Here's a little Christmas cheer, coming straight at you from Hangzhou's Polar Ocean Park: more ›

Merry Christmas Shanghai! Plenty to do this weekend if snuggling up by your fake fire isn't stimulating enough. We've got a Christmas reggae party, a huge Bar Rouge giveaway (200,000RMB worth!), a magical mask party at MJ club, or some Christmas rockin' at Not Me. Rounding out the weekend, we'll also give you a few options for Christmas day brunch and dinner. Read on for details, or check out our calendar for more. more ›

Christmas is just around the corner! For all of you who couldn't make it home for the holidays, as always Shanghai will keep you swimming in sumptuous Christmas meals. Below we've selected a few options that caught our eye, from the non-traditional to the best bang for your buck. Make sure you call for reservations, as many places tend to fill up. Take a look, and take your pick! more ›

There's a new surge in Christmas celebrations in the People's Republic, but not everybody seems to know what the holiday season is really for, says the Christian Broadcasting Network. more ›

more ›

Chinese netizens have been outraged lately by the murder of Qian Yunhui, former village leader of Zhaiqiao village, near Yueqing, Wenzhou who has served over five years in prison for protesting over the illegal landgrab in the village. Gruesome images of the bloody remains of Qian under a truck have been floating around on Tianya and Sina Weibo, and some purporting to be eyewitnesses have claimed that Qian was held down by policemen while the truck rolled over him. John Kennedy of Global Voices has done an excellent job translating tweets from a journalist who was present at the press conference held by the local PSB. Police claims that Qian's death was the result of a "typical traffic accident" have left journalists incredulous, opening up more questions than answering them. Read some of the eye-opening statements made by police here. more ›

True love exists! It really does! Maybe not in Shanghai, but in a smaller city not far from here -- Suzhou. more ›

In his traditional Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" homily this year, Papa Ratzi aka Pope Benedict XVI prayed for Chinese Catholics with the following words: more ›

Starring none other than the president himself, this nice little clip contains some interesting trivia on how much of Christmas today is manufactured in China today. Ignore the Chinese lesson you find in it though.
more ›

Photos by Jeremy Breningstall. more ›

We didn't have the budget to create our own Christmas greeting card, so we thought we'd just send along this one from our favourite animation studio! Happy Christmas, everyone!
more ›

Woohoo!:

SHANGHAI may experience a rare white Christmas this year as weather forecasters said it will likely snow on Friday and Saturday. more ›

Just in time for the festive season, Santa Claus (a rather slim looking Asian version) has taken the plunge at the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium in Pudong, to promote saving the ocean and to get people to stop eating shark's fin. more ›

7-Up's internet campaign in China this Christmas season has chalked up over 3 million views in just three days: more ›

I'll admit, I was skeptical when the weather bureau told us we were in for a white Christmas (season). But lo and behold, unlike last season's paltry showers, this morning we woke up to actual snow on the actual ground - enough to make mini snow men out of! And so I'm taking that as a sign: more ›

Their "Christmas Party Pizza" features a pie that is topped with turkey meat and surrounded by a crust-like object, half of which comes stuffed with cheese with the other half stuffed with sausage. You can see a video advertisement for it here (where you can also see the full holiday spread on offer — they supposedly have egg nog). The Christmas Party Pizza looks to be a riff on the Jessica Simpson-approved Cheesy Bites Pizza in the US, which is 360 calories per slice sans toppings — a fact Ms. Simpson apparently knows all too well. more ›

Now that Thanksgiving is over for another year, it’s time to turn to Christmas! Market sellers are now busy peddling decorations and shops are in full Christmas swing with decorations and music. As the festive period grows more intense, expect Yule-tide cheer to dominate most of Shanghai’s events - we even have a smattering of Christmas in this week’s Weekendist. As always, check out our Midweek Music Preview and Calendar for more events and activities. 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 ›

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 ›

For people far away from their family in Shanghai, Gosney & Kallman's Chinatown offered a different kind of family to spend time with on Christmas Eve. A highlight of the evening was Amelia Kallman's three-minute rendition of nativity story, told in teenage girl speak. Mulled wine and eggnog was provided for guests, along with the usual cocktails available on the menu (I had a "Miss Tickle" and almost forgot to pay for it... whoops!). The set list also included vintage film clips, dance routines, comic sketches and club standards such as "Luck Be A Lady." more ›

If you want to contribute your photos to us, it's a super easy process - just tag your favorite Shanghai shots with "Shanghaiist" on Flickr or send it to us by email (photos@shanghaiist.com) and it'll show up in our Flickr pool. more ›

Looking for something to do the weekend before Christmas? Have we got some events for you - rock shows, early Xmas parties and birthdays, this weekend is jam packed with things to do. more ›

With only nine short days before Christmas, it's time to start shopping for gifts, if you haven't already. If you've got a long list of things to buy, and a little bit of extra time on your hands, it might be a good idea to skip the already crowded fake markets and head for the city of Yiwu. CnnGo has a great pictorial on the small market town just two hours outside of Shanghai which sells just about everything under the sun, albeit in bulk. The pictures make Yiwu look like the happy version of Santa's workshop: toys neatly piled and waiting to be opened by happy children around the world, bearing no resemblance to the harsh and soulless factories they escaped from just in time for Christmas. more ›

Feeling a bit lonely this winter? Now you can add a new addition to your life! Shanghai residents can adopt stray cats from the Botanic Gardens. Even better, they will desex them for you. Aww, how puurrfect. [Shanghai Daily] The second wave of H1N1 vaccines is now available for college students and those over 60 in Shanghai. Too bad we still don't know the long term implications. [Shanghai Daily] more ›

more ›

A group of 98 prisoners from the United States, Singapore, India, Nigeria and elsewhere celebrated Christmas by performing Chinese folk songs, yoga and magic tricks at a party organised by the Qingpu Prison Wednesday night. A special Christmas Eve dinner was also prepared for inmates comprising of roast mutton, chicken, potatoes and pizza. According to Shanghai Daily, all foreigners in prisons "are treated almost the same as their Chinese counterparts". In the same breath though, it adds that foreign prisoners enjoy "international living standards" in line with prisoner rights regulations prescribed by the UN, including daily showers, sports facilities and medical services. In case you're wondering about living conditions in there, each ward comes equipped with a showera and houses about ten inmates. Email access is provided so prisoners can keep in touch with their family. They also get to watch English TV news and read approved publications, and if they have enough money, they can even purchase portable radio sets and international calling cards for their own use. And just to make sure inmates don't get too bored in there, they are taught to make handicrafts and given Chinese lessons. more ›

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday night to celebrate with us. And a special thanks to Cotton's, American Craft Beer Partners and, of course, Santa Claus for making it all possible. Happy Holidays! more ›

Photos by Stephen Yang. Go here to download your high-resolution images. For prints and framed prints contact stephen.a.yang(@)gmail.com. More photos from the A Very Shanghai Christmas party presented by Shanghaiist and Cotton's coming soon! more ›