Another week, another edition of Shanghaiist Reads. SH and Shanghai Talk are on the clock … SH With Shanghai fashion week in full bloom, it’s hardly surprising that the bulk of SH’s coverage is devoted to hot young designers, hot fads, and hot, hot hotness. “Design Time” is a no-frills sampling of the city’s rising fashionistas, though it’s probably safe to say that an all-gray background is hardly the most fashionable layout to accompany all......

How many times have you found yourself sitting around your living room just itching to attend a local expo? Didn't think so. Well, for those out there who are interested, get those reading glasses ready. If the previously mentioned Sex Expo ("Sexpo"?) isn't quite your cup of naughty tea, then perhaps this might better suit your uptight needs. As reported last week in Shanghai Daily, the 2006 Shanghai Book Fair will be held at the......

Though it's not like any of you care, since any movie that can break Spider-Man 2's box office record in the US is damn well going to be showing up on DVD here (it might have, already?) The New Zealand press reports: Chinese censors have refused to allow the film to be screened. Reports suggest the Film Bureau, which is government controlled, didn't approve of the movie's portrayal of souls of the dead or the......

Shanghaiist was never a good cheater -- we raised the hand that had the history of the American Civil War scribbled on it to hail the teacher over. Chinese students, on the other hand, are much more adept and much more high-tech about it. However, remember that these things do backfire. A student in Wuhan, capital of China's central province of Hubei, used earphones so small that they slipped into his aural canal and perforated......

Shanghaiist is pretty sure that this has something to do with the Da Vinci Code fever that swept the world in the last few years. While not many Chinese will lay claim to being descendants of the Son of God (making them descendants of God as well!), there are quite a number that could possibly be descendants of another thinker. One was the son of a virgin and the other was born out of wedlock,......

LAist is flashing a sad peace out to their editor Carolyn Kellogg with one hand and bumping knuckles with their new head typist L.A. blogger king Tony Pierce with the other. Where do ist editors go when they hang up the 'editorial we'? They take on MySpace, apparently. At least Ben Brown does. Austinist reminds of the just rewards of less savory careers this week and then they witness the Arctic Monkeys and We Are......

Something's definitely afoot in the smoky backrooms of Zhongnanhai and the smoke-free and spooky chambers of the Vatican: China is pulling The Da Vinci Code off screens nationwide. So far, there is no official reason, just conjectures. The Scotsman said that it had something to do with Beijing's relations to the Vatican: Relations between Beijing and the Vatican -- who do not have diplomatic ties -- reached a new low last month when the Pope......

Word association: What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “under pressure”? Freddie Mercury? David Bowie? Vanilla Ice? Nah, not if you live in Hong Kong. Ask any city dwellers on the street and they’ll tell you that phrase, lately, has fallen under the singular providence of one man, 巴士阿叔 (or "Bus Uncle"), a grumpy old man who has captured the city’s imagination and adoration with one simple phrase, “I am under pressure”. Huh?......

This unhealthy obsession with movies is going to stop soon ... but first, we just have to tell you what we just heard. Jackie Chan and Jet Li, together, in a time-travel kung fu story? You best believe it: Based on a classic Chinese legend, the story follows a teenager who gets transported to ancient China after he steals a mystical staff from a New York pawnshop.The youngster enlists the help of a motley crew......

It's been an eventful few weeks on the movie front as we dodge the shitty movies that get thrown at us left and right. Chinese audiences weren't too keen on The Da Vinci Code, in part because most of the people who had gone to see it had already read the book, and the plot of the movie hewed so closely to the book that there was little suspense as to what the conclusion would......

Getting paper tickets has always freaked us out a bit since we're pretty forgetful -- and e-tickets are so much more convenient anyway. Now it seems all we have to worry about now is forgetting our phone, because Shanghai has gone ahead and decided to sell movie tickets on mobile phones. These tickets will include the time, place and name of the movie that you're going to watch, and you just have to bring your......

Ever think of stealing one of those "TAXI" lights on the top of Shanghai cabs? You're not the only one.Surprised our resident Zhang Ziyi stalker fan hasn't posted about this already.A crack in the Great Firewall?Shanghai has plans for your "electronic waste.""The Chinese are much more adventurous than Europeans and Americans when it comes to sex toys."Is the Da Vinci Code to blame for Tom Cruise's China problem?"China in dire need of saving its hutongs."......