(Warning: gallery contains graphic imagery) 41 passengers perished in a bus fire that occurred outside of Xinyang city (信阳) in Henan province at approximately 4am today. 47 passengers were on board an overcrowded double-decker overnight bus designed to seat 35, with the six survivors all having suffered burns to various degrees. At least one survivor is in a critical condition at a nearby hospital. more ›

I jumped for joy when taxi ads finally gave us the ability to first mute them, and then turn them off entirely. And now it looks like the Shanghai government will be taking greater steps to make sure ads are muted on subways and buses as well. Loud ads in public transport had already been banned by a regulation last year, but committee members complained that rules needed to be revised since nobody was following them. more ›

Erm... is that supposed to be a fake Kappa logo? more ›

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here). more ›

Computers that spontaneously combust are old news, but when a whole bus inexplicably catches fire it catches our attention. Nanfang Daily reported that a shuttle bus on its way to Foshan from Panyu burst into flames on the highway, forcing the driver and thirty seven passengers to evacuate the vehicle. But mere fire wasn't enough to stop the inferno bus: once the passengers and driver evacuated, the bus continued on its way towards Foshan for a full kilometer before finally burning out. more ›

The deadly bus fire in Chengdu has sounded a warning to cities all over China to make sure that their buses are equipped and outfitted so as to minimize the chance of something similar happening again. But of course, never leave anything up to the government, right? The sales of safety hammers (10-80 yuan) in Shanghai are booming, and Shanghai has also decided to increase the number of conductors on buses in the upcoming months, especially on routes near the World Expo. Chinese media also reports that there have been emergency drills and exercises to help train bus drivers and people about what to do under such situations. more ›

A bus burst into flames on an off ramp in Chengdu earlier this morning. The fire has claimed 24 lives and injured 42 people. Its cause has yet to be determined and is currently under investigation. Head to GoChengdoo for more information. more ›

While bus drivers do tend to get a little crazy here in Shanghai, at least when they get into accidents, it's unintentional. The same can't be said for this driver in Nanjing, who enacted a real life GTA, driving his bus into a motorcyclist and dragging the body for a good five kilometers before he was finally stopped. more ›

It's always disheartening when we, bristling with overconfidence from our mastery of taxi-taking and subway-riding in Shanghai, try getting on the bus and realize it is nowhere near as easy. Though the subways now have English and taxis are plentiful, navigating Shanghai's sprawling public bus system is an endless source of confusion. more ›

• Deadly sex story puts 2 bloggers in court [Shanghai Daily] "The widow of the late Chinese film director Xie Jin has filed a libel lawsuit against twin-brother bloggers for claiming her husband died while having sex with a prostitute."
• Beijing teen hot-wires bus, causes chaos [AP] "A 13-year-old boy apparently hot-wired a public bus and took it on a joyride in downtown Beijing and crashed it into a dozen vehicles in a scene witnesses likened to a blockbuster movie, state media reported Monday."
• China plans to launch its own 'Google Earth' [China Economic Net]"Compared with Google Earth, the pictures provided by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping feature higher resolution and cover a wider range of national territory. As long as the place is not subject to significant security restrictions, online users can search wherever they want in the country."

11 passengers were killed when a bus carrying a total of 34 passenger came off the road on Shaoshan Mountain. We were surprised to learn from this report that last year, roads in China claimed more lives than any other country with over 81,000 fatalities. We are however unsure where China stands on a per capita basis.[Source] more ›

Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director of the Beijing municipal committee of communications announced in a recent press conference that the cheap bus fares that Beijingers have been enjoying during the Olympics will continue after the games. more ›

With the recent bus blasts in Kunming which claimed three lives and suspicious SMS messages to warn some residents from taking buses on the day of the explosion, the Shanghai government is taking no changes with the Olympic soccer matches being held in Shanghai Stadium. 1600 cameras will be installed into buses on 68 routes passing the stadium as well as an array of other fire extinguishing and safety devices. Click here for original Chinese article
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Various reports on yesterday's bus explosion in Yangpu District have attributed the cause of the fire to flammable material that one passenger brought onto the bus, but Hong Kong's Apple Daily《苹果日报》has suggested a "suicide-style bombing" (自杀式炸巴士) by Xinjiang terrorist groups. Here's part of the report, as translated by ESWN:

... Even more frightening to the citizens than the casualties at the scene is the vague reporting by the media. The description covered 'self-ignition,' 'ignited explosion (that is, a fire caused by an explosion in the engine),' 'arson' and 'explosion' and this is enough to make one question whether the truth is being concealed. Even more terrifying than the bus being set on fire in an attack is that the Shanghai public security bureau said casually that this was caused by flammable materials brought on by a bus. Even more scary to the outside world is that the authorities could cover up the fact that the train in the Shandong collusion was the Olympic Games special promotion train. If they can seal off the truth about the Shanghai bus and they can seal off the situation about epidemics, what couldn't they not deceive the Chinese people and the rest of the world on?

