Results tagged “cottons”

Does the fact that China doesn't have scrabble get your goat? Does the fact that Craig Beevers won the UK's national Scrabble championship AGAIN and you know you could take him down bother you? Have you ever wanted to battle with the Shanghaiist editors in a match of lexicons?

We've got a whole new bag of tricks to spice up our semi-monthly Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Cotton's. Well, technically, it's a bag of tiles- Scrabble tiles. After searching in vain for a game of Scrabble and only finding Maonopoly sets, we decided that we would maverick it and just make our own. And since we all know how witty and clever Shanghaiist readers are, we'd like to cordially invite you to join us next Tuesday, October 27 for the first monthly Shanghaiist Scrabble night!

This weekend seems to be a strong mix of intellectual stimulation coupled with a healthy dose of partying. First off, you probably know already, but the JZ Music Festival will run this entire weekend. After Dee Dee Bridgewater rocks it at Yunfeng Theater tonight, the festival will bring together a host of different artists and bands for a huge gathering in Century Park on Saturday and Sunday. Besides that, there will also be a multitude of speakers coming to Shanghai (to discuss controversial theories about China's past and what its future will look like), and we'll celebrate the birthdays of one of our favorite bar spots (Cotton's!), one of Shanghai's funnest DJ groups (Uprooted Sunshine!) and the start of a Shanghai chapter for one of our favorite charitable initiatives during college (Habitat for Humanity!).

With a mere forty-eight hours before the National Day celebration, we figured we'd throw a little surprise party of our own. Come down to Cotton's tonight and celebrate Shanghaiist's "we-hope-we-also-make-it-to-sixty" happy hour party! We're going to party like it's 1949, kick some traditional Chinese jams, and dance the night away with National Day drinking fervor. And like always, two for one drinks until ten!

Yes, there have been a couple hiccups with our original plans to have semi-monthly Shanghaiist Happy Hours, but with the weather cooling off into nice, comfortable weeknights, we're ready to get back on schedule.

   

Philadelphia's Brian Seymour (MySpace) will once again be performing an acoustic set of his original music on Tuesday, June 23 at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu during the Shanghaiist Happy Hour, which runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Seymour is in town doing a series of shows at the House of Blues & Jazz — it's called "The Piano Has Been Drinking" and he's playing, naturally, the piano and singing the music of Tom Waits. For us, he'll be playing guitar and performing songs from his albums.

Hope to see you all tonight at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu for the Shanghaiist Happy Hour featuring a live performance from Philadelphia based musician Brian Seymour (MySpace), who is town doing a series of shows at the House of Blues & Jazz (he's playing piano and singing the music of Tom Waits). For us, he'll be playing guitar and performing an exclusive acoustic set of his originals. Based on what's happening outside our window right now, it looks like Brian will be playing indoors at Cotton's, which is fine by us (the speakers are better inside).

It's been close to three years since Philadelphia based musician Brian Seymour (MySpace) last visited us, but he's back. And he's playing an exclusive acoustic set of his originals Tuesday night at the Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu. As usual, the Happy Hour runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and features free entry and 2-for-1 specials on selected drinks. Brian's set will kick off at around 7:30 p.m.

Wondering what to do tomorrow after work? Why not join us for our next installment of the Shanghaiist Happy Hour? Since it's the third one since we're restarted hosting these things, we're raffling off THREE gifts this time.

The next Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu falls on the one-year anniversary of the devastating Sichuan earthquake, so we have decided to team with Hands On Chengdu, an organization committed to supporting the long term redevelopment of the areas affected by the earthquake for this Tuesday's gathering. Entry to the Happy Hour is free, but we'll be holding a lucky draw with some great donated prizes — all proceeds will go to Hands On Chengdu. Hands On Chengdu will have an informational booth at the happy hour and will be accepting donations and signing up volunteers on site.

