It looks like even our public transport can barely stand the heat. At approximately noon yesterday, a section of the number 825 bus spontaneously combusted near Zhongshan Park (中山公园) in the Changning district (长宁区) of Shanghai. The incident occurred at 999 Changning Road (长宁路) while the bus was stationary and parked by the roadside. No passengers were on board the bus when the fire broke out, according to eyewitnesses. The fire was extinguished by 12:45 pm. more ›

UPDATE: We've learned that the foreigner that narrowly missed being crushed by a 90-year-old tree Indiana Jones-style was none other than a member of the SmartShanghai crew! Phew - nice save, and please show us your "great gesture" sometime! more ›

A tipster has informed us that a group of protesters are clashing with police at the corner of Jiangsu Lu and Wuding Lu in Changning District. Said the tipster, "I just rode my bike past there and there's something serious going down. Someone's lit a fire, a woman was screaming and crying in a microphone and there are people holding big signs - I made out the words "dead child" before I rode away. A cop car was blocking the road so no cars could go through. Right when I biked past, 30 or so cops swarmed the protesters." more ›

Yes, it is that time of the year again! The Fourth China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition returns at the Shanghai International Exhibition Center this weekend in Hongqiao from Friday to Sunday. more ›

Shanghaiist was delighted to learn that there is finally an environmentally-friendly way to get rid of the contents of her "electronic junk and bad DVD drawer of death." more ›

A crane in use at the Boss & Winner construction site buckled this afternoon in Shanghai. more ›

This happened early yesterday morning on Tianshan Xi Lu. near Suining Lu in Changning District, according to this report: more ›

Call us stupid (you wouldn't be the first person) but we were kind of confused upon reading this Shanghai Daily story: more ›

Living for one and a half years in the Zhongshan Park area, we've observed constant and significant improvements. New shopping malls, many good fashion shops, and the Starbucks-factor went from zero to five. more ›

Photo by chinapix taken from 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. more ›

• Shanghai cuisine is set to be "improved", so that a menu can be created for Expo visitors, and they're hoping that "Shanghai snacks in the 2010 Expo will enjoy such worldwide fame as sushi, hotdog, and ice cream." The competition to create new snacks is open to the public, and they say that people can participate via Sohu.
• You can also contribute your thoughts about the layout and other details of the Expo by taking part in the poll on the Expo site, according to Shanghai Daily. However we had a quick look around and couldn't find much about it.
• People's Daily reported an article (from China Daily) several days ago, which bemoaned the sacrifice of old land to make way for futuristic buildings, complaining that vintage Shanghai homes were being destroyed. The article pleads for this not to be the case with the Expo site. Good luck.

We have learned in the past that many single people in the city (sometimes with the aid of their parents) are desperately looking for a mate and massive matchmaking events are organized for the singles because of the huge demand. However, there are many problems with matchmaking events, too. Lily Marriage Introduction Company in Changning District finds many singles don’t know "matchmaking date etiquette", like not to ignore your date (it's becoming clear why some of these people are single). more ›

We're not sure if the cops just really wanted a cup of coffee or if there is some new law that prohibits fake DVDs being sold at ridiculously expensive prices. We are a little late in getting to this -- we were enjoying the nice weekend weather -- but it was reported over the weekend that authorities in Changning District fined two "coffee clubs" on Wednesday for selling pirated DVDs: more ›

If you don't already have plans for some Halloween party somewhere in Shanghai tonight, Shanghaiist suggests you head on over to Tang Hui Pub. In fact, just bring that costume along and go to Tang Hui anyway. This well-loved, hard-rocking bar is having its goodbye party tonight. We mean goodbye as in see you later, at a different, larger and more central location. Shanghaiist also reported back in September on some of the other reasons behind the move. more ›

What was that NWA song again? "Love Tha Police"? "Truck Tha Police"? "Funk Tha Police"? Well, whatever it was, that song came to mind when Shanghaiist learned that every hipster's favorite Shanghai bar -- Tang Hui Pub -- was being forced to shut its doors. "We're in a quiet neighborhood, and the police are always coming in," explained bar owner Zooma, who is also the soulful and spasmodic frontman for the band Xingfu 13, which kicked ass last Friday at the Shanghaiist launch party. The bar, located on tiny Xingfu Lu in Changning District, will close sometime in November. more ›

Quasar, Hooters Girl more ›