Results tagged “downtown”

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  Shanghai wants 50 top minds every year
  
  
  “Local authorities are offering lucrative packages to lure leading academics to the city under a new scheme to help boost its competitiveness.”
  
  


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  Shanghai to launch int’l channel targeting foreigners
  
  
  “The ICS programs, covering news, information, fashion, entertainment, foreign TV shows and movies, will be aired in English and Japanese, with Chinese captions, for 19 hours a day.”
  
  


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  Shanghai GM to launch Buick LaCrosse hybrid prior to Olympic Games
  
  
  “The move will make Shanghai GM the third joint venture automaker to deliver a hybrid vehicle in China following Toyota and Honda. Toyota Motor Corp is currently the only carmaker that builds a hybrid car in China.”


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  China Eastern to resume Shanghai-Saipan flights
  
  
  “China Eastern will resume its twice weekly Shanghai-Saipan flights starting Jan. 11, 2006, close to five months after the charter flights were suspended because of the decline of tourists coming in from China.”
  
  


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  China to survey dialects to better protect them | World | Reuters
  
  
  “A focus will be the Shanghai dialect … ‘As more and more young people in Shanghai use the dialect to communicate online, and as its vocabulary expands, it will be standardised and promoted as a distinct local language.’”
  
  


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  China’s New Bestseller: The Bible
  “Amity has churned out 41 million Bibles for Chinese believers at its plant outside … Nanjing, including more than 3 million copies last year. (About nine million copies have been exported to Africa, other parts of Asia and Central Europe.)”
• 5 nabbed in whisky sting
  “Police have arrested five people alleged to have duped a Swedish man into paying nearly 5,000 yuan ($680) for coffee and whisky during a recent business trip to the city.”
• Cyclists to race to top of city’s tallest tower on December 31
  “One contestant, Zhang Jincheng, the Guinness record keeper, is a 23-year-old from Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. His two challengers are 28-year-old Andorran Xavi Casas and 34-year-old Colombian Javier Zapata.”


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  City tightens protection for historic buildings
  
  
  “The city government issued new rules last week banning road expansion on most of the 144 downtown roads lined with historic houses. The rules also ban tall buildings from being built in conservation areas.”
  
  


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  blognation China
  
  
  China tech blog worth checking out.
  
  


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  China Web2.0 Review
  
  
  Another China tech blog.


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  China: Pollution map of China released
  
  
  “Just over a year since their first mashup was released, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, headed by journalist-environmentalist Ma Jun, has just released its Air Pollution Map, complete with its own BBS and space for feedback forum.”
  
  


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  Todd Crowned China’s Sole Survivor
  “The 22-year-old flight attendant and world-class schemer outwitted, outplayed and outlasted his competitors for 39 days to be crowned the $1 million winner of the reality show’s 15th edition and the youngest winner in the series’ history.” 15!
• Three Beijing buildings on Time magazine’s best list
  “Three architectures in Beijing are on the list of 10 best architectural marvels (new and upcoming) selected by the Time magazine to be published on the Dec. 24.” None from Shanghai.

The state media had reported around May of this year that the proposed Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev was canceled. In the report just linked to, it says that the official reason why the thing was canceled was because of health and environmental concerns, while the supposed "real reason" was that residents in the maglev's path were starting a petition. Reading over this report reminds of how this issue has been ping-ponging back and forth for years. We thought perhaps that the ginormous cost of the thing, including some behind-the-scenes bickering between Zhejiang province and Shanghai regarding the division of construction costs, was the final nail in the coffin, but if you think about it, since when can a few petitioners writing letters to their National People's Congress "reps" can hardly hold back the ineluctable forces of progress?

For those of you that haven't been able to pluck yourself out of that sinking feeling, Xinhua has a scientific explanation for it — our city has been sinking! In fact, geologists say it's sunk 7.5 millimetres this year, with "severe subsidence" of 8.3 millimetres detected in downtown areas. The sinking's been caused by heavy construction as well as water being pumped out of underground aquifers for "industrial and agricutural purposes" which has now been...

