After figuring out where we like to eat we thought it would be fun to ask Shanghaiist contributors about their favourite places to drink. The discussion sparked arguments that are still echoing through the corridors of Shanghaiist HQ, but one thing is clear: we like dive bars and cocktails. Time Passage No 183, Lane 1038 Huashan Lu (nr Fuxing Xi Lu) 华山路 1038弄183号，近复兴西路 tel: 6240-2588 Cheap drinks, good food, and an incredible house cover band......

Cooler-than-thou hotel URBN on Jiaozhou Lu (Jing-An) is having licensing issues with its hotel bar, but the "room twentyeight" restaurant is in full swing serving moderately pricey (around 150RMB for a main) food and a good range of drinks. Their cocktail list is one of the most interesting we've seen in quite some time with the standout being the 'Tiger Rouge' featuring:Pisco (a Peruvian spirit)Pineapple, Raspberry and Lemon JuiceBalsamic VinegarFresh Basil Odd, but it works,......

By Wee Ling Soh Last night, we were at a good friend's farewell party that was held at the cozy homey le petit xiaoxiao. Everyone had been asked a few days earlier to submit their funny, cool and exciting photos/videos of Shanghai so it was a night of drinking, feasting on delicious food (le petit owner Noriko's green pea onigiris are a must-try) and excellent Shanghai stories. We just have to share this interesting light......

Via our Contribute Page, we learn that ISpyShanghai.com is a glutton for punishment recently conducted a taste test of beers readily (and cheaply) available in Shanghai. The photo above shows the awful selection they had to choose between, although only seven brews were ranked (we're not sure why ... maybe they got sick?). REEB and Budweiser came in at the bottom and Harbin (owned by Budweiser) came out on top. If we had to choose......

WHAT TYPE OF DRUNK ARE YOU? When you get pissed out of your mind, are you a harmless drunk? A violent drunk? A poetic drunk or what? We all prefer not to meet a violent drunk because that's just trouble, and it's then up to somebody like a Zapatas bouncer to take him out. Loquacious drunks, like a German acquaintance, are pains in the backside, but it's usually easy to make a quiet exit. Then......

With Christmas just around the corner, there are plenty of parties to attend, plus more wine tastings and other opportunities to get thoroughly blotto. Here's what Winopete has heard about so far: Nov 29 Oriented Happy Hour at MoCA art gallery in People's Park. Please visit www.oriented.com for details. Nov 29-Dec 1 Italian wine exhibition at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre (Tongren and Yan'an Roads) hosted by the Institiute of Fine Italian Wine. No other details......

Have you ever wondered what life must be like for someone who is watched everywhere she goes, whether she's eating, drinking, sleeping, shopping? It's the reason why Shanghai photographer Don Yap has tagged her "jailbird" in one of his recent portraits of her. Watch Paris eat xiaolongbao at Nanxiang and sip tea at Yuyuan, and go shopping at Lu Kun's (the greatest PR coup scored yet by any Shanghai-based designer!). The Shanghai municipal government......

As we speak (type?), RnB diva and superstar, Beyoncé is probably relaxing in her luxury suite somewhere in this city. We, on the other hand, are not relaxing. We are anxiously awaiting tomorrow night., when she will take the Shanghai Grand Stage to belt our some songs and shake that tailfeather of hers. In case you forgot (and how could you really?), we told you about the concert ages ago, so most of you probably......

A quick note to interrupt your last-minute Halloween costume shopping (we made our costume yesterday ... you'll definitely hear us coming) to let you know what films we plan to show at the big Shanghaiist Halloween Party on Saturday night. If you haven't been to Shanghai Studio, it's a spooky maze-like place that occupies an old bomb shelter. So if music and dancing are your things, we've got rooms for that. If chatting and drinking......

