Results tagged “frenchconcession”

Despite our eager anticipation of its summer arrival, we hadn't had a chance to review Southern Belle until now. Recently, we went with a 12-person birthday swarm to try out a bit of Southern hospitality in the French Concession - particularly the Southern hospitality that guarantees a ¥100 all-you-can-eat grilled chicken wings and jumbo beef-pork hotdogs until 11pm (tack another ¥100 for open bar).

      

A man with a kid on his shoulder is disappearing behind a gate leading to a narrow alley behind Julu lu. He is apparently heading towards The Studio, the art gallery and creative space which lies squeezed inside a maze of low brick houses. A couple of minutes later more parents show up, leading their children by the hand into this little bubble of art in the heart of the French Concession.

     

So how about that rain, huh? At around 1pm today, the heavens above Shanghai suddenly opened up and poured its heart out, not stopping in intensity for the next two hours. It seems to have slowed to a drizzle now (thankfully), but not before creating a brand new river for the city… right in the heart of the French Concession.

If you're planning on going out to the Hengshan Lu, French Concession area tonight, be forewarned - it seems like the cops down there have been cracking down on excessively drunk people, inside of cars and out. A tipster told us that he's seen as many as ten cops on the corners of Wulumuqi Lu and Yongjia Lu every night and a few more hanging around by Zapata's. Not only are they doing random drunk driving checks, they've also become much less forgiving of public displays of drunkenness and loitering. The breathalyzer testing has also been confirmed on Baoqing and Huaihai Lu. Perhaps they're afraid foreigners coming for the Expo will be disgusted by the sites of their drunken compatriots? P.S. No disrespect to the drunken laowai pictured, who very charitably and heroically chugged beer after beer at our July 4 party near where the cops are now patrolling.

We had a chat with R3 of S.T.D. Promotions (the people who brought us Ratatat in May) about his work on tonight's launch of Shanghai's newest bar and live music venue, Not Me. We also got to take a look around the place on Dongping Lu, and while it's not the biggest venue in town, it's definitely got potential for some great parties.

Party animals that we are, we were absolutely thrilled to find out that Shanghai was getting another live music venue. Not Me, a bar/lounge on Dongping Lu, will soon be hosting a score of Indie / Indie Electro / Electroclash / Dance Rock acts in the French Concession. But before we start rooting for Cut Copy or Friendly Fires to make their way over to (or at least get copious dance floor play in) Shanghai, there first must be a grand opening!

Recently, we stumbled upon an invite from fancy schmancy French Concession restaurant, Sasha’s, begging us take a (free!) sneak peek at their newly renovated dining room while sampling their upgraded menu. Without much thought, we blew off our happy hour dates and made reservations.

   

Anyone taking a stroll down Taojiang Lu towards Hengshan Lu is bound to spot the bright green shutters of 'The Cottage', a new coffee shop at number 25a.

Ever wanted to look at Shanghai through the lens of one of those older Sim City games? While we've discovered this 3D map of Shanghai before, James Fallows over at the Atlantic brought it to our attention again (it has been two years since we last swooned over it, after all) and we've re-realized how cool it is. It's called Edushi.com

This week's Adoptable Pet from Second Chance Animal Aid, Shanghaiist's favorite adopted animal charity.

It's almost as though Shanghai restaurateur Kelley Lee is reading our mind. First she opens Shanghai's best Mexican place, Cantina Agave, a short stroll from Shanghaiist headquarters (and she always has the flat screen tuned into classic NBA games). And now, we learn (from her) that she is opening a Boxing Cat Brewery almost next door to us. (If next Kelley takes over the Iranian consulate building and turns it into an art house movie theater, the wife may start to get suspicious.)

We pass this billboard (almost) every day, between Shanghaiist headquarters and the gym. For a long time it featured Barack Obama on the cover of the Chinese version of Men's Health. Recently a Twitter user named Shaquille O'Neal has taken the president elect's place. It's an ad for Li Ning basketball shoes, Shaq's brand of choice for a couple years now. (You might remember the real Li Ning from such Olympic opening ceremonies as Beijing 2008.)

You never forget your first, and for many people in Shanghai that first (bar) was probably Face on Ruijin Lu. Sadly though, Face's 10 years on the scene are numbered. You have until December 14th to say goodbye. (Thanks to SmartShanghai for the sad news).

                               

Got photos of this morning's storm or the flooding that followed it that you'd like to share? Email them to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically show up on our Contribute Page. Flickr users, simply tag your photos "shanghaiist".

