We knew that some of the foreign Chinese-language students here were shady - but who knew they were actually being recruited as spies... for the Chinese government... against the United States?! A 28-year-old Michigan man named Glen Duffie Shriver admitted that he was recruited by the Chinese for spy work while studying at East China Normal University right here in Shanghai. more ›

• Jinjiafang might look like a typical Old Town lane, but its dilapidated courtyards harbor a scandalous history. [CNNGo]
• Oh boy, what's with the New York Times focus on Shanghai recently? First it listed out our blogs, and now its delving deep into our history - particularly how political intrigue here helped shape the country. [New York Times]
• Almost 10,000 journalists have applied to cover the World Expo here, including about "2,000 journalists from overseas media outlets." Wait, does that mean there's 8,000 journalists coming just from inside of China? That sounds dubious. [People's Daily]

Shanghaiist was scanning the Shanghai Morning Post and decided, after reading just the main headlines, that we could indeed spare the seven jiao needed to purchase this paper. On the top left hand corner we noticed an ad for 嗨！ 上海 (最 HIGH 的 上海生活门户） which translates to "Hi! Shanghai (the most HIGH Shanghai lifestyle portal)". What we found there was a cookie-cutter portal which tries to be everything for everyone. more ›

Now that our personals site is up and running, we have once again been reminded just how many hot chicks women this fine city of ours has to offer (single or otherwise), and getting in shape has skyrocketed on this Shanghaiist's to-do list -- just below finally getting around to watch Lost. With our new found enthusiasm for anything workout related, this article , “Shanghai’s top 5 jog spots”, in the latest issue of City Weekend piqued our interest. more ›

The Virtual Shanghai project is backed by a team of experts from Institut d'Asie Orientale and the Institut des Sciences de l'Homme in Lyon, France, East China Normal University, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and University of California, Berkeley Center for Chinese Studies Library. Here's how they describe the project on the site: more ›

Bloomberg reports that Focus Media -- responsible for many of the flat LCD screens airing ads throughout the city -- has plans to turn parts of Shanghai into Times Square. Actually, not just Shanghai. Focus Media will "install giant screens of light-emitting diodes in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou." The first such illuminated advertising wall, 16 stories tall, appeared in Shanghai in 2003 on the Aurora Building, a skyscraper that appears in many a Pudong skyline photo. Focus Media's LED screens wouldn't be 16 stories, but they would be huge -- 500 square meters, costing 50,000 RMB per square meter. more ›

Did you know that the epithet "jerk" -- as in That motherf#%kin "jerk" riding his motorbike on the sidewalk nearly took my arm off -- actually comes from "jerk off", as in wacking, wanking ... you get the picture. Now we know why onanism has gotten such a bad rap these last couple of decades centuries. Wondering where Shanghaiist comes up with such pearls of wisdom? Don't worry, it's not innate, you too can learn factoids such as this from the official website of Shere Hite, the famous scholar of sexuality and author of the landmark Hite Report on Female Sexuality, which came out in 1976 and kicked a lot of ideological ass, from what we gather. Shere Hite is not your typical academician, she's been on a mission to delve farther into human sexuality than most people are either capable of or comfortable doing. more ›