By Derek Sandhaus Good news for all you laowai's out there, Shanghai is heaven!!! At least it is according to the online edition of the People's Daily, which featured a fluff hard-hitting piece on how Shanghai has become the refuge of the foreigners, ballooning from 4,000 to 60,000 in the 2000s. The argument goes something like this: more expats = Shanghai is clearly heaven. The reasons cited include: job opportunities, high-wages/low costs, and easy entry/exit......

By Derek Sandhaus In an interesting piece of news that slipped under the radar at the end of December, it was announced that the Yunnan government has officially put a cork in the Tiger Leaping Gorge dam project . We suspect that they were hoping this would go unnoticed by being announced on a Friday right before the holidays and, judging by the response, it almost did. For those of you unfamiliar with the Tiger......

By Derek Sandhaus The new year is almost upon us and it's time to start making plans for the big night. One option is to drop a lot of cash on an upscale option like Bar Rouge's Monarchy Party (black-tie and pleasant smelling flatulence required) or Xintiandi's S.H.E.-licious Countdown Bash . For some of us though, New Year's Eve is all about the simple pleasures in life like open-mouthed kisses with horse-faced strangers and drinking......

By Derek Sandhaus Its hardly news to say that China has a bad record when it comes to animal cruelty. Less than ten days after China began working on raising the bar for treatment of slaughter animals it looks like more trouble is brewing for our furry friends, this time in Hubei province. Earlier this week authorities were shocked to discover that a Siberian tiger, a critically endangered species, was brutally dismembered and skinned at......

By Derek Sandhaus From time to time we are overcome by curiosity and decide to wander into private buildings uninvited. Sometimes this requires offering the doorman cigarettes. Other times it's as easy as someone leaving the door unlocked. This week fortune smiled in the form of a work team sloppily leaving the door of the Russian Orthodox Mission Church wide open. You may already be familiar with the Mission Church sometimes referred to as Our......