We all lamented the end of the Toy Story series when the 3rd movie came out, but never fear, because the legend of Toy Story is now alive again in Hong Kong's Disneyland (just opened yesterday)! more ›

Disney has given us more tantalizing shimmery peeks into the Shanghai park that just broke ground this April, and according to their website, here's what we can expect from their enormous centerpiece castle: more ›

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Shanghai Disneyland isn't the only massive real estate project Disney Co. is taking on. Besides the theme park (on which work has begun), there will be a town attached. I suppose it was naive to think anything with the word "park" in it could be built in China without being connected to a luxury housing estate. more ›

The Korean Foreign Minister has issued an apology over the sex scandal involving three Korean consulate members in Shanghai. All three men under investigation are suspected to have had relations with the same woman! That's a pretty scandalous-y scandal. more ›

At an investor conference a few weeks ago, Walt Disney Company released official artwork of Shanghai Disneyland. The new park is set to open in 2015 (after they finish bulldozing people out of the way and sucking up Shanghai's tourism budget) and is expected to draw 7.3 million visitors annually. more ›

Shanghai has announced plans to invest 400 billion yuan 40 billion yuan into its tourism industry during the next five-year plan. [Correction: we originally reported 400 billion, the correct figure is 40 billion.] While Shanghai Disneyland and Happy Valley's "second phase" construction will suck up most of the money, there are also 11 other projects in the works, including ecological parks and nature resorts, as well as the Fengxian 'Oriental Venice' project. more ›

Earlier announcements already tagged November as the start to the building of Shanghai Disneyland, but recent reports have the whole deal going down today. According to the city and Shanghai Shen Di (Group) Co., who's joint venturing with Disney over the 25 billion RMB ($3.6 billion) deal, the theme park will be a "strong international tourism resort," with a pleasant, low-carbon environment. Right. Low-carbon. Anyone else having trouble getting excited over the "happiest place on earth" all things considered? more ›

Out with the old, in with the newest ridiculously expensive development project. As Shanghai is finally gearing up to start construction on its Disneyland (the appropriate reaction to this is still, "Why?"), more people are being forcibly evicted to make room for the theme park. Evictions are one of China's most notorious repeat offenses as thousands of people were forced out and displaced for both the Beijing Olympics and the Expo. more ›

Despite approval from Beijing authorities, it seems like the future of Shanghai Disneyland still isn't completely certain. Now the Shanghai members of the Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, a top political advisory body) are raising a fuss about how much money the amusement park will hemorrhage once it's built. It pointed to the losses sustained by Hong Kong Disneyland, arguing that perhaps that should serve as a warning before details are signed off on. Welp, even if Shanghai Disneyland never comes to fruiton, here's something else we can look forward to: a space park, which will open in Hainan in around 2013. more ›

Despite hopes of many to turn the area around the soon-to-be-begun Shanghai Disneyland into a resort-like area for China's burgeoning population of rich people, it seems like the Shanghai government's got another idea: budget housing. Mayor Han Zheng said yesterday that he's trying to negotiate for the allocation of some land around the site for lower-income housing. The Shanghai Daily article on the matter notes that there were some objections, but surprisingly (not) doesn't list them. We think we can guess what they were: Ummm... why put in budget apartments when you could have... a golf course? more ›

If you've been waiting with baited breath for the last...few years or so for Disneyland to open in Shanghai, good news: you can get a wintry taste of magic starting next Wednesday. For five days, the Shanghai International Gymnastics Center will be turned into a magical kingdom of icecapades in "A Disneyland Adventure:" all your favorite Disney characters will be ice skating their way through a fantastical story about, well, going to Disneyland. Sounds great for the kids, but since we've already had our share of the Disney experience with ice, we'll probably pass. more ›

As someone once said, “Sex is like snow, you never know how many inches you're going to get or how long it will last”. So while our snow ended kinda prematurely yesterday, we can only look on with envy at the many many inches everyone else is getting (we're looking at you, Harbin!). For a start, check out this mass wedding in Harbin that will totally give the Moonies a run for their money! Catch the lone (relatively underdressed) midget without a bride at 0:24 (everybody say awwwwww!) more ›

As we take a look back at the last year of our reporting, Shanghaiist brings to you a list of the most important news events of 2009. Whether they be political, cultural, or social, these were the things that happened that changed our lives and perceptions of the world around us, for the better or worse. Without further ado, here's the top five news events from around Shanghai more ›

Disneyland has faced so many bumps in the road in its long and arduous quest to build a theme park in Shanghai, the latest of which have involved obtaining land for the theme park. First, farmers wanted compensation for demolishing their multiple houses, then the park shrunk exponentially in size, and now it looks like they'll have to uproot a couple graves in the process. more ›

After all the excitement surrounding Disney's future theme park in Shanghai, it seems that the Disney corporation has come under domestic fire for their seedy manufacturing conditions. A group of students from Nanchang university interviewed more than 100 workers at at five Disney factories in Guangzhou, and compiled their findings in a report titled "Mickey Mouse is no longer cute." Top on the list of complaints were frequent accidents, poor safety standards, and reduced wages for workers. Thinking about underprivileged, limbless workers really does take the cuteness out of those plush Disney toys, right? more ›

