Did you know today is the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction? The UN designated it back in 1989 as a day to "promote a global culture of natural disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness." In this vein, Element Fresh has partnered with environmental organization Roots & Shoots so that for every smoothie sold today, Element Fresh will to donate one tree to The Million Tree Project. Every one of these trees planted helps offset China's greenhouse emissions and combats the desertification of grasslands in northern China. more ›

The That's Shanghai Food & Drink Award winners were released over the weekend, for all you foodies that are curious about what Shanghai likes. And what Shanghai likes, for the most part, is established chains - whether or not they are actually the "best" in their categories. Hey, don't get huffy with us. The guys at That's Shanghai thought the same thing. more ›

So after last night's festivities, City Weekend revealed the winners of its Readers' Choice Awards. Most of the entries weren't too surprising: Jean Georges won for best French in the city, Cantina Agave swept up Best Mexican and “Newcomer of the Year,” and Whisk was the crème of the crop for desserts. We were surprised, however, by Element Fresh's win for Best Wi-Fi. Really? While the Jinqiao location's wi-fi isn't bad (though nothing to write home about), the Portman-Ritz Carlton one only works on the second floor most of the time, and spottily at that. Oh well, we guess it was a hard to quantify category to begin with. Read who won what at the City Weekend site. more ›

Proving that our friends to the north have nuthin' on us when it comes to cuisine, places that had actually gotten their start in Shanghai were extraordinarily well represented at The Beijinger's 6th Annual Reader Restaurant Awards, presented a couple of days ago. more ›

The next time you are at Shanghai Centre Element Fresh, be sure to check out what's on the walls as you wait for your order to arrive. Shanghai-based Canadian artist Jeffery Robert Bleazard has donated six of his artworks to the Sichuan Earthquake Charity Art Auction organized by Element Fresh and the paintings will be on display at Shanghai Centre Element Fresh until June 8. more ›

Okay, it may be the case that we don't fly enough, but yesterday at the Hongqiao Airport, we were really surprised to see this Virgin bookstore at the departure hall (that Richard Branson has really acted fast, hasn't he?). Does anyone know how long the store has been there? Food and beverage options appear to have widened up quite a bit too. Element Fresh has been there since last summer, located just outside the exit (sorry, no picture there), serving decent food at the same rates as their outlets elsewhere in town. With the competition, travellers are finally getting food that can actually be eaten, and prices also seem to have come down a bit on the average. In the meanwhile, we think the retail experience at Pudong Airport continues to rot away with its portfolio of Chinglish brand apparel stores and cafés that get away with serving bad coffee for RMB50. What do you frequent flyers out there think? more ›

Shanghai's recent spate of shitty weather has gotten us hungry for soup. And when we say "soup," we generally mean the kind of soups we grew up eating during cold Pennsylvania winters. Chunky soups. Soups, to borrow a slogan, that eat like a meal. On a recent trip home, we dined a couple times at Panera Bread Company, which serves, among other things, hearty soups in sourdough bread bowls. We remember thinking Panera would be one of the American chain restaurants we'd like to see exported to China, instead of Applebee's or TGI Friday's. more ›

We have whined before about the dearth of decent restaurants in Shanghai's airports. Pudong travelers are still better off brown-bagging it, but it seems relief will soon be on the way for domestic travelers: Element Fresh is opening up shop at Hongqiao Airport. From their website: more ›

We love WiFi — Shanghaiists are sociable folk, and this Shanghaiist in particular has fallen into an easy Sunday routine of catching up on news and email with a cappu and sandwich at local cafés. We like having a “third space” — a local hangout where we can meet up with friends, have the occasional coffee, and wile away the hours. We’ve already mentioned a few recent faves, and celebrate the expansion of free internet across our city as evidence of an emerging café culture beyond the ubiquitous Starbucks. more ›

Just days after The New York Times gave us its take on budget travel in Shanghai, AskMen.com offers up its own tips for those without such limited funds. The concept here is interesting: what is a good way to spend US$10,000 in a weekend in Shanghai? And why not? According to writer Scott Mills: more ›

Shanghaiist has a new favorite bar in town, and it’s great. It’s stylish yet unpretentious, has great cocktails, and a killer view. It’s ... Glamour Bar?!? Who knew! Adjoining old Shanghai chestnut M on the Bund, Glamour was once a nice place to chill while waiting for a table, but was easily outshone by the flashy upstarts elsewhere on the Bund. more ›

Shanghaiist wants to like City Diner. We really do! The food, when it comes, is excellent—miles ahead of Moon River, and just like we would eat at home. The coffee, if it ever arrives, is perfect—just like we would get at our neighborhood café, and it even arrives with warm milk! But ... In the months since City Diner has opened, again and again, the service has been so slow, the managers so rude, and the staff so inept, that we will not go again without hours to spare and patience to give. Two examples: more ›

Photo by 2 dogs taken from the Shanghaiist photos page. To see your photos on our photos 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 ›

How does that Arcade Fire song go? "I woke up with the power out, not really something to shout about." Well, that is our theme song for the day. The power is out on a large chunk of Nanjing Xi Lu -- no street lights during the middle of the day on one of the city's busiest streets ... beautiful -- and we live on Nanjing Xi Lu. So our power is out. A sign in the window of Zara says power should be back on by 2 pm. Yes, businesses on one of the main shopping streets had to close for this. Doesn't seem like an accident, either. Looks more like a planned work day. Couldn't they have chosen a better time of day (or night) to do this work? Anyway, with no internet at home, we headed to Element Fresh for what we thought was free WiFi. But there they told us to get the "free" WiFi we had to buy some kind of Shanghai Center card. So now we are at Blue Frog on Tongren, where the internet is indeed free ... but a little bit dicey. Things may be quiet here for a little while. Sorry. more ›

In a stunning blow to the competition in this year's ATP Tennis Master's Cup in Shanghai, Rafael Nadal (left foot) and Andre Agassi (ankle) have withdrawn from play. more ›

If the internet itself is relentlessly unreliable when it comes to the dissemination of accurate information -- aside from Shanghaiist.com, of course -- then internet forums really take the cake. And recently we've witnessed plenty of unsubstantiated statements tossed about on Shanghai's plethora of online discussion boards like so many Double Happiness cigarette wrappers in the street. more ›