card twice. He rolls with the gang of Rolex and Mont Blanc hawkers who approach us at least twice a day -- before the gym and after the gym, and then whenever else we are brave enough to leave the apartment. (The most unique salesperson, who we have only seen once, offered us a laptop computer -- right outside of Plaza 66.) Anyway, this brings us to today's news that Beijing, in its effort to rid its streets of any "Chinese" characteristics before the 2008 Olympics, is cracking down on those who hand out illegal advertisements (you know, the kids who throw business cards into your pockets and bags, or even through the crack in your taxi window). We're assuming the Rolex guys are included in a separate crackdown. more ›

Or, maybe not. At the risk of pissing off a commenter, we are posting about Mike Tyson yet again. (This is probably the last time, so it should be safe to check back tomorrow.) We didn't realize that Tyson made a side trip to Beijing during his recent stay in Shanghai. Danwei did, however. more ›

Several days ago, we told you about Chinese blogger Anti getting muzzled for his recent reports about the Beijing News imbroglio. Now, China blog watcher Rebecca MacKinnon reports that it wasn't the Chinese censors that put the kibosh on Anti's MSN Spaces blog -- it was the friendly folks at Microsoft. MacKinnon's post is well worth a read. Blogger and Microsoft employee Robert Scoble is pissed at his company and has offered Anti an uncensored forum to guest blog on his site. (Anti, by the way, seems to have resuscitated his Blog-City blog, which, like all Blog-City blogs, is blocked in China.) It's not a good PR day in the blogosphere for Microsoft -- even the right-wingers are bashing Bill Gates for cuddling up with the "commies." We at Shanghaiist, proud Apple users, doubt Mr. Bill has ever even heard of Mr. Anti. But perhaps this latest development will help shed some mainstream light on the prickly issue of Western companies aiding and abetting China's internet police. more ›

From Reuters: more ›

, produced and broadcast by the state-owned Hunan Province Satellite Television Station. The program's full name is Mengniu Yoghurt Super Voice Girls -- Mengniu being one of China's leading dairy product brands. more ›