Et tu, Hengshan Lu? In a follow up from yesterday’s post about the end of the sketchy Tongren Lu era, rumors are now spreading that the bars along Hengshan Lu are also on their way out. City officials argue that business along the street has been declining as upscale bars and clubs like those of Xintiandi take off, justifying the need to change things up. more ›

A classic Hengshan Lu tale from Louis Lei Yu, Chinese-born DJ at CFUV 101.9 FM, radio station at Canada's University of Victoria: "[T]his is my bitter experience at the cold fairyland NYE show. So I saw cold Fairyland on NYE, I looked on the Internet and saw that they are playing and I thought 'oh cool, at lease I get to see one decent Chinese indie band during my trip to China.' This turned out to be one of the worst concerts I’ve ever saw, and not because of the band at all…" Read on at China Music Radar. more ›

A couple updates about tomorrow night's gathering at Sasha's. First, we forgot to mention the wines that will be included in the half-price drink special. They are: Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc and Wolf Blass Eagle Hawk Shiraz/Cab/Merlot. Second, lots of people have asked¹ for more information about the music that will be played at the Happy Hour, so we have included a list of artists featured on the playlist under "Music" below. more ›

You are all invited to join us Thursday night at Sasha's for the first Shanghaiist Happy Hour in a long, long time (nine months, to be exact). We think we have come up with a plan to avoid a similarly long gap between alcohol-related gatherings — the first Thursday of every month, we'll have a Shanghaiist Happy Hour featuring half-price drinks (and perhaps other special and great things) at Sasha's. And, as usual, these "happy hours" will not be limited to one hour (8 pm to midnight is what we're starting with). more ›

And from now on, we know where we can get good ones. No more dry, over-microwaved renditions that we've found at other pubs around town; Park Tavern has the real deal. Gooey, stringy, piping hot mozzarella bundled in a nice, crispy, flaky coat. The bar owners even have a sense of humor, with each order of six delicious sticks actually accompanied by a bed of lettuce. Yes, we know, we're not talking about gourmet food here, but this is a brewpub and it's a more than solid brewpub snack. Chicken wings, on the other hand, were pretty blah. more ›

Calling all Shanghai entrepreneurs! Come meet new faces and get to know other like-minded individuals at this week's NextStep event which features Tony Mustafa of Essential Finance. All are welcome, no membership required, and no cover charge.


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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. more ›

We want some right now. more ›

Shanghaiist hopes that Valentine's Day 2007 went better for you than it did for us. We had planned, after dinner and drinks, to get drunk and screw, especially after watching the above sex ed video for inspiration. more ›

When we woke up yesterday morning we discovered a new year's surprise: Our beloved shoes are gone. Like many good Chinese girls, we keep our shoes outside our front door (but inside a locked gated corridor ... with metal bars perfect for stealing shoes through, evidently). First we thought we might have just misplaced them (we can be kind of messy). But after searching our pile of shoes, we were very certain they were gone. And we were quite confused why someone would steal this pair, then we came to the conclusion the thief must be a man, since the shoes left untouched were all high-heels or very feminine boots. The pair that was gone was masculine style riding boots. more ›

No, Shanghaiist isn't talking about xanadu or China's “rediscovered” Shangri-La. And, we are definitely not referring to the Tongren Lu establishment that just opened (no offense, but Tongren sucks!). Anyone who reads Danwei (or China Daily) knows that "lala" is a synonym for lesbians. So, welcome to the long-awaited post on Shanghai’s lala land. more ›

GigShanghai: Trannies, 5 dollars and moon cake more ›

With the World Cup having finally drawn to a close, what better time to review, not the tournament itself, but the various drinking establishments in the city that Shanghaiist frequented during a month of serious boozing and football-watching. Quite simply, there was no better excuse than the world's biggest sporting event to check out some new watering holes, and swell the coffers of Shanghai's already dirt-rich bar owners. more ›

Shanghaiist doesn't drink much (okay, the occasional snifter of brandy at Christmas), and we don't keep a lot of progressive trance on our iPod (none, in fact), but we've enjoyed enough nights on the tiles in Shanghai to speak with some confidence about the different clusters of clubs and bars in this city. more ›

More photos here. more ›

Shanghaiist took a ride on the city’s brand new metro Line 4 the other day. Whilst it isn’t the major expansion to the current metro network we are all waiting for (especially seeing the entire line is yet to open), it might make getting across the city a little bit easier, depending on where you live. The line offers a new crossing between Puxi and Pudong, under the Huangpu River, between the Yangpu Bridge and the International Ferry Terminal, and when it is fully complete it will form a ring around the city centre and another crossing between Pudong and Puxi, near the Nanpu Bridge. The section between Lan Cun Lu in Pudong and Da Mu Qiao Lu in Puxi, remains closed for now, after a tunnel collapsed during construction in 2003. As always, information on when the line will be completed is scant. more ›

Shanghaiist isn't a Christian by a long shot, but lately we've been a bit nostalgic for the whole Christmas spirit thing, so we decided today to venture to the Community Church on Hengshan Lu (located right across from Narcissus and One Thousand and One Nights, which are perhaps landmarks for you decidedly un-Christian types) to see what was going on. In the afternoon we managed to walk into the middle of a play about some guy named Martin (played by a woman) who owned a shoe shop and was expecting Jesus to drop by. He had prepared some food and the other blandishments the Son of God might expect, but kept getting interrupted by various unexpected events involving people who needed his help and compassion. None of the dialogue in this place was uttered by the actors -- a recording was played on the PA system and the actors simply mouthed the lines, though you could barely see their lips moving, so it looked a bit like a pantomime, especially since Martin, played by a woman, had a Charlie Chaplin/Great Dictator type moustache pinned beneath her nose. Finally, when Jesus did arrive, He was just a voice from above, and told Martin, who began apologizing profusely for not serving Him well, that by serving all those people who needed his help and compassion, that Martin was in fact serving Jesus. more ›

Shanghaiist headed over to Xujiahui Park last weekend to meet French artist Patricia Peides, who is visiting Shanghai to participate in the first Shanghai International Biennial Urban Sculpture Exhibition, part of the 2005 Shanghai Art Fair. more ›

The summer of 2005 just wasn't the same in Shanghai. Neither was the spring. Nor the fall. Why? No Cotton's. Cotton's, one of Shanghaiist's favorite bars -- thanks in large part to its great outdoor patio -- was forced to close by an unscrupulous landowner at the beginning of this year. (More on why you should boycott Shane's here and here.) more ›

Chinese cities are notorious for their pace of change. In particular, restaurants and bars tend to open and close with stunning speed. The editors of Lonely Planet must have a nightmare on their hands trying to keep track of it all. In fact, Shanghaiist’s edition of LP -- which we think has only just been superseded -- includes entries for Rollo di Pollo (a pizza restaurant at the back of M on the Bund) and Shanghai Sally’s, among other anachronisms. And last year, Time Out released a Shanghai guide which, in the space of about two or three pages, mentioned Cotton’s, Red on Anfu Lu, the Kiwi Bar and a bunch of other venues that had already sadly departed. (Okay, nobody was too sad about the Kiwi closing). more ›

Shanghaiist is tired of living in a black hole of music. After our brother threatened to blackmail us if we asked him to send music AGAIN, we started thinking about alternatives. more ›

Sanctus Tibetbar on Hengshan Lu more ›

Shakespeare used this biting line to refer to the brain of a dim-witted character in As You Like It. But it would also fit the bill if you were describing Shanghai's present weather. more ›