Broad Group, a Chinese sustainable building company, has constructed a 30-storey tall hotel prototype in 360 hours near Hunan province's Dongting Lake. They claim the hotel can withstand a 9 magnitude earthquake, is five times more quake-resistant than conventional buildings and five times more energy efficient, with indoor air 20 times purer than the air outside. Make of that what you will, but the resulting timelapse video is pretty damn impressive. more ›

>If you're looking to throw an awesome New Year's hotel party on the semi-cheap in Shanghai, this might be your chance. Authorities announced yesterday that on December 31st, various tourist spots and hotels in Pudong will offer half-off discounts. Hotels included in the promotion are the Pudong Shangri-la, Ritz-Carlton, Radisson, Ramada Plaza, Grand Hyatt, and many others (totaling 28). See the full list (in Chinese) here. more ›

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A gas pipe on the corner of Taixing Road of Wujiang Road was accidentally broken by staff of the power company yesterday evening, leading to an explosion that quickly spread to JIA Hotel at 6.55pm last evening. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the incident as the hotel was able to quickly evacuate all of its guests and diners. Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly and managed to put out the blaze within half an hour. Shanghaiist reader Sophie Friedman, who sent us these pictures of the building shortly afterwards, tells us the smell of gas reached as far as Jiangning Road, where she lives. more ›

A huge fire has broken out at a building (possibly JIA Hotel) on Wujiang Road, with six storeys of balconies up in flames. Eye witnesses in the neighbourhood report on Sina Weibo that a gas leak may have caused the explosion, and the entire area now reeks of gas. more ›

Macau serves as Asia's top gambling haven but for all its allure, it's lacking in broader tourist appeal. According to MGM CEO Grant Bowie, Macau needs another ten years to achieve Las Vegas-style status with exhibitions, convention halls, and wholesome entertainment. As it stands, 95% of profits are created by gambling--compare that with its progenitor which generates more than 50% of its sales from non-casino related transactions. more ›

“A scantly-clad young woman was found dead this morning outside a hotel in downtown Shanghai. She was holding a knife in one hand and her body had several knife wounds. Police are investigating the cause of her death and believed the woman was born around 1987. Witnesses said they saw the woman, wearing a backless dress and low-waist jeans, stumbling out of the Holiday Inn Vista hotel on Changshou Road at about 8am. She collapsed in front of a convenience store nearby and died. The scene shocked passers-by who described the victim as in a weird behavior because she wore so little that part of her bottom was exposed. So far, no one knows what she experienced inside the hotel.” [Shanghai Daily] more ›

Spotted in a Shanghai hotel by the guys from Engrish.com: "Foot-soaking in spring time will strengthen Yang and reinforce vital energy, in summer it will dispel disease caused by heat and dampness, in autumn lubricate intestines and in winter warm the pubic region." more ›

People, what did we just tell you about being careful with fireworks? A damper was put on new year celebrations in Shenyang after fireworks burnt down a 5-star hotel. The Dynasty Wanxin building complex, located on Qingnian Street of Heping District, was comprised of three towers -- the fire quickly engulfed Tower A and B and gutted them but left Tower C intact. It broke out just thirteen minutes after midnight at Tower B, the apartment section of the Dynasty Wanxin complex and quickly spread to the neighboring Tower A which housed their 5-star hotel. more ›

Uh oh. Shanghai's first capsule hotel has been stopped from officially opening for business "due to fire safety and security concerns". Officers inspecting the hotel have said there is a fire risk because of the high density of people expected in the 300 square metre, 68-capsule hotel, said Xia Quangen, owner of the property, to Shanghai Daily. more ›

Shanghai's very first capsule hotel has opened up somewhere on the north side of the Shanghai Railway Station. While it is not fully operational yet, curious budget travellers have already been knocking on its doors. The 300 square metre hotel consists of 68 "capsules", each 1.1m high and 2.2m long, equipped with its own lighting, pillows, bedding, alarm clock, power sockets, flatscreen television and wifi. Shower facilities are communal, but alas, for those of you that don't like letting it all hang out, there are no cubicles as you can see in the pictures. more ›

Aw nuts, looks like the initiative to let tourists stay with Shanghainese families didn't turn out as well as everyone hoped, mostly because it's too tough to get into a Shanghainese household to begin with. Though tourists have contacted tourism agencies to inquire about family stays, more ›

In Shanghaiist's somewhat monthly Hotelist feature, we take a sneak peek at the various hotels around town that have caught our fancy. This week, a hotel worthy of being called a home away from home: JIA. more ›

