Xinhua: Foreign reporters enjoy greater freedom covering China's "two sessions":Andrew Kirillov, Beijing bureau chief of the Itar-Tass News Agency in Russia, appeared joyous when registering to cover China's upcoming "two sessions", not only because he was to witness the important political event again, but he would find it much easier to locate interviewees. "In the past, deputies to the National People's Congress were not easy to contact," recalled Kirillov, who first came to China in......

The environment Shanghai Daily: People's Square set to shine with solar power Xinhua: Chilling effect from Great Hall of the People China Daily: Shanghai running out of cemeteries New York Times: A Shanghai Hotel Goes Green China Digital Times: More Than Four in Five Chinese Glaciers Retreating - People Online China Digital Times: Deal With Global Warming: Try Not to Divorce - China Youth Daily Travel AFP: China produces first home-grown bullet train: report......

Looks like we spoke too soon. Just when we told you that Chinese media were getting the hang of the art of spin, look what we found in today's Shanghai Daily. Not one, but two pieces of pure, unadulterated propaganda that would make any Xinhua editor blush. Oh wait a minute, they actually came from Xinhua. The first piece, entitled Multi-party systems far from perfect in delivering stability to people, started off: SOME people say......

... and the rumor-mill is running in overdrive. Recent reports suggest that Shanghai Party Chief Xi Jinping's (习近平) recent entry into the race - apparently at senior leader Zeng Qinghong's (曾庆红) insistence - has shaken things up; forcing Hu Jintao to make some last-minute maneuvering. The Jiang Zemin and the Hu Jintao camps both want their own guy to take over the top-job in 2012, and each are doing their best to make it happen.......

Chairman Mao's wax doppelganger is probably turning over in its glass case. This Tuesday evening, April 3rd, at 9:30 p.m. local time, NASDAQ President and CEO Bob Greifeld, US Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt, along with representatives from NASDAQ listed Chinese companies will ring the opening bell remotely from … you guessed it …The Great Hall of the People. Meanwhile, back in the US, NASDAQ executives and PRC Consul General in New York Liu......

We received this message from a reader this morning: You may want to advise Shanghaiist readers to stay the hell away from Beijing the first week of November. It's going to be absolute chaos. For people who live in Beijing, they should hide. Why, you ask? Blame Africa. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing from Nov. 1-6, and 48 African countries are sending delegations to the event, including at least......

TIME magazine's advice: Learn Mandarin. Their subhead: "China's economic rise means the world has a new second language—and it isn't English." Hmmm. Really? We're all for learning Chinese -- our lesson starts in 30 minutes -- but would you really suggest someone who speaks neither English nor Chinese, choose Chinese as their second language? Obviously, the answer depends on the person and whether they, say, plan on doing business in China or something. But we......

In the scheme of enjoyable outings, Shanghaiist rates a night at the opera fairly high. Not as high as the time we saw Fugazi at Metropolis in Brisbane, but certainly higher than a night on the couch watching Average Joe. So it’s more than likely that we’ll be lining up for tickets to see the performance by famed Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who hits the Shanghai Grand Stage on December 6 as part of his......