RUSSIAN STANDARD VODKA: At a recent vodka blind tasting event at Sashas (corner of Hengshan and Dongping Rds 衡山路/东平路), the winning vodka out of the field of 23 was something called Russian Standard. A few days ago we were invited to partake in consuming a bottle of this drink. Very neutral and smooth, it ended up going down particularly well when served on ice with some crushed basil stirred in. Sashas hasn't confirmed a definite......

If you fancy yourself a punker, pretend to be a punk, or just like watching punks, then the 1234 Beach Rock Festival, is a dream (possibly wet) come true. Scheduled for the 20th and 21st of this month, the 1234 BRF is bringing together some of China's best punk/skinhead bands and adding a sprinkle of international flavor. Included in the line up are well known Chinese punk bands: the Unsafe, SMZB and Misandao, while Shanghai......

Just when the thought we heard the last of the Olympic pigs, we found this headline from Beijing Daily just screaming at us while we were scanning the Chinese news yesterday:北京提升猪肉产品质量 生猪入圈静养听音乐 To improve pork quality, Beijing pigs will listen to soothing music So apart from getting fed an organic diet and being put through a daily exercise regime, it appears the pigs will get to hear soothing music while being bathed each day! Said......

It serves espressos at RMB30 each, and there are NO customers in sight most of the time, not even on weekend afternoons. At least that's what Tim Johnson, the Beijing Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers and author of the China Rises blog found on his recent visit. And apparently it doesn't help that the coffee shop is supposed to be a “China time-honored brand”. CCTV-9 news anchor Rui Chenggang should be happy now. Finally, a......

It is official...the golden week has finally hit Shanghai, and it is hitting us hard, with a multitude of music festivals. So for those of you who are taking the vacation serious and drinking so much you can't think straight, Shanghaiist is here to do the thinking for you. Feel free to print and paste the sample itinerary listed below to that one pair of underwear you plan on wearing for the entire week. After......

Our Shanghai champions that went to the finals of the Cocktail World Cup held in Queenstown, New Zealand, have come back and done us proud! Unshaken by an itinerary that included some really extreme cocktail shaking via bungy-jumping, on top of a mountain and on a jet boat, Cross from Vault and Alex from Volar (together with Johnsen from Aria in Beijing) emerged fourth after Teams Vegas, New Zealand and England. Okay, so they weren't......

Some things you were never supposed to hear about ... so keep them to yourselves please! Shhhhh. Fons Tuinstra of China Herald shares a rumour that our former mayor might be sent to the gallows:"He is going to be executed for corruption," said a former colleague I met yesterday for lunch when the issue of Shanghai's former party secretary Chen Liangyu came up. "Of course, they have enough proof he is corrupt himself, not only......

Punk might not be dead, but it seems that, due to permit issues, the Exploited tour is. What Shanghaiist can't figure out is why the Exploited, in all their anti-government glory, would even apply for permits (many of the bands who come for China tours do it on tourist visas). Any one who has already purchased tickets for the show will be able to take them back to 4Live for a full refund. In other......

We recently read a report on China's water/environmental problems, based on reports from Singapore's Straits Times. Despite living in China and developing some measure of immunity to dismal statistics, there was one that managed to shock us: environmental experts claim that without some drastic change, pollution might, within five years, make the Yangtze River just about inhospitable to all forms of life. The baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin, was only the latest victim: according to......

Even as the majority of the domestic and international press crowned Inner Mongolia native and Shanghai resident Duo Zirong for her courage to stop the truck and "save" 800 cats from the food trade on July 7, dissenting voices have been raised with regards to the character of this women. And some have gone so far as to call her — as we have heard recently from those involved in various animal rescue organizations —......

Like half of the population of Shanghai, we attended the launch of the Bund Brewery last Friday. Free flow beer, bring it on. Consequently, like half of the population of Shanghai, we were sweating more than the scantily clad men in last Thursday's photo of the day. But, again, free flow beer, bring it on. The Bund Brewery is your beer-hall-about-town, complete with park-style benches, large copper kettles and wood galore. Certain Shanghai loyalists might......