As we stepped off bustling Jiaozhou Lu and through the large and heavy wooden gates of URBN, we felt as if we had left Shanghai. The hustle and bustle of Shanghai seemed to have disappeared and already we could feel ourselves loosening up, relaxing. Just through the threshold was a small cobble-stoned, tree-lined courtyard... and to our direct left, decorated with an artful take on bamboo scaffolding, the hotel. more ›

When summer comes, everyone wants to dive in the water to cool down. Recently, many hotels and high-end clubs in Chongqing posted ads in a BBS claiming that they offer beauties at the pool to "play with" as a deal to attract male customers. more ›

Despite stereotypes, it seems like Shanghainese men are less henpecked than you would think: they're less likely to wash their wives' panties than other Chinese. Wait, what?... more ›

If you walked by Century Square last Thursday, saw a whole slew of people jumping on an absolutely huge mattress, and wondered what the hell was going on - we have the answer for you: It was a publicity event. more ›

The Chinese Consulate-General in Mumbai is located less than 100 metres away from the Oberoi Hotel, one of the luxury hotels that were bombed by terrorists yesterday, but no casualties have been reported as yet. In what appeared to be a highly coordinated effort supposedly by a little-known Islamic group called the Deccan Mujahideen, teams of heavily-armed gunmen unleashed at least seven attacks across the city, including the landmark Taj Hotel, a popular tourist attraction and a train station, killing at least 100 people and injuring another 200. In an interview with the Legal Evening Post 《法制晚报》, Vice Consul Wang Zhenhua (王振华) has said the consulate-general was "very fortunate" to emerge from the blasts relatively unscathed. Wang was sleeping in the consulate when he heard a huge blast that rattled the building that housed the consulate. Since then the consulate-general has been working nonstop — making and receiving calls related to the safety of Chinese nationals and organisations, liaising with hotels and police departments, and beefing up security at the consulate-general. On hearing that the Oberoi Hotel had been attacked and hostages held there, Wang's top concern was for the general manager and employees of Sinopec's Hong Kong subsidiary which had its office located in the hotel. Fortunately they are all safe and no reports of Chinese casualties or hostages have been made yet. more ›

You won't have to go to Dubai to enjoy seven-star luxury anymore as the world's second seven star hotel — and China's first — is going to be built in Sanya, Hainan. Construction of the 120m high hotel will begin later this year and will be completed by 2011 to be managed under the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts brand. Shanghai Daily tells us more:

Located in the center of Haitang Bay in Sanya City, the hotel will spread over 150 square kilometers and include a luxury yacht club, a golf course and the biggest ocean park in Asia. more ›

Our parents and sister just visited China for the first time. We won’t bore you with the details on what we did in Shanghai, but since many of you are hosting visitors and/or visiting China for the first time for the Olympics, here are some of the highlights from our travels to Beijing including suggestions for elderly and disabled (something we couldn't find anywhere else online). more ›

Where have we heard this one before? In a move to realize the State Council's ambitions, the city's hotels are now encouraged to become more environmentally friendly. As part of this process hotels will stop using small containers of shaving foam, soap, lotion etc. In other words, no more stealing hotel-sized toothpaste and shampoo bottles, folks. Hotels who live up to requirements will be rewarded with a gold or silver "leaf", to add to their stars. [Source] more ›

Last week Shanghaiist attended NextStep’s Green Business Forum to find out more about Shanghai’s local, green businesses. The focus of the conference included the carbon credit market and how to greenify your office or building. more ›

Unusual honesty from the Shanghai Daily which makes you wonder if they're not actually gloating:

HOTELS in Beijing are slashing prices for next month's Olympics after the expected windfall of visitors failed to materialize, hotels and travel industry executives said yesterday. more ›

Sometimes you wonder if China will finally make up her mind, flip-flopping over wanting tourists, then keeping them out even if they have got Olympic tickets for security reasons, going even to the extent of driving foreign residents out. But what next for the foreigners who weren't sent home or for the remaining handful of tourists who thanked their lucky stars for having made it into China? Among other things like worrying over where to get their daily intake of greens, the latest problem seems to be if hotels will take them in. more ›

I got to the lobby with my camera but the staff made me delete the photos I got. I have some from the outside on my Flickr page tagged with Shanghaiist. more ›

Set back from the junction of XinLe Lu and XiangYang Lu, opposite a blue-domed Russian Orthodox Church stands the Mansion Hotel. more ›

At the Sheraton Hotel there's a new hero in town: Spiderman is washing the windows. more ›

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By James Creegan more ›

You heard that right, ladies and gentlemen... Our city's foresighted urban planners, God bless their hearts, have looked into their glassball and decided that Shanghai needs another Lujiazui — and really, soon — in three years to be exact. Well if they were able to build Lujiazui I in ten years, we have every confidence they can build Lujiazui II in three. Never ever ever doubt the ambitions of Shanghai city planners. Just build first,... more ›