Still looking for something to do for Halloween? Here are a few parties that should be worth checking out. If you are stuck hanging around People's Square head over to the MOCA where you will find (besides interesting art) a wicked Halloween party featuring lots of killer tunes from Bananas Soundsystem. For those who aren't keen on going downtown, head out to Xujiahui where Harley's Bar will host Banana Monkey and more Banana DJ music. At Logo bar 3 bands are going to dress up as the Misfits, Sex Pistols and Ramones and churn out some gnarly tunes. Billed Punks for Monks, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to a charity helping the monks in Burma.

Have you (like us) waited until the last minute to get your Halloween costume even though back in September you promised yourself you'd start putting it together early this year? Not to worry. Shanghaiist has you covered. Here's a list of places to get pre-made Halloween costumes and accessories that we put together last year. We've given them a call and apparently they're all still up and running. If any of you finds any other great places for costumes, please email us at info AT shanghaiist DOT com and we will add them on to the list.

Holiday House: 1188 Panyu Lu, near Hongqiao lu (番禺路1188号，近虹桥路). Tel: 64477189, Open 9:30-6:00 pm (Sucky hours!). A kind of one-stop-shop for costumes for kids and adults and decorations. Staff speak English and can be pretty surly.

Shanghai Zhongbao Dress Ornament Co. Ltd.: No.99, Lane 2035 Wuzhong Lu (吴中路2035弄99号). Open until 9pm on weekdays and slightly different hours on the weekend (we suggest you call first). Tel: 64780825/54859199, Fax: 6419 3855, E-mail: zbxj@public8.sta.net.cn. Longer hours, wider adult selection and cheaper prices, but really far from downtown (expect a 40-50 kuai cab fare) and a little hard to find as Lane 2035 is hard to see, the street numbers are out of order and the "99" is spray painted on the wall, and it's a warehouse behind a gate. But it's worth the effort!

Nantai Costume Company: 181 Henan Zhong Lu, near Fuzhou Lu (河南中路181号，进福州路) Tel: 63238344. This place, five minutes west of the Bund outfits many of the local opera troupes and has the ambience of a factory store. Shelves are stacked with everything from tasseled platform slippers to stringy beards. Say hello to Chun Ge, the store's pet mynah bird -- he'll say ni hao back.

Shanghaiist is somewhat of a frequent flyer to Beijing, and because he isn't employed by some big multinational but rather runs his own little business, he can only afford to put himself on cattle class and often has to scour the internet for the cheapest available deals. We especially love this nifty little function on eLong.com which shows you the cheapest available flight within a week of your selected departure date. That has worked to our advantage in the past because we have relatively flexible schedules, and we have flown to Beijing for as low as RMB530 (that's RMB400 for the ticket and RMB130 for miscellaneous taxes) on Hainan Airlines.

Hollywood actress Sharon Stone arrived in Shanghai late Tuesday night at Pudong International Airport. After passing immigration casually dressed in white slacks and a dark long-sleeved top, she was quickly driven downtown in a Mercedes Sedan to the JW Marriott Hotel.

The Honeys and Yuguo, kicked things off at The Dream Factory (new Yuyintang) last Friday night. This was our first time to the venue and it was impressive — bigger, louder and much closer to downtown than the old Yuyintang. Underlounge was also packed Friday with people ready for good old skanking to the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, only one problem: The band never made it from Tokyo. Luckily most people were too drunk to realize the band never showed and the DJs kept the crowd going with plenty of ska tunes. On Saturday, people turned out en masse for the Infadels and Killa Kela show at Absolute House. Killa and the teenage beat boxers from Yanji were impressive, less so was the sound system which could never seem to balance out instruments and vocals. Lucky for us, we were invited to the Lab on Sunday where Killa Kela and crew made a special visit. Being such a small space, and with killer (killa?) equipment, the crowd was treated to a mind blowing performance by local beatboxers and Killa Kela himself.