"I don’t know what La Bella’s space will become afterwards—surely it will still be some kind of French Concession-esque bar/cafe where young urban hipsters and professionals hang out. Whether or not that sense of community will transfer or can be quickly rebuilt is another matter entirely." We wish Isabella all the best. [Source]

Set back from the junction of XinLe Lu and XiangYang Lu, opposite a blue-domed Russian Orthodox Church stands the Mansion Hotel.

By Wm Patrick Cranley

This Italian delicatessen in the Old French Concession (Yongfu Rd) has been opened for a few months now, and manageress Alessia Vettore will not hesitate to open bottles and unpack fresh Italian cheese to seduce your palate. Even if supplies come in small quantities, the tiny place offers a wide range of “choice-quality traditional Italian products, including Modena balsamic vinegar, wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, dressings, pasta, ready-to-serve sauces and creamy savouring toppings, wines, cheeses, cold cuts and confectionery.” Although a bit pricey (the cheapest – albeit delicious – wine is 175 RMB), this shop could satisfy a few food cravings, and it’s only a stone’s throw from LaBella Café and Yongfoo Elite restaurant.

Just off the northern edge of Fuxing Park, this unusual building was the original French Club (le Cercle Francais Sportif) circa 1904. Later it was moved what is now the Okura Garden Hotel (and much later moved to Cafe Montmartre). For a while this was the French Concession's most prestigious public high school, Le College Francais. You can still see the monogram 'CFS' cast into the wrought-iron railing of the main staircase. There's also some excellent stained-glass in the lobby, which we would have photographed if the security guard wasn't an ass doing his job.

The Shanghaiist Weather Center is 100 percent sure the answer will be yes (although is Shanghai Circuit really in Shanghai?). It's dry now in the French Concession, but the dark clouds above suggest it won't stay that way for long. Here's the latest weather update from the official Formula 1 website: Thus far Sunday has been dry with a little wind, but no sign of the edge of Typhoon Krosa, which is sweeping through the...

One of the great things about living in China is the relatively low cost of courier services which means you can get just about anything delivered at next to nothing at all. China Herald informs us that now, you can even get fresh Yunnan coffee delivered to your house, for FREE (if you live within the French Concession and the Jing'an area, that is, or if you order over 100RMB). Otherwise, you pay just RMB10 if you live in Puxi and RMB15 if you're in Pudong. Very reasonable!

Thank God it's Friday, and it's two and a half hours left to the Shanghaiist Happy Hour! Come alone, or with friends, colleagues or dates! Come right after work, or come late!

Twenty-six hours until the next Shanghaiist Happy Hour ... and we've got our work cut out for us. We have to sort through more than 12 hours of Beatles covers songs — an amount that is illegal in most countries. Thanks to our readers (and BitTorrent) we have unearthed some gems, though, and you can see the entire list as it stands today after the jump (believe it or not, we still hove some downloads cooking). We have no covers of the Beatles song "Rain", which is good because weather.com is calling for clear skies by tomorrow evening (fingers crossed).

We ask because for our June 15 Happy Hour at Abbey Road we are piecing together a playlist made up of all Beatles songs sung by other people. Personally, we are partial to just about anything by Elliott Smith, but we know there are many, many options out there — the Beatles are the most covered band in music history (or so we read somewhere).

Where: Abbey Road, 45 Yueyang Lu, near Dongping Lu, in the former French Concession. Tel: 6431-6787

In a former blogging life we crowned Vegetarian Lifestyle the best vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai. That may very well still be true — we just got an email from a vegetarian who agreed with our assessment — but we don't go there much anymore since we moved from the neighborhood ... and because we discovered a new vegetarian place right around the corner from our new apartment. Call us lazy, call us fickle — or better yet, call us French Concession loyalists.

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.

Today we came across The New York Times' latest installment of its "Frugal Traveler" series , and this time Matt Gross writes about our fair city of Shanghai. We will preface this post by saying it is an interesting and generally well-informed guide to spending a weekend in China, with good recommendations, although not much "off the beaten path." But, Shanghaiist wonders, does The New York Times know the meaning of the word "frugal?"

That’s right, Shanghai’s No. 1 fag hag ran into a sleuth of bears or "pandas”, as they prefer to call themselves, right in the heart of the French Concession. As Shanghaiist has previously mentioned, the city has its very own bear bar, Bobo. (See here for updated address.) Located in the basement of a swanky apartment complex, fortunately or unfortunately, the small drinking establishment was not filled with wild, gigantic, hirsute men as in Shanghaiist’s vivid imagination.