Results tagged “bestof”

So the story goes: When Chairman Mao visited Shanghai he asked, 'I know there is a Shanghai (上海：on the sea), but is there a Xiahai (下海：under the sea)?' We assume that this was followed by uncomfortable forced laughter as none present (save possibly Zhou Enlai) had the heart (read: cojones) to tell him that the joke stunk.

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

There might be a recession on the way, but American culture is doing just fine. Although we've said nunca más to Taco Bell, but we got the MLB coming our way, Rambo's back in a way that Rocky Balboa could only dream of, and best of all is the surprising news that Dunkin' Donuts is on its way to Shanghai.

We don't feel right doing many concert reviews, mainly because of our relationships with the bands, and the realization after years of live shows that the quality depends as much on the venue, backline, PA, sound guy, etc...as it does the band. Plus we don't like to judge people who are capable of doing things we can't (clarification: we don't like judging people we think are cool, we have no problem judging all you uncool...

Since Net Nanny lifted her ban on YouTube, we have been catching up on the some of the vids that we missed during the year-long ban...okay, it wasn't that long. Looking for any excuse to waste time and avoid Christmas shopping, we watched every episode available of the first season of Project Runway Canada (the other PRC in our lives). It's the Canadian version of the very popular (especially among the LGBT crowd) American show,...

Even weirder stuff than the Youtube block seems to have been happening, though. Apparently, for a short while on the 17th, before the Youtube block occurred, blogsearch.google.com and live.com were both redirected to Baidu! Blogsearch.google.cn was totally inaccessible. This has been confirmed by Ken Wong (see screencaps on his blog) and other Chinese netizens. Google Blogoscoped reported that yet more exotic pages like search.ibm.com.cn were also being hijacked to Baidu.

On Bokee.com we read an article about Zhang Shaocang, a corrupt official from Anhui province, who seems to have cribbed his letter of remorse/self-criticism (悔过书) from similar letters written by other corrupt officials. The article claims that there is a striking resemblance between Zhang's letter and the letter written by Zhu Fuzhong in May of this year. The writer of the Bokee article has inserted, in red text, the places where the writing of the two letters seems most similar. On a more sardonic note, the writer has, on the side column, written an outline of the "eight-legged letter of self-criticism", where the "eight-legged essay" refers to the a form of scholarly writing used in imperial Chinese examinations known for being rigid, formulaic, originality-stifling format. They begin their essays by saying how they came from a poor background, had good intentions and character, and wanted to do something for their country. But then they began to slacken in their study of political thought and ideology, then emphasize that their mistakes were made in an environment where there weren't enough checks on their actions and behavior, emphasize that they let down the Party and the people, and then beg the court for a chance to redeem themselves (i.e. they ask for a more lenient sentence.)

A few months ago, we informed you of the latest information about the 15th edition of CBS' Survivor: China, to be held...in China (surpise, surprise). In a few short weeks, the show will debut after filming its episodes during July and August. As the stentorian narrator in this early promo for the show says, "For the first time, a major American show goes behind the Great Wall to shoot entirely in China. It's a place...

The North West Food Court is a casual sit-down spot – highly local, moderately clean, poorly staffed – with a rather varied menu. Prices range from 1 RMB (for a Fried Crispy Pancake) up to 58 RMB (for a Big Plate Of Chicken).

The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau has announced that this year's average air quality so far is poorer than the same period last year. Normally, the city's air quality from June to September is the best of the year thanks to the wind direction and tropical cyclones. The worst season is from November to February, the bureau said.

This restaurant deserves awards. Lots of awards. The menu is essentially Chinese food, but it’s been inspired by the best influences of the West. The concept is described beautifully in the name.

Wonderful as living in an egalitarian utopia may be, it’s sometimes nice to get away from it all and enjoy a little taste of luxury.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Tomorrow night, Brearley Architects and Urbanists will be hosting a special event with Roots & Shoots, the youth arm of the Jane Goodall Institute.

Xiamen Lions travel north tonight to take on Shanghai Shenhua with the home side hoping to put their Asian Champions League woes behind them and get back to the mini-run of form they have enjoyed of late in the CSL.

