We are truly blessed by the availability of such a wide selection of affordable bootleg DVDs from around the world. With so many to choose from, though, it's easy to get a little carried away and more often than is probably wise, we find ourselves selecting titles that are ill-advised at the offset. But hey, it's only 7 RMB*, why not? For variety's sake and to satisfy those dark cravings, we often prefer picking up some schlock to throw in the collection just to mix up as well, because a bad movie can often make for a more enjoyable viewing experience (See: Commando) than a mediocre movie trying to be good (See: The Kingdom). more ›

Chinese television actually isn't as bad as most of us are inclined to think, we've chanced upon informative talkshows and documentaries on interesting subjects sometimes. But the rest of the time, horrendous TV commercials are on hand to remind us why we're better off watching bootleg DVDs or Project Runway on Tudou.com. more ›

Available in either a Day or Night versions, this motorised marvel displays images of the Bund drifting by for a maximum of 8 hours. Leave the DVDs alone for a while and enjoy the music of your choice (the clip features "Carbon Dating" by the Super Furry Animals) as you try to understand why on earth the Pinyin is written from right-to-left. more ›

It’s cold, it’s wet. It’s the perfect time to catch up with the overseas movie scene. Coincidentally, it’s Oscar season and a whole slew of ‘good’ films are just appearing in the shops here. A widely heralded good year for quality films (2007) has come face to face with the WGA writer’s strike, now into its third month in Hollywood. The Golden Globes were reduced to an hour long press conference announcing the winners. If the strike over future royalty rates on downloaded films isn’t resolved soon then the Oscars are next. The big stars are already resigned to making the most of the British Baftas. more ›

If you have friends and family from overseas who are planning to visit for the Olympics, you may for their own sake want to subject them to a friendly frisk before they board their homeward flight. According to reports picked up on by Shanghai Scrap, the World Customs Organization is going to leave no stuffed panda unturned in its fight against counterfeit Olympic goods. The head of the WCO, Christophe Zimmerman, seems to be out for scalps, saying that: "Even if you are found with the smallest item, even just one item, you will face at least a fine. Of course, if you stock up then it will be more serious." more ›

Southeast Asian pact exposes rifts [NY Times] Southeast Asian leaders signed a charter here today that was drafted as a watershed document to bind the region together as a European-style economic community but has instead exposed the sharp divisions over Myanmar and other issues among the signatories.Malaysia busts DVD lab in its biggest raid in 2007 [Reuters] Malaysia has raided a laboratory capable of churning out $52 million worth of pirated DVDs a year in... more ›

If, like us, you're stuck in Shanghai over the National Day holiday (hey, somebody's gotta give everyone else stuck in town something to read and entertain themselves with, right?), we suggest you stay right at home. Because if you haven't been around during any Golden Week, you won't know what a nightmare it is going to be out there. more ›

Hollywood is a new DVD shop just a few doors away from Oscars (nee Ka De Club) in Taikang Lu. This new DVD emporium stocks an amazing range of new and old American, Chinese and international titles. It is very similar to its neighbour, but with more choice and better merchandising. All of the films are boxed in hardcases on tall shelves along wide aisles. Hollywood is spacious and the layout makes it almost possible to find what you want. One day they may even get round to filing titles into alphabetical order, grouping them by genre. more ›

So a writer from The Gazette, a popular Montreal newspaper, was in China recently. And he was awed by the same things that most writers who haven't been to China recently are awed by: the shiny skyscrapers, the intoxicating energy, the pirated DVDs. But the writer's trip to China also coincided with the "most exciting Quebec election in decades," and he desperately wanted to follow the news from back home. And thanks to this thing called "the internet" he was able to ... in Beijing. In Shanghai, he claims, it was a different story. Here is a snippet from the story, entitled "Don't try reading The Gazette online in fashionable, ultra-modern Shanghai": more ›

Are we ethically conflicted but entertainment starved residents about to see a yet another assault on our beloved, pirated copyright-challenged DVDs? According to Yahoo (quoting Xinhua, but we couldn't find it anywhere on their website), the Supreme People's Court decided yesterday to widen their net in their attempts to curb this country's rampant movie and music piracy: more ›

Sure, your wife/husband/partner might slap you, but assure them that this is not a fanciful excuse, because it could really happen to you. more ›

Last August you might have read Howard French's New York Times article on Chinese subtitle teams, which explains who these seemingly anonymous people, who offer Chinese viewers timely, subtitled versions of popular TV shows such as "Desperate Housewives," "Prison Break," and "Lost." The NYT article got a lot of attention from Chinese netizens as well as the media, for example in this recent Chinese article delves further into this subject and works as a good follow-up to French's article. more ›

The China premiere of The Painted Veil last night at Shanghai Museum* had a red carpet and champagne (and prom decorations), but it didn't have Naomi Watts or Ed Norton, the film's two stars. Curiously, Norton was in Beijing on Friday for a Painted Veil press conference — why not have the main press conference and the premiere in the same city? Some of the Chinese stars of the film were in attendance, including familiar face Anthony Wong (黄秋生), who for some reason thought it would be a good idea to tuck his blue jeans into his cowboy boots (unfortunately, we haven't found a photo of that). more ›

