Continuing a string of hits for Asian fashion, today the edgy V magazine published their 70th edition "and this landmark issue for V celebrates all things eastern, from the Heroes who continue to inspire us to the Muses who make the creative world turn." They've done an excellent job profiling some of the most intriguing stars in Chinese fashion, art, and entertainment. Aside from interviewing Gong Li and Nancy Kwan, two of the most recognizable Chinese screen sirens in film history, the mag dedicates pages to the rising models of China’s Longteng agency and the established catwalkers: Liu Wen who was the first-ever Asian Victoria's Secret's runway model, Shu Pei, face of Vera Wang, and Sun Feifei the up and coming "it" model. Sir David Tang of Shanghai Tang has a chat with Kate Moss, Diane Von Furstenberg and Dolce and Gabbana talk about their trips to China. "Vanishing" artist Liu Bolin and the imprisoned Ai Weiwei also make cameos. more ›

Recently, the Chinese internet went abuzz with an allegedly smuggled video (watch after the jump) showing one not particularly famous singer, Ma Ruila (马睿菈) prostituting herself. While it's probably nothing new that some small-time acts earn money on the side doing titilatting work, Ma also managed to allege that A-listers could be bought as well, including a "Bingbing" who would totally do you for the low price of 500,000rmb. more ›

Zhang Xin embodies the tagline of the recently released Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Besides being one of China’s lady billionaires, CEO of Soho China, ex-Goldman Sachs employee and mother of two, she can now add Hollywood movie star to the list. Ok, ok, let’s not get ahead of ourselves - but she does have a short cameo in the film starring Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf. Her character represents an unnamed Chinese company that the fictional Goldman character refers to as “Chinese money.” more ›

The latest rumor is that Gong Li, who split with her Singaporean hubby, is now dating her co-star in her most recent movie, Shanghai. That's right, John Cusack has once again gotten the girl. more ›

Gong Li, who was only just seen in Shanghai promoting her movie of the same name, has allegedly split up with her Singaporean husband, Ooi Hoe Seong, according to The Straits Times. more ›

It took years to finally get distributed and became one of the few Hollywood films to not be premiered in the U.S. first. Perhaps because of that, reviews of Weinstein-backed Shanghai are somewhat hard to find. Still, a few sites and newspapers have taken it upon themselves to chat about the film, so here's the buzz! more ›

U.S.-based ladmag Complex has compiled a list of what they consider the Nine Hottest Chinese Women. While we're not ones to argue whether the women compiled in the list are actually hot, we were a little surprised by some of the inclusions (Christy who?). We were also a little bemused by how many pictures involved the women getting sprayed with liquids. Apparently Asia is one giant wet t-shirt contest. more ›

"If there's a camel up a hill, then it's Gong Li with me, when I doooo, when I doooo... " more ›

Actress Gong Li (巩俐) appeared recently as glamorous as ever in Beijing for a L'Oreal event in what was likely her first public appearance in China since she took on Singaporean citizenship. At a press conference she revealed that she's been receiving lots of offers from Hollywood lately, and when asked if she had any plans to return to Chinese cinema, she said, "I've always had, I've always had." But when the question moved on to her citizenship, Gong Li promptly turned around, spoke to her minders and made a quick exit. more ›

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This sounds like a joke, but it's absolutely true. more ›

Shanghaiist spotted John Cusack at Bar Rouge on Friday. Ensconced in the bathroom-sized VIP room on the club's terrace and guarded by a bevy of beefy bodyguards, Cusack was playing with his phone and appeared both tired and bored (who recommended BR anyway?). Doing the rounds of Shanghai nightspots, he was spotted at MAO the night before until the wee hours. more ›

Shanghaiist has a soft spot for John Cusack, and an even softer spot for Gong Li ( despite what those eejuts at CCTV might think), so we were mildly excited to read that the two are pairing up to film in Shanghai at some point next year. Okay, the odds of bumping into Ms Gong in our local Lian Hua may be slim, but as the movie is set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai just before Pearl... more ›

Photo by Shanghai Sky taken from the Shanghaiist Contribute page. more ›

A CCTV.com 'report' entitled "Uniqueness of 10 hot female stars in China" was recently brought to our attention. It had us laughing out loud (but it also might help explain why China has a soaring suicide rate among females). Below, you will find the entire text of the in-depth story. For the accompanying photos, you can click on the link above. more ›