If you haven't noticed (perhaps you are a human ice cube?) it's hot out. Really hot. Today's forecast features a 36C high, which is 97F to the Americans in the audience, plus another 10-13 degrees for the heat index. Yesterday the mercury hit 39.6C, making it the hottest Shanghai day in 63 years. How hot is that, you ask? So hot that authorities announced put the city's heat-threat level at an orange alert. (it's not......

The full report of an 18 month study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at China's request is out, and the picture ain't pretty. As many as 300 million people are drinking contaminated water every day, and 190 million are suffering from water-related illnesses each year. One third of the length of all China's rivers are now "highly polluted" as are 75% of its major lakes and 25% of its coastal......

We told you about reports of fake mineral water being sold in Beijing, but looks like the problem isn't just confined to the capital! A guy bought a bottle of mineral water in Hebei manufactured by the Hebei Province Yutian District Huibang Drink Factory (河北玉田县汇邦饮料厂) recently, and before he actually opened the bottle he found that there were tiny pieces of plastic as well as small organisms floating around in the water. This video is......

Jodi Xu of the TIME Beijing Bureau writes in a post entitled Now it's Fake Water that really got us wondering about the RMB6 tubs of water that we get in our apartment: This morning, I heard the news that half of Beijing’s bottled water is counterfeit. I was horrified. It seems that illegal factories fill the used plastic bottles from the tap or with perfunctorily filtered water. The bottle tops and tape that they......

Imagethief: Are Chinese journalists too credulous at press conferences? : Journalists everywhere have been guilty of occasional credulity. Nevertheless, it seems to me that China's media is at a rather different state of overall development than Western media. It also carries with it the legacy of having grown quite recently from filling a much different social role than Western media. This is not meant to be a comparative criticism, or a judgment on whether Chinese......

Now, that felt like a 4th of July party (and some Canadians in attendance said it wasn't a bad effort for Canada Day, either). Hot, sweaty weather. No rain! Hamburgers. Beer. Live music. Water balloons. Hamburgers. Beer. Drinking contests. Fireworks (albeit during daylight). Hamburgers. Beer. Ketchup battles. Some guy from Beijing getting pantsed. Hamburgers. Beer. You know, the usual. A big congratulations to chef Eric Johnson and Team Jean-Georges — they created the judges' choice......

Chinese Communist Party turns 86 China's ruling Communist Party turned 86 on Sunday vowing to make itself stronger, cleaner and more responsive in order to take on fresh challenges and meet the people's new expectations. The party, which boasts 73 million members, needs to enhance "self-construction" in the face of "unprecedented opportunities and challenges" facing China's development, said an editorial in a Chinese newspaper, the People's Daily. China adopts new drinking-water standard China's new national......

If you’re like us and already feel slightly guilty at how much you will be drinking at this Friday’s Shanghaiist Happy Hour, maybe it’s time to start thinking about how to have an active summer? Whether you’re a cycling veteran or you’re just looking for something to do to these coming months, there are a number of bike trips available to see more of the beautiful countryside (or Suzhou Creek). The first option is from......

It's always a bit boring in the interim between human caused environmental disasters in China, so imagine how excited we were when we learned about that "fast spreading, foul-smelling" blue algae that contaminated water in nearby Tai Lake (太湖), where the ensuring panic which caused a run on bottled drinking water from Wuxi residents. Naturally, you're thinking that since 70% of Shanghai's drinking water comes the Huangpu (the other 30% from the Yangtze), and Tai......

Would you believe the Eager Beaver? Check out the list to the right (paying special attention to the prices) and let us know what you think. They have most of the beers imported by American Craft Beer Partners (they have Brooklyn Lager, but it isn't on the menu), Coopers, Sam Adams and big bottles of Paulaner, which we hadn't seen elsewhere. We suppose they could use some Belgian beers and some Kiwi beers and maybe......