Yikes! And in other disaster news, the European Space Agency revealed that a catastrophe of Hollywood summer blockbuster proportions was averted in October, when the German satellite ROSAT could have potentially landed in Beijing on its re-entry. more ›

Here at Shanghaiist, our intrigue with Thames Town, the British-themed residential area in Songjiang district, goes all the way back to 2006. But we haven't really been doing justice to the German Town located in Anting, 30 kilometres away from the city centre. Well, as it turns out, "Little Germany" isn't doing any better than its better known sibling. Yang Xifan of Der Spiegel has made a trip to the town, where she speaks to "Yu X", a real estate agent in the neighbourhood (who has a lot of time on her hands these days), as well as architect Johannes Dell, from Albert Speer & Partner, the firm that was hired to design the district. more ›

In an interview with German magazine Spiegel, China's vice minister of foreign affairs, Fu Ying (傅莹), used the word "conceited" -- not once, but thrice -- in referring to the West's dealings with China: more ›

Yo dude. I saw that thing you weib'd the other day. What was that about 'let's shave the characters for "Justice" into our back hair and walk around naked down Nanjing Road'? Yeah, that wasn't a good idea, broseph. They're going to find you now - better move to Berlin! I hear they have great medical care and they're not that into non-Germans, but I think they'll make an exception if you have art/literary festival street cred. They're way chill dude, and everyone cool is moving there! more ›

According to unconfirmed reports now widely circulating on Sina Weibo, Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, has been trying, but failing, to get in touch with the office of Xiamen Vice Mayor Zang Jiebin (臧杰斌) who claimed recently that Germany's commonfolk "have a very hard time accessing the Internet" and that Germany's control of the internet exceeds that of China's. more ›

"The commonfolk in Germany have a very hard time accessing the Internet. Not only do they have to jump through hoops to get approval, it's also very expensive. In the West, there is a great focus on ideological mangement, and they go way further than we do in their control of the Internet. Therefore, we can say that our country is very civilised, very democratic, and everybody should feel very fortunate." more ›

"I’m excited about political developments in China, and looking forward to a Jasmine Revolution. I am quite sure that Hu Jintao may be a refugee some day, but not Liao Yiwu." more ›

The freight rail across Eurasia officially launched on Thursday night, with a cargo train leaving on its journey from Chongqing to Duisburg, Germany, filled with laptops and LCD screens scheduled to arrive in Europe two weeks after leaving China. more ›

In case you're like us and didn't believe that China would one day be bested by India for Heavyweight Population Champion of the World, this news graphic should put us doubters to rest. Then again, perhaps part of the disbelief stemmed from the difficulty of conceptualizing such a shifting of population rank, which we now understand to be a large circle becoming only a somewhat larger circle, with another circle usurping the other circle's diameter through a more substantial magical future expansion. more ›

Critics are not welcome in China, it seems. German publication Der Spiegel reports that sinology expert Tilman Spengler has been refused a passport by Chinese authorities because he is "not a friend of the Chinese people". He was to have accompanied German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on a trip to Beijing where an art exhibition "Kunst der Aufklärung" (Art of the Enlightenment) opens today. more ›

Parade float spotted at a carnival in Germany by Racialicious: "Obama and Hu are depicted in bed together, with Obama handing Hu cash- a remark on the tremendous loan debt America owes China. Note how Hu, dressed in yellow, is depicted as wearing a yellow stereotypical “coolie” hat."
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It overtook Germany in 2009, and now China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. Yi Gang, China's chief currency regulator, mentioned the milestone in an interview with China Reform Magazine on Friday. Of course, Japan's individuals are overall much wealthier - China's per capita income has risen gradually, but is still but a fraction of both Japan and Germany's. But with 4 to 20 times the amount of people as anywhere else, any small increment helps propel the entire country up to the top spot - depending on how fast the exchange rate rises, China could leapfrog past the U.S. in 2025. more ›

It seems as though the mammoth queues to get into the Expo pavilions are taking their toll on some visitors. Upon trying to muscle their way into the German pavilion, a handful of Chinese visitors resorted to yelling 'na cui, na cui' (Nazi) at pavilion staff. Unbelievable:

The Chinese visitors at the world fair have repeatedly tried to muscle their way into Germany’s €50-million exhibition structure after hours of standing in line, causing the Germans to send a letter of protest to expo organisers demanding additional security, daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday. more ›

If you´ve missed the first four films of The German Consulate´s month-long Fatih Akin Retrospective there are still two more flicks to go, this coming Friday, and the next. One musical documentary and one thought-provoking culture crossing drama. Fatih Akin is a Turkish-German director with a series of successful and award winning movies behind him, such as Im Juli (In July, 2000) the Golden Bear-awarded Gegen die Wand (Head-On, 2004) as well as last year´s New York, I Love You. more ›

Though it was inevitably bound to happen, China officially surpassed Germany as the world's largest exporter by actually increasing their exports for the first time in fourteen months, which is no small feat in the beleaguered global economy. China's ascension to the top of the global supply chain came after official statistics were released for December: impressively, China managed to increase their exports by over 17% since this time last year. And while we can't imagine ever doubting the government's statistics, we have to wonder: with all this economic turmoil, exactly who's buying all these new goods? more ›

Saving face will be the goal of China's much-maligned international football team as it hosts Germany in a friendly international football tomorrow evening at Shanghai Stadium. more ›

Ever heard of Ghost rock? We hadn't either until Berlin-based outfit Mio Myo stepped into town. The four person group, consisting of Uwe Eger, Thomas Authenried, Benni Pollach, and Michael Angerer, first formed in mid-2005, and have been making their mix of electro, guitar-based indie and pop sounds ever since. more ›

The Brits are trying to pretend it isn't happening, and the Americans didn't realise it was in the first place, but Euro2008 is now fully underway. more ›

TechCrunch called it "the only legitimate iPhone knockoff" but it looks like the day of reckoning has come for the Chinese copycat manufacturer! German police have shut down the Meizu booth at CeBIT, the technology uber-fair. From Engadget.com:

Remember how the folks at the Meizu booth swore up and down that the M8 Mini One wasn't that similar to the iPhone? Well apparently the Hanover police think otherwise. According to a report, the booth (shown above in its vacated state) was shut down by cops for piracy during CeBIT and passersby were told that, "The venue is closed until further notice." It appears that after stopping down the M8 show, cops proceeded to confiscate equipment and literature associated with the painfully obvious knock-off, and will be making a more detailed statement on Thursday in regards to the action. Meizu, it might be time to get yourself a makeover... and a good attorney.

Honestly, when China threw a shitfit after German chancellor Merkel met the Dalai Lama, we really didn't give a hoot, in part because we've given up on seeing our dream of Tibetan secession realized in our lifetimes. But one thing you might not have known is that this diplomatic contretemps spilled over to affect our fair city. There was supposed to be a week long symposium sponsored by Der Spiegel at the Duolun Museum... more ›