We know you're probably tired of hearing about Valentine's Day, but we just discovered on mop.com the existence of a group called the "Go Die Club" (死死团), whose members are on a mission to eradicate love, or at least the mawkish, sugar-coated thing that passes for love and romance in a consumerist society such as today's China. All the information and links are on this main page, including a history of this group. Word has it that the name first came about in Japan in relation to some manga. The name then spread from Japan to Taiwan and Hong Kong and finally to the PRC. However, to the best of our understanding it wasn't always an "anti-Valentine's Day" or love type of group. However, in China, that's what they become. Their motto is "death to couples," but read furtehr before you dismiss this as the gripes of fugly people that never get laid.

And at least one person (a former editor of the magazine) hates it:

As 2006 ends and 2007 begins, the -ists look back not at the past week, but at the past year. So here it is, your Best of 2006 Spectacular. And from all of us at the -ists, happy New Year!

DJ Krush is pretty money. Even at the age of 44, the veteran abstract aural architect has still got it.

Londonist answers the questions "How much is a cab from London to Marrakech?", and "Can a monkey blog?", as well as asks "What kind of guy can get shot in the knee then cycle to the hospital?"

Shanghaiist asked its contributors (and a few "music people" in town) to list their five favorite albums released (or yet-to-be released) somewhere in the world in 2006. Got a list of your own? Submit your favorite 2006 music as a comment to this post. Enjoy!

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers.

Taggers, bombers, stencil artists, vinyl toy junkies and street artists around the country are heralding the arrival of Da>Space, Shanghai's first retail gallery and studio focusing on urban art.

Shanghaiist liked this little article from Business Week which focuses on the innovative architectural landscaping that is going to make certain places look less shitty remake China from the ground up. Yessirree, we've got the National Swimming Center in Beijing, the new Beijing International Airport, the Shanghai World Financial Center (which looks like a huge sewing pin or snazzy bottle opener for giants), Shanghai's planned Donghai bridge that will connect us with the outlying islands, and the Dongtan eco-city on Chongming Island (the first phase to be completed in 2010, the whole thing by 2040 ... which means just in time for Shanghaiist to retire in what we hope will become an eco-Brooklyn on the Yangtze). There's also some less monumental but also interesting concepts, like "The Commune", eleven avant-garde villas by the Great Wall which we think is being run as a hotel, and what to us is the best of the lot -- the "Linked Hybrid", a residential complex which will house 2,500 people in 700 geothermally heated and cooled apartments that will be connected at a certain floor with a ring of cafes. Though we had problems opening up some related web pages, we think it will also include a movie theater, a kindergarten, and parking for all those extra Bentleys.

This Washington Post article caught our attention because we're a bit unused to hearing about text messaging in a place as backwards as the United States, but evidently, they've finally caught on. Towards the end of this article we found this:

Since Shanghaiist kicked off in July this year, we've inflicted opinion after opinion on you, our faithful readership. Here comes a whole bunch more.

The economy expanded by 12 percent per year since 1990, house prices rose to 55 times the level of average annual disposable salaries, and more skyscrapers were built in Shanghai than in New York. A 100-square-metre new apartment costs an average of 914,000 yuan ($112,800 US), according to the Shanghai Real Estate Exchange.

We hate to sound like we're shilling for Live Bar, but with ten shows in the five weeks since they officially opened, the Yangpu dive is fast becoming the number one venue for live rock music in Shanghai. Three consecutive concerts this past weekend meant six long cab rides, 13 bands, and innumerable (20-kuai!) pitchers of beer.

In the context of ever-increasing divorce rates, and with Chinese parents placing pressure on their offpsring to marry, a "Lightning Round" of marriages is the next crazy attempt at finding a VW Passat, an unfurnished apartment in Pu Dong and someone else to help make paper money to burn for your deceased relatives happiness (article in Chinese). It seems that 100 people arrived in order to meet a partner, decide in a matter of minutes if they are "the one", and then marry each other there and then.

If you came to Shanghaiist based solely on Lisa Movius' recommendation found on page 8 of the November 4, 2005 edition of SH magazine, STOP READING NOW. Lisa would want you to. Lisa's plug for this website was a misquote, and she is very embarrassed by it.