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Here's a little Christmas cheer, coming straight at you from Hangzhou's Polar Ocean Park: more ›

Christmas is just around the corner! For all of you who couldn't make it home for the holidays, as always Shanghai will keep you swimming in sumptuous Christmas meals. Below we've selected a few options that caught our eye, from the non-traditional to the best bang for your buck. Make sure you call for reservations, as many places tend to fill up. Take a look, and take your pick! more ›

There's a new surge in Christmas celebrations in the People's Republic, but not everybody seems to know what the holiday season is really for, says the Christian Broadcasting Network. more ›

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Frequented spots within the downtown core, including the Bund and part of Lujiazui, will be off-limits to cars and trucks for chunks of time from Friday to Monday as Shanghai authorities work to ensure that traffic runs smoothly as the nation's 62th National Day holiday gets underway. more ›

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Happy St. Patrick's day! The cancelation of the St. Patrick's day parade this year here and in Beijing was a little bit of a downer, but the festivities today are going strong. There are literally dozens of ways to celebrate the Irish national holiday, as shown here and here and here so no need to reiterate. Here are our top three picks for where to get your St. Paddys on tonight: more ›

We didn't have the budget to create our own Christmas greeting card, so we thought we'd just send along this one from our favourite animation studio! Happy Christmas, everyone!
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The National Holiday Schedule for 2010 actually came out a while ago, but with September and October holidays approaching, it seems that Chinese citizens are beginning to sit up and take notice... and they are NOT happy with what they're seeing. more ›

Shanghaiist and Boxing Cat Brewery present THE DUKES OF HAZZARD DO SHANGHAI! 4th of July, 2010 11 am to 4 pm Boxing Cat Brewery 82 Fuxing Xi Lu, near Yongfu Lu ALL YOU CAN EAT AND DRINK Beer, wine, house pours, burgers, dogs, wings & sides galore! more ›

We can never quite keep up with Chinese internet culture it seems and all the unofficial, but wonderful festivals they have here. Last month, we celebrated the One Night Stand Day on April 19. Apparently, today May 5, is the 50 Cent Day -- and we had absolutely no idea till just now! Well, it's better late than never, we guess. Now, you've got two and half hours left to shower your friends with 50 cent bills (like the one below featuring the ) to celebrate the festive occasion! more ›

• This year the Chinese New Year celebrations and Valentine’s Day woo-ing hit on the same date. But never mind if you’re lacking in both the family and lover department, Urbanatomy offers a hot solution to pack in some pleasure for one: Shanghai’s sex shops uncovered. [Urbanatomy]
• If you missed the launch of Sonia Rykiel pour H&M lingerie line, here’s your chance to redeem yourself for not taking our advice the first time. The French design house hits H&M stores on February 20th with a fierce knitwear collection and fabulous stripy tights. [City Weekend]
• Shanghai’s aging population is in the hot seat this week as the city looks to raise its official retirement age to an increase of 5-years. The decision will be made in an effort to relieve pressure on pension funds created by, well…the aging population. [AFP]

If you want to contribute your photos to us, it's a super easy process - just tag your favorite Shanghai shots with "Shanghaiist" on Flickr or send it to us by email (photos@shanghaiist.com) and it'll show up in our Flickr pool. more ›

In case your work or school hasn't given out the sched yet, here's what holiday dates in China will look like in 2010. Like 2009, Chinese people will get 29 days of holiday in total. Once again, National Day and Chinese New Year will both garner seven days of vacation, but cause people to need to work on the weekend either before or after. Why do they do that?! more ›

Singletons rejoice! Crack out the champagne and chocolate because today is the anti-Valentines day - it's singles day in China. As you know, one is the loneliest number and today is 11/11: four singles smack together, representing all the single folk out there. We think this day calls for a celebration, so we're going to treat ourselves to dinner! more ›

