There's been a lot of talk recently about Beijing's "soft power," one initiative of which is the many Confucius Institutes (272 in all!) popping up around the world. Unfortunately, some people in Hacienda Heights, California - a pretty darn Asian neighborhood to begin with - don't take too kindly to thems teachin' Chinese to thems childrens. And Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi was there to talk to them about it. more ›

Mildly amusing video called Chasing the Dragon - Mysterious Beijing. more ›

Shanghaiist reader Matt points out this passage from a recent New York Times Magazine profile of American comedian Rob Corddry: more ›

Has the destruction of Wujiang Lu got you down? Need a quick picker-upper? If so, you might think about heading down to Henry's Brewery & Grill for a nice dose of comedy to turn that frown upside down. Does Henry's sound familiar to you, oh dearest reader? That's because it will also be the host of Shanghaiist next Happy Hour. Okay, that's enough self-promoting. This isn't the first time there's been some stand-up comedy on... more ›

This has been a rough week for your -ist pals, though you wouldn't know it from the great posts all over the network. Plagued with server problems, our tech team (led by the great Neil Epstein) toiled around the clock to solve the glitches as they arose. Seriously, we've said, typed, and thought the phrase "server problems" more in the past week than we have for the last 35 years combined. Why not say it a few more times, just for fun? For example, SFist is sure the San Francisco Chronicle wishes they could blame server problems for this error. But this San Francisco man that appeared on "The Daily Show" is, sadly, no glitch in the system. more ›

There is some debate locally about a house cleaning company's plan to employ college students to clean the dorm rooms of other students who elect to pay for the service: more ›