Yep, we had so much fun last time around that we've decided to host it twice a month from now until eternity. Which means, come this May 12, you can once again head over to Cotton's Xinhua Lu location to take advantage of (hopefully) good weather and great drink deals. Don't front like you're not excited!

Entry: FREE!

Just a reminder for all of you fans of after-work revelry: tomorrow night, from 6pm to 10pm, you can enjoy the company of fellow Shanghaiist readers. According to weather reports, it's going to be a beautiful night - perfect for the outdoor area at Cotton's Xinhua Lu location.

Guess where you could be exactly a week from now? Drinking with us at Shanghaiist's first happy hour of the year! Assuming the weather gods decide to bless us with as sunny a Tuesday as today was, we'll all be hanging outdoors, chatting and listening to great (if we may say so ourselves) music at Cotton's Xinhua Lu location.

Today marks the kick-off of Cotton's Thirty-Somethings Mondays: a salute to all of those who've hit their dirty thirties. Every Monday, celebrate with your Gen-X friends and relive all those great moments from your childhood - grunge, boobs showing up in teen movies, and episodes of the Simpsons before they began to suck. Cotton's will be playing hits from the Brat Pack era (anyone? anyone? Bueller? anyone?) and tunes from the 80s and 90s.

Popular bar matron Cotton Ding, owner of Shanghaiist favorite Cotton's, sits down with Daedalum Films to talk about her story - how she left her home in rural Hunan for the big city, the lessons she learned along the way to becoming a successful bar owner, and what challenges she sees on the horizon.

                                      

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!

                                                                          

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!

At tomorrow's big holiday party at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu, get your photo taken with Santa Claus — or Father Christmas, if you swing that way — between 8:30 and 11:30 pm (Santa likes to hit the bars on Tongren at about midnight). Shanghai-based photographer Stephen Yang will be taking professional portraits (lights and everything) of party guests chilling with Santa in Santa's VIP room (behind the first-floor bar). All party-goers are welcome ... and it doesn't cost you a thing. We'll post the pics on Shanghaiist early next week.

Shanghaiist recently enjoyed a few nonfat egg nogs with DJ El Nomo, who promises to make the Shanghaiist/Cotton's holiday party "the wildest holiday blowout ever held at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu." A tall task indeed. You may recognize El Nomo from such weblogs as Shanghai Bananas. And, of course, he is ranked No. 1 worldwide in the controversial Gothamist DJ Rankings. The following is a transcript of our unfiltered discussion with Asia's very own wizard of wax.

Early weather reports for the weekend are looking quite nice, so it looks like late-December outdoor seating will be a definite possibility at the Shanghaiist/Cotton's holiday party this Saturday at the new Cotton's on Xinhua Lu (pictured). And if the outdoor heaters (and bar) aren't cozy enough for you, head on inside the villa for the real wood-burning fireplaces (and more bars). And DJ El Nomo!

Smart Shanghai

Shanghaiist and Cotton's are teaming up to throw a Christmas party on Saturday, December 20 at the new Cotton's on Xinhua Lu. We'll have many more details very soon. But you can rest assured you'll be able to have your photo taken with Santa.

This Saturday is a big one for bar openings, perhaps it's the changing of the seasons (or the lifting of the Olympics curse).

Bullish: We stopped by Noodle Bull, the Taiwanese noodle joint in the new Mansion building on the corner of Fumin Lu and Changle Lu, for lunch last week. The decor was sleek and simple and the food was well presented and serviced. The noodles were authentic in texture and consistency, but the stock and meat pairings offered on the very scaled down menu were a bit ordinary and punchless when it came to flavor. Low prices (25-35 RMB), convenient location, and great service and environment are sure to offset these shortcomings for busy lunch-break professionals, who packed all the seats at the tables along the two walls and at the two large communal stretch tables the cut through the middle of the restaurant. We can see this place sticking around for a while.

After figuring out where we like to eat we thought it would be fun to ask Shanghaiist contributors about their favourite places to drink.