We introduced you to some of the more amazing acts on China's Got Talent (中国达人秀) a few weeks ago, now another contender has appeared: 23-year-old armless pianist Liu Wei, who plays with his feet. more ›

Unfortunately, I don't have a TV, so I totally missed the premier of on Shanghai's Dragon TV channel. But now the videos are up on Youtube, and I've gotten a chance to pick out highlights. And boy are there some highlights. more ›

In a bid to preserve the "purity of the Chinese language," mainland broadcasters were apparently asked to avoid English abbreviations in Chinese programs. In other words, it may be the end of NBA, GDP, and CPI in newscasts -- they would be replaced with their Chinese translations. In the case of "unavoidable" English abbreviations, a Chinese explanation would have to be provided. more ›

Earlier this month, we were walking through the Channel One mall when we came across auditions for a new reality tV series called 加油！东方天使 - roughly translatable into "Let's Go! Oriental Angel." more ›

Zhang Liangying (张靓颖), called the dolphin princess for her wide range, appears on Oprah to discuss the phenomenon: Super Voice Girl (which incidentally is being revived as Happy Girls this season). Oprah seems taken aback by the amount of people who watched the show (400 million! 400 MILLION!) and hilariously translates Mengniu into "Mongolian Cow." Oh yeah, and Zhang Liangying performs and then talks about how much she loves Mariah Carey. more ›

Despite the fact that Kevin Rudd - the fluent Mandarin speaking leader of the Australian Labor Party - is widely predicted to romp it in at the Australian Federal election this coming Saturday, it seems he's not taking any chances. The latest salvo in Rudd's "earnestness offensive" according to the Sydney Morning Herald, takes form in a seven-metre billboard of The Great Rudd (see right) that has been suspended above Cameron Road in Hong... more ›

Baidu rolled a new feature as of yesterday—a person of the month, which you can see in their logo. They say that they pick the person based on searches done in their engine, so it's a bit like Google Trends meets Time Person of the Year on a monthly basis. This month it's Xu Sanduo (许三多), a character from a popular TV series called Soldier Sortie(士兵突击), which has become one of the more popular shows... more ›

The Shanghaiist Weather Center is 100 percent sure the answer will be yes (although is Shanghai Circuit really in Shanghai?). It's dry now in the French Concession, but the dark clouds above suggest it won't stay that way for long. Here's the latest weather update from the official Formula 1 website: Thus far Sunday has been dry with a little wind, but no sign of the edge of Typhoon Krosa, which is sweeping through the... more ›

Rumour has it that Shanghai Media Group, the city's largest TV conglomerate which operates 20 television and radio channels, has plans to start a new 24-hour English language news channel. Rejoice all ye who don't have (or can't afford) satellite at home (that includes us)! Well apparently this has been in the works for a year now, and while SMG hasn't jumped pass the final regulatory hurdle, it has already started hiring "hiring English-speaking presenters, editors and reporters, including foreigners, for the new service" (now just where does one send in his CV?). more ›

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Despite being the first Chinese player to appear the UEFA Champions League, one half of China's most famous footballing double act looks set to return to Shanghai Shenhua. more ›

While April is Alcohol Awareness Month in the States (some of you might be in the dark). If you are living in China, it might as well be Promoting the Gay Agenda Month Online Gay TV Awareness Month with news of the arrival of three online gay TV shows. Earlier this month, we reported about China's first online TV show about issues relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities within China. Aired... more ›

... but it may be a good PR move to say the influence behind her new G.I. Jane look was a spiritual one (instead of just plain crazy), a la 1980s Chinese TV star Chen Xiaoxu, who recently went bald to begin her life as a Buddhist monk: more ›

From February until August, Chinese TV "golden hours" (5-8pm) programming is going to go on moral diet, shedding excess and unwanted sex, violence, and moral degradation. This we learned from a Chinese report as well as Asia Times Online, where they quoted official Wang Weiping on the matter:

"The country's satellite TV stations should only screen ethically inspiring TV series during prime time," Shanghai Daily quoted Wang Weiping, an official from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

In an attempt to woo audiences many broadcasters have allowed reality TV shows, crime series, featuring heavy dose of violence, as well as shows with explicit sex scenes to feature prominently on Chinese television.

The China premiere of The Painted Veil last night at Shanghai Museum* had a red carpet and champagne (and prom decorations), but it didn't have Naomi Watts or Ed Norton, the film's two stars. Curiously, Norton was in Beijing on Friday for a Painted Veil press conference — why not have the main press conference and the premiere in the same city? Some of the Chinese stars of the film were in attendance, including familiar face Anthony Wong (黄秋生), who for some reason thought it would be a good idea to tuck his blue jeans into his cowboy boots (unfortunately, we haven't found a photo of that). more ›

Via Wired :

A Japanese-developed, adult-themed computer game has incensed some of China's online gamers who deem it a bawdy slur on the classic Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Chamber. more ›

Americans, and the American northwest in particular, have caught the China fever -- for why else would they decide to construct a Chinese pavilion in Des Moines, Iowa? OK, we don't really consider that a big deal, but then again we've spent some time in places like Richmond, BC (OK, let's include Canada) and Rowland Heights, California -- Chinese enclaves where you could go days without hearing English -- so perhaps we shouldn't take the pavilion for granted. more ›

CNN reports that foreign cartoons will banned from Chinese TV during the "golden hours" of 5-8 pm, effective September 1. more ›

The China Daily reports that more middle-class Chinese are concerned with image than ever before, giving birth to a small but growing corpus of image consultants: more ›

Photo by shanghai ultra taken from the Shanghaiist photos page. To see your photos on our photos 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 ›

If we're lucky! The Chinese TV sensation is launching a nationwide concert tour. The Saturday concert series kicks off Oct. 1 in Sichuan's Chengdu. The tour will hit 10 cities, focusing on cities that played host to regional qualifiers for the American Idol-esque show. Was Shanghai one of those cities? Shanghaiist has no clue. Perhaps a reader can help us out? Each concert is expected to cost around RMB 1 million. more ›