• Speak2Me, an online English language learning community, has made an agreement to create a language training program for the 80,000 plus Expo volunteers and guides that will be working this May. It would be scary interesting to have loads of volunteers running around speaking like the Speak2Me virtual teacher. [CNNMoney]
• All Roads Lead to China has some ideas about making the People's Square Station less of a hell for commuters. For instance: more maps. [All Roads Lead to China]
• Shanghai's Disneyland has been downsized from 400 hectares to 116 hectares, the smallest Disney park in the world. We've all been a bit schizophrenic reporting Shanghai's Disneyland: plans seem to change faster than you can say mǐ lǎo shǔ (yup, that's Mickey Mouse in Chinese). [ChinaDaily]
• Need something to read? Next time before you plough down to Garden Books check out Urbanatomy's web exclusives featuring authors. The feature is a great insight into the minds of contemporary writers writing about Chinese culture. Their latest is features Nicole Mones, author of The Last Chinese Chef. [Urbanatomy]

Those grand plans we've heard for Shanghai Disneyland to be a whopping four times bigger than Hong Kong's seem to have gone the way of Bambi's mother. According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the park will initially take up 287 acres of land, which would make it the smallest Disneyland in the world, measuring up to just over half of the size of the flagship park in LA. We're a tad disappointed at the sudden shrinkage (did Mickey take a cold shower before the meeting?), but the park may expand as business grows. Then again, who's really surprised that the plan for Shanghai Disneyland has changed once again? more ›

Yeah, it's sad but true: in order to build Disneyland Shanghai, a lot of villagers in Chuangsha will have to be forcibly relocated in order to free up space for the 4.12 square kilometer theme park. Like usual, the government has promised to provide those relocated with monetary compensation, but hasn't revealed exactly how much they'll give out. As a result, farmers have begun to erect new buildings overnight to try to drive up the value of their land. One part entrepreneurial, one part sad: but with the government notoriously bad at providing displaced people with fair settlements, who can blame them? more ›

Woah Mickey, now that Shanghai Disneyland finally seems to have gotten all its papers in order, it seems like everyone can’t stop gabbering on about it (for instance, has anyone else noticed that Shanghai Daily has kind of turned into Shanghai Disneyland Daily today). Except, we suppose, us. Hey, give us a break, we’ve been covering this roller coaster ride of a deal for so long that it being greenlighted has actually left us a little flabbergasted. And so, since we’re at a loss for words, we’ll let other people talk about what they think about the soon-to-be erected (well, at least by 2014) Sleeping Beauty castle in Pudong. more ›

After years of back and forth, it looks like Shanghai Disneyland has been given the go-ahead. According to news sources, the Shanghai Municipal Government Informatin offices announced the deal's approval early this morning. While details still have to be worked out between the mouse and the ministries, it seems like a pretty set deal. more ›

With the recent news about Beijing giving Disneyland Shanghai the go ahead, it looks like it's only a matter of time before the mouse lands in town. After a recent meeting of the City's International Business Leaders Advisory Council, Mayor Han Zheng declared that a decision could be announced as early as next week. But between the lines, we all know that's code for unequivocal approval, right? After all, it's not like the Shanghai government would announce a greenlight on Disneyland and then snatch it away last minute. Oh wait. more ›

If you were President Obama, what's the best possible news you could hear from Hu Jintao during your upcoming visit in November? That the Chinese military will agree to keep their agreement to work more closely with the US military? That recent threats to potentially raise tariffs on US automakers were just a big joke? Or were you thinking something perhaps...a bit more...magical? more ›

• Shanghai is going to be the next stop for A Nice Set, a traveling exhibition of customized slipmats designed by leading artsts from around the world. The exhibition will open at 7:30pm on September 12 at SOURCE. [Neocha Edge]
• The Wall Street Journal has a great piece on Zhaohang village, which contains land that would've been razed to build Shanghai Disneyland. As is the way in China, many villagers didn't get the compensation they were hoping for. [WSJ]
• Bad news for all those trying to make a quick buck on their foreign faces, apparently Shanghai is cracking down on foreign people modeling firms. [Shanghai Daily]

Seemingly apropos of nothing, Li Bincheng, a leading tourism official in Shanghai, told people that China can sustain three Disney theme parks if it wanted to. "China has a population of 1.4 billion or 1.5 billion. It will not be a problem even if there are three Disneylands here," he said in response to a question about competition between Hong Kong Disneyland and the on again-off again Shanghai park. He then went on to add that if the Shanghai park ever actually came to be, it'd probably be ten times larger than its Hong Kong counterpart. But no worries, because Guangdong and Guangxi residents will probably still go to the much much smaller Hong Kong Disneyland since they live closer. Hmmm, that sure is a lot of talk for something that hasn't even won approval from the higher ups in Beijing yet. Source: SCMP more ›

With all that whining and wheezing earlier this year, you would've thought we'd reached a resolution by now. But even though Disney is pulling resources out of Hong Kong, it still hasn't committed fully to putting them into Shanghai - and it's hard to tell who's fault it is. more ›

According to China Daily, the Walt Disney Company and Shanghai's municipal government have finally signed a project proposal to build a Disneyland theme park on the Chinese mainland. Assuming the newspaper hasn't jumped the gun, this would put a stopper on the will they won't they drama that's shadowed the deal since it was a glint in Mickey Mouse's eye. more ›

• China says AIDS sufferers led attack on Belgian TV crew [China Media Project]
• The Chinese government is now offering a 13% subsidy to farmers in rural areas for the purchase of basic household appliances like washing machines, cell phones, color TVs, and refrigerators. Will the plan work? [WSJ China Journal]
• Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou spoke directly to a mainland Chinese audience for the first time since he took office yesterday. Live broadcast in Chinese here.

"Up to 5 percent of homosexuals in the city were infected, compared with 0.5 percent of women sex workers, said He Xiong, the Beijing Centers of Diseases Control and Prevention deputy director." more ›

And so the “will-it-ever-be-built” Shanghai Disneyland saga continues, tediously dragging as long as Celine Dion's love for you. more ›