As stipulated by the Shanghai government, employers must now pay their sweaty, toiling laborers a monthly subsidy of 200RMB when requiring them to work outside in temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius, or inside in temperatures over 33 degrees. It's all part of a big push to protect workers from the heat and reduce incidences of heatstroke. Sounds like a good policy. Only problem is, the workers will probably never know about it. more ›

Because if there is anything Shanghai residents need, it's more pampering: "...if passengers are unhappy with a train's temperature, they can speak to the driver through the emergency intercom system. Alternately, they can dial the complaint hotline, 6437000 or advise Metro workers at stations. The air-conditioning temperature setting is based on what is considered comfortable, but passengers may feel cold or hot, depending on how full trains are. Though the temperature has been set when a train leaves the terminal, drivers now can adjust the temperature according to passengers' needs, said Shentong Group. The new system is on all lines except Line 1, where the air-conditioning system is too old to be upgraded." [Shanghai Daily] Wow, Shanghai metro, you are opening an entirely unnecessary can of worms. I can only imagine the abuse those emergency intercoms will be seeing in the coming months. more ›

As if the 38C all-around Shanghai temperature mark wasn't high enough, apparently it's actually much, much hotter than that. Thanks to the heat island effect of all that concrete, temperatures at areas like the Bund (or heck, probably right outside your apartment) are really registering at around 45C (113F!!)! So for those of you unfortunate enough to walk around in areas with little shade this week, remember to always bring water with you and watch out for heatstroke. more ›

Not that you needed a color code to tell you it was damn hot outside, but the Shanghai Meterological office has now officially issued an Orange Alert on the weather, which is at a warm 30C now but is expected to rise, yet again to a highly uncomfortable 38C during the day. The last time temperatures reached Code Orange level was actually at the beginning of last month. Need ideas on how to keep cool (besides cranking the AC), check out this link. more ›

If you've found yourself commenting to your friends, family, or coworkers on the prolonged warm weather, you probably wouldn't be surprised to know that Shanghai's summers are actually getting longer by the year. A lot longer, in fact. Shanghai Daily reports that since 1970, the length of summer has increased by 50%, from a measly 100 days back then to a whopping average of 150+ days a year. So if you crunch the numbers, that means summer takes up more than 40% of the year. more ›

It's been a scorcher of a week and those little AC units are working on overtime. So much so, that it threatens to plunge us all into darkness. Okay, maybe the situation hasn't gotten that melodramatic, but according to Xinhua News we used a whopping 22.43 million kilowatts yesterday afternoon, or roughly one kilowatt per person (shame on you if you used two). more ›

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute 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 (and here). more ›

It's that time of the year again — temperatures are creeping up, and we spotted our first shirtless market stall holder at the weekend; summer is just around the corner. more ›

If you haven't noticed (perhaps you are a human ice cube?) it's hot out. Really hot. Today's forecast features a 36C high, which is 97F to the Americans in the audience, plus another 10-13 degrees for the heat index. Yesterday the mercury hit 39.6C, making it the hottest Shanghai day in 63 years. more ›

Photo by Anton Berkovich. more ›

The above slideshow contains 51 party photos, all but four of which were taken by Peijin, who got glammed up for the occasion (we're assuming it was for the occasion). He's not the only one who got into the spirit of me-decade decadence: There was Ann, whose pink leggings earned her three tickets to Saturday's White Heat Party at the Dynamic Crystal Yacht Club; Tom, whose Rick Ocasek look was good enough to win some sexy men's underwear from MANifesto; and finally, Laura, from Manchester, England, whose Cyndi-Lauper-inspired outfit was impressive -- but, honestly, we awarded her the bottle of Solid XS Vodka, donated by Freelance, mostly because we got the feeling she would beat us up if we didn't. (And ladies, before you send us angry emails, Shamus was ineligible for all awards because he is a Shanghaiist contributor.) more ›

As much as we hate to start out on a bad note -- and breaking our own rule of dissuading musicians in this town to “find themselves” -- we do feel the need to ask a big, big favor for Screeching Stripy Siren and Mr. Bongos who graced the open-mic stage at Tanghui on Wednesday evening: more ›

The prize package for best 80s outfit at our Happy Hour this Friday sure is heating up. In addition to a bottle of Solid XS Vodka donated by our host Freelance Bar & Grill, the lucky winner will also get two items kindly donated by the self-described "sexiest menswear store in Shanghai" -- MANifesto. (We will force the winner to take a couple Shanghaiist T-shirts off our hands, as well.) more ›

Outspoken (and slightly above average) Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones made history this week, becoming the first active American NBA player to sign an endorsement deal with a Chinese sports apparel brand. Li Ning, one of China's leading sports brands, signed Jones to a two-year deal, details of which were not disclosed. Jones has worn Li Ning's "Feijia" sneakers for most of this season. more ›