[Monday, 10pm] People are currently aTwitter with news that that Beijing's CCTV headquarters has gone up in flames, and from the following pictures snapped and uploaded by various eyewitnesses (including some amazing on-the-scene photos by real estate tycoon and CEO of Soho China Pan Shiyi), the fire looks pretty damn bad and appears to have engulfed the part of the complex that houses the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Beijing. Given that today is Yuanxiao Jie (元宵节) which marks the culmination of the Lunar New Year festivities, it is not unlikely that stray fireworks were the cause of this disaster. Follow what the China Twitterati is saying at #cctvfire. Videoclips after the jump. more ›

Michael Manning of The Opposite End of China finds Osama bin Laden hawking face masks at a Chinese New Year fair at Ditan Park Temple yesterday. more ›

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Since when did this become a yearly political exercise, we wonder? more ›

In this news report from Hunan TV, police opened the luggage compartment of a crowded long-distance bus bringing passengers eager to return home for the Spring Festival and found a huge surprise -- eight people were hidden inside, tucked inconspicuously behind suitcases and packages. With buses and trains fully booked out, and legal tickets hard to come by, some entrepreneurial Chinese bus drivers are welcoming the opportunity to make a quick buck from those desperate enough to get home in time. One young man that was caught in the luggage compartment told reporters that nobody forced them to do this and they were more than willing to travel this way. [h/t Youku Buzz] more ›

To spread the Lunar New Year cheer, the central government has decided to distribute RMB9 billion worth of hongbao's (or red packets) to 74 million of the poorest residents in cities and villages as one-time disbursements meant to help them tide through the hard times. Villagers will receive RMB100 each, city dwellers RMB150 each, and those on state pensions/subsidies RMB180 each. All this money is coming straight from the Ministry of Finance and the central government has already given strict instructions to governments at all levels to disburse the monies in a "just, fair and transparent" manner. more ›

If you are stumped for things to do for Chinese New Year and the thought of Siberian-like cold and a hot bowl of borscht seem more appealing then the beaches of Boracay, perhaps Harbin is a city you might consider visiting. Harbin's annual ice and sculpture festival started this week and runs until the end of February, weather permitting. more ›

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A group of 98 prisoners from the United States, Singapore, India, Nigeria and elsewhere celebrated Christmas by performing Chinese folk songs, yoga and magic tricks at a party organised by the Qingpu Prison Wednesday night. A special Christmas Eve dinner was also prepared for inmates comprising of roast mutton, chicken, potatoes and pizza. According to Shanghai Daily, all foreigners in prisons "are treated almost the same as their Chinese counterparts". In the same breath though, it adds that foreign prisoners enjoy "international living standards" in line with prisoner rights regulations prescribed by the UN, including daily showers, sports facilities and medical services. In case you're wondering about living conditions in there, each ward comes equipped with a showera and houses about ten inmates. Email access is provided so prisoners can keep in touch with their family. They also get to watch English TV news and read approved publications, and if they have enough money, they can even purchase portable radio sets and international calling cards for their own use. And just to make sure inmates don't get too bored in there, they are taught to make handicrafts and given Chinese lessons. more ›

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday night to celebrate with us. And a special thanks to Cotton's, American Craft Beer Partners and, of course, Santa Claus for making it all possible. Happy Holidays! more ›

Photos by Stephen Yang. Go here to download your high-resolution images. For prints and framed prints contact stephen.a.yang(@)gmail.com. More photos from the A Very Shanghai Christmas party presented by Shanghaiist and Cotton's coming soon! more ›

At tomorrow's big holiday party at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu, get your photo taken with Santa Claus — or Father Christmas, if you swing that way — between 8:30 and 11:30 pm (Santa likes to hit the bars on Tongren at about midnight). Shanghai-based photographer Stephen Yang will be taking professional portraits (lights and everything) of party guests chilling with Santa in Santa's VIP room (behind the first-floor bar). All party-goers are welcome ... and it doesn't cost you a thing. We'll post the pics on Shanghaiist early next week. more ›