This just in, from Xinhua: more ›

Calling out to all you London readers of Shanghaiist! If the Trans-Siberian seems a little too Express, your carbon footprint keeps you awake at night, or you're just ready for a new adventure, then a new company is offering the unique chance to go from London to China by bus. more ›

The yuan broke the 7.4 mark against the US dollar for the first time yesterday largely fueled by expectations that China is seeking a quicker appreciation of the currency to fight inflation. more ›

Metro news from the local press: more ›

Cross-posted on the Shanghai Public Transportation blog more ›

CARMEN RESTAURANT: Carmen Restaurant recently materialised on Xikang Lu, near the even newer Steak and Eggs. Passing by, what caught our eye was their blackboard promotion for all you can drink: 50RMB for chicks and 80RMB for blokes. Went inside and discovered the deal was just for draught beer (Carlsberg) and cocktails. OK, could be acceptable, but decided we'd better try their cocktails first before committing to an all-out drink fest. Winopete chose a G&T that was actually quite decent. A friend opted for vodka and tonic which was also quite satisfactory. What was not so good was being hurried into deciding did we want the all-u-can-drink deal or single drinks, and also being asked to pay before a sip of alcohol had passed our lips. Furthermore, this night a bunch of rowdy German card players to descended around us which led to the staff cranking up the music to a very conversation-unfriendly level. The timing of both these events led to us upping and leaving. The mouldy-looking furniture for a brand new venue is never going to earn brownie points with me, but a decent all-you-can-drink deal grabs our attention, especially given the dwindling reputation of Bon Bon. The bottom line is we'll try Carmen again. more ›

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English teaching is big business in China, and everyone seems to be trying to cashing in on it — everyone from big global names such as Berlitz to local players with less than orthodox methods. Just look around you, students are literally devouring their English language textbooks (and dictionaries) — on the bus, in the fast-food restaurants and just about anywhere. One of the companies that has benefited greatly in the rising interest in English courses is English First, or EF which has been named as the Official Language Training Services Supplier of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. more ›

News tidbits from the public transportation world: more ›

China Construction Bank’s A share began trading yesterday. The ￥6.45 IPO closed at ￥8.53 , a whopping 32 percent gain, eye popping in any Western markets, but here in China, a big yawn. Two other smaller companies went public on the same day, both advanced 200 percent plus, cha-ching! CCB was the largest China IPO to date(￥58 billion), but that title will soon belong to Shenhua Energy, the nation’s largest coal miner. The offering attracted a record ￥2.6 trillion(USD $355 billion) of funds looking to buy shares. The actual amount raised, based on projected ￥37/share and 1.8 billion shares offered would fall somewhere in the neighborhood of ￥66.6 billion, still a lot of zeros. more ›

His instinctive understanding made the carcass snap and clarify beneath his nimble hand that held the knife so long, so many times, the handles' changed to shapes just like his fingers and his palms more ›

The free Metro Express commuter paper has a big front-page spread today on the People's Square metro interchange make-over. The headline announces that "People's Square Three Line Interchange Hall To Open By Year's End", which is old news to those who have been following the progress of the new metro Line 8. Instead, the reason for the story being published today is that the Shanghai Rail Transport Construction Headquarters just released a bunch of numbers on the new station, as well as a map of the planned station layout. Among the numbers: more ›

If you've been still wondering how the woman who rammed her bike into the bus actually managed to do it, this one takes the cake! Today's Shanghai Daily tells us of a truck that got stuck under a bridge while trying to force its way through on Songxing Road in Baoshan District yesterday at 7pm. In fact:

Police said the driver knew the crane bases on his truck were taller than the bridge, but he still decided to "try his luck." Once the truck got stuck, the driver sped up to force his way out instead of backing out, police said.

Shanghai, typically a live music wasteland, is preparing for a gaggle (Shanghaiist has the hippest vocabulary) of music festivals, all scheduled for the normally dead October Golden weekend. Get ready for 4...yes, count'em....f-o-u-r....music festivals, with some pretty damn exciting bands. more ›

We don't know how it happened, but it did. No, wait a minute. With the driving/riding etiquette of people around here, we're actually surprised it didn't happen more often. more ›