This service, located at ditu.google.cn, has replaced Google Local, which was at bendi.google.cn. First off, there's a couple of big differences between this and Google Maps for the US. You can't use satellite or hybrid mode in the Chinese version. If you want a satellite you have to go back to using Google Earth or other such sites, and of course it's hard to find your way there because all you see are blotches of rooftops. Ditu.google.cn just has the regular graphics. more ›

We pretty much knew, even before we stepped into the theater, how this film was going to play out among the critics: more ›

It may be the pariah for self-respecting filmmakers (and film buffs) everywhere, but if it’s true that there’s no business like show business, then, the Oscars are anything but irrelevant. Case in point: The recent announcement that China will have not one, but two of its own submitted for consideration in the crapshoot otherwise known as the Best Foreign Film category. Of course, it never hurts when you’re able to find a loophole in the system. For all intents and purposes, the would-be blockbuster The Banquet should be represented by the mainland -- it features one of China’s most beloved (and commercially successful) auteurs in Feng Xiaogang, while starring Chinese megastars Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun. So how come it ended up as Hong Kong’s submission? Well, the catch is that The Banquet is a Hong Kong-China co-production, which means those of you who were pulling hard for Johnnie To backed the wrong horse. more ›

It may seem that we just can't get enough of blowjob jokes, but the Shanghai Daily's headlines are just too doggone funny. more ›

Probably not the best word choice by Xinhua for their headline, but they do list the highest-paid Chinese actresses, based on annual salary (they say their source was cfi.net.cn). Here's the list (figures in USD): more ›

The movie opens July 28 (July 27 in Puerto Rico) but doesn't appear to have a China date, and we highly doubt it ever will (it opens in Japan on September 23). We don't usually like the big summer blockbusters, but we have to admit that we are kind of looking forward to this one. We used to watch Miami Vice religiously on TV -- box sets of which are available at many a friendly neighborhood DVD store in Shanghai. Back in the '80s, we owned the show's soundtrack and even remember admitting to liking Phil Collins and not getting laughed at. We were very happy to know that Michael Mann, the creator of the original Miami Vice would be responsible for the movie version and not someone whose name begins with a "bruck" and ends in a "heimer." more ›

Photo from Getty Images via The Scotsman. more ›

• Shanghai's luxury hotels took a hit during the Chinese New Year period, and in order to recuperate some of their losses, cut their prices in late January by as much as 50-70 percent. For example, the Sheraton went down from 1600 yuan a night to 728 yuan a night, and the Portman's prices fell from 3000 yuan to just 800 yuan.
• Taobao, one of China's main online auction and shopping sites, is no longer permitting the sale of "original flavor underwear" (原味内衣), i.e. used or worn underwear. According to the reports most of the people selling these items were of the female persuasion, and the prices were generall 20-40 yuan, though some choice items topped the 100 yuan mark.
• Go here for some pictures of graffiti art in Beijing. Some of it ain't bad, artistically speaking, but is probably not good for the building of a harmonious society.

While the New York Times says Memoirs of a Geisha is still "awaiting approval" by China's censors and that "[g]overnment officials have denied considering a ban," at least one site -- Ireland On-line, of all places -- is reporting that a ban has indeed been put in place: more ›

Shanghaiist hates to be the bearer of bad news, but that Valentine's Day plan day you had to watch Memoirs of a Geisha and then have kinky sex afterwards will now have to be canceled. Well, at least the movie part, because it looks like Mommy and Daddy aren't sure if Memoirs is suitable for you. According to this article (in Chinese), the movie got snagged up somewhere in the reviewing process because of potentially sensitive content. It was originally supposed to be screened during the Valentine's Day period, but it looks like you're going to have to get a DVD copy quick, and supposedly they're going like hotcakes. The Globe and Mail had this to say a couple of days ago: more ›

Well, she does in the movies at least. And that may be why we will have to wait a little while to see Miss Zhang and fellow Zhang-Yimou-triumph Gong Li play Japanese women in Memoirs of a Geisha here in Shanghai. The film, directed by Chicago's Rob Marshall, is set to be released as a PG-13 film in the United States in December, just in time for an Oscar push. But the movie's China release date could be pushed back from January 9 to February 10, so Chinese men with scissors have time to cut out a sex scene. One month! That must be one hell of a sex scene. more ›