From China Car Times, a blog all about the Chinese car industry: more ›

We're sure there are other members only bars in Shanghai, but they would actually require memberships for you to enter. Not Southern Cross, at 1276 Huaihai Zhong Lu, not too far from Huating Lu and across the street from the No. 2 entrance for the Changshu Lu metro stop. The sign outside says "Member's Bar" and the door is locked. But all you need to do is knock on the door and pay 50 kuai to become a "member" for the evening. Here's what their photocopied "Membership Table" says: more ›

Carrying our (fake) LV bag, slung as an afterthought over our arm sporting a (fake) diamond-encrusted Rolex, on our way to load up on the latest in (fake) DVDs at the neighbourhood store, Shanghaiist wonders why any country would not resort to the levels of rampant piracy that afford us such (fake) decadence. But intellectual property rights (IPR) have their merits, we suppose ... if they didn't, why the big push by economists and government officials to step up IPR protection in developing economies? more ›

But back to Bing Feng Tea House: The blogger answers his question this way: more ›

Shanghaiist decided to have a look at the Annual Adult Care Expo (or "Sexpo" as many call it). Located at the International Exposition center on Xingyi Lu, with a 30 RMB admission fee, the Expo features just about everything related to sex. Much of this was toys -- fancy dildoes and vibrators. As it was last year, there were several exotic toys that take the brain and physical work out of thrusting a piece of plastic into yourself, leaving you to simply lean back and enjoy the ride. more ›

Photo by the shanghaieye taken from the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site. more ›

With the release of its first joint-venture film in China, Warner Bros. is taking an aggressive and (we believe) unique approach in trying to minimize the effect piracy has on the release. Could it actually be working? more ›

The LA Times reports that China is going to "clean up" karaoke establishments by using a unified system that controls what songs are available to sing. The system is going on trial in three cities first: more ›

"My father loved the film. He was born in the house in 1936 and my parents lived with my grandparents but, according to the party, my grandfather was a capitalist, so his room, and art, was confiscated during the Cultural Revolution," said Shu. more ›

For our recent trip to the US, we decided to check out American Airlines' nonstop service from Shanghai to Chicago, which they launched in April. Since moving here in 2002, we have primarily used Northwest Airlines' Shanghai-Tokyo-New York route, save for a couple legs on JAL and Air Canada, whose website is embarrassingly incompatible with Safari. American is now our airline of choice for flying home. Here are some notes on our travel experience: more ›

Shanghaiist doesn't drink much (okay, the occasional snifter of brandy at Christmas), and we don't keep a lot of progressive trance on our iPod (none, in fact), but we've enjoyed enough nights on the tiles in Shanghai to speak with some confidence about the different clusters of clubs and bars in this city. more ›

We're not sure if the cops just really wanted a cup of coffee or if there is some new law that prohibits fake DVDs being sold at ridiculously expensive prices. We are a little late in getting to this -- we were enjoying the nice weekend weather -- but it was reported over the weekend that authorities in Changning District fined two "coffee clubs" on Wednesday for selling pirated DVDs: more ›

The last time Shanghaiist was in the Bund Sightseeting Tunnel -- way back in 2002 -- we didn't get a chance to peruse the Sex Culture and Education Exhibition that is currently housed there. Needless to say, had we known about it at the time, we would have checked it out ... and probably gone back a couple of more times, just to really absord all of the sexually explicit content information. more ›

Good ol' Micah, who hasn't posted on Shanghaiist for quite some time, is busy working on a translation of the above titled essay. Here's how it begins: more ›

They can close down Xiangyang Market if they want to, Shanghai is still going to be the world capital for fakes. We've got the obvious ones: bags, shoes, watches, DVDs, CDs and the like. But we've also got fake maps, fake Starbucks and, yes, even fake eggs. And now Sinosplice shows us fake oranges. Well, we imagine it's the sticker that is fake, not the orange. (It appears these "Nalencia"s have been around for a while. And, for those of you not familiar with American oranges, it should be "Valencia.") more ›

We're not sure how we didn't realize this until now, but the movie King Kong hit Shanghai theaters last weekend, and apparently it is doing quite well, earning US$371,747 in its first three days here. While near perfect King Kong DVDs are available on Shanghai's streets (thank God for Oscar screeners) Shanghaiist suggests this is a movie that should be watched on the big screen. And the theater will likely have the volume turned up so loud you can't hear all the mobile phones anyway. more ›

To truly appreciate the genius of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's The Office, all you have to do is watch an episode of the American version of the show, which Shanghaiist did for likely the final time last night. No comparison. While the original The Office only blessed us with about a dozen episodes, there are still things to be thankful for: those episodes are worth watching over and over and over again, Gervais and Merchant's Extras is now available on DVD (has it hit Shanghai yet?) -- and Gervais and Merchant have decided to give podcasting a try. Starting today, Guardian Unlimited will host The Ricky Gervais Show. A new episode will be available here every Monday for the next 12 weeks. Here's a description: more ›