If you are familiar with drinking heavily or going to Chinese banquets (basically the same thing), you've probably been forced to chug try some Maotai. Deemed "China's national liquor" by Reuters, Maotai or máotáijiǔ (茅台酒) is one of the most famous brands of Chinese rice wine (or báijiǔ). Although dignitaries like Margaret Thatcher and Richard Nixon have put this put-hair-on-your-chest drink to their conservative lips, the popular liquor is now threatened. You see, Maotai is...

Shanghaiist isn't one to get up too early on the weekend to go out and buy groceries or produce; we prefer to watch the back of our eyelids. But we know that some of you do like to do active things each weekend morning. Personally, we dread the thought of hitting Carrefour, Lianhua or Hymall at this time, let alone any form of shopping on a Saturday morning.

For those expats out there who've ever wondered what it might be like to get behind the wheel of an automobile here in Shanghai, this is your lucky day. Thanks to the USA Today, that bastion of impartial journalism and cutting-edge video game development, you can now race the streets of Shanghai on 10 circuits in one of five super charged hot rods—all for the low price of only US$19.99. Think of how much money you will save on gas and hospital bills not having to brave the actual motorways; the roads in virtual Shanghai can cause no serious physical harm. Unless you brave them for 72 straight hours in a net cafe, that is.

A crane in use at the Boss & Winner construction site buckled this afternoon in Shanghai.

This morning, Chinese language news portal 163.com had a great scoop, and revealed the future planning for Shanghai and China's Maglev railway system.

Last Saturday, Shanghaiist was invited to attend the unveiling of Shanghai's newest gallery space, m97. Once we negotiated the tricky shared building entrance, we made our way to the second floor and was immediately impressed by the physical space and airy nature of the gallery. The grand opening featured an exhibition of by emerging Beijing photographer and artist Jiang Zhi titled "Things Would Turn Simpler Once They Happened". Immediately we had diametrically opposing thoughts. "How were these photos taken?", and "I don't quite get it...". We wished that our interpretation of the photographic exhibition was as simple as the exhibition's title, but we assume this is the art part of the exhibition. Here's a little about Jiang Zhe (pictured below) and his exhibit from information posted by m97.

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to...

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate.

The Shanghai Daily reports that The Longhua Fashion and Gift Market is struggling to attract patrons. The Longhua market attracted the bulk of the vendors from the closure of Xiangyang market last June, however it appears that patrons have decided to give this location the big swerve.

When the new Tang Hui opened back in May, most people were pretty excited. A legit live music venue in the heart of downtown Puxi (and 20 kuai bottles of Xinjiang Black Beer). Things looked promising for a little while, but then shit happened (and they never once had Xinjiang Black Beer available when we were there). Last May, we never thought we'd be reading an international wire story about a dating website holding a pillow fight party at Tang Hui, but that's what happened yesterday (the story didn't mention Tang Hui as the venue, oddly). Tang Hui's website still says it's the "best live music bar" (and we wish that were true, since it is right down the street from Shanghaiist headquarters), but anyone who likes live music knows there are much better options. We're not even sure if Tang Hui is trying to be a live music venue anymore. While the website proclaims "live music is back," it's in reference to a gig on Nov. 10 (they are also pimping "hard core salsa music") and a look at Upcoming.org shows no gigs on the horizon. Let's face it — it just isn't easy being a live music venue in Shanghai. Is Shuffle Bar still around?

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing.

When we woke up yesterday morning we discovered a new year's surprise: Our beloved shoes are gone. Like many good Chinese girls, we keep our shoes outside our front door (but inside a locked gated corridor ... with metal bars perfect for stealing shoes through, evidently). First we thought we might have just misplaced them (we can be kind of messy). But after searching our pile of shoes, we were very certain they were gone. And we were quite confused why someone would steal this pair, then we came to the conclusion the thief must be a man, since the shoes left untouched were all high-heels or very feminine boots. The pair that was gone was masculine style riding boots.

Last October, Shanghai Daily announced plans for a city-wide wireless broadband network: