Photo of a Shanghai demolition site from Montrasio International more ›

From Shanghai Daily:

SHANGHAI issued an orange alert for heavy fog this morning. It was the first orange fog warning since winter began early this month. more ›

The state media had reported around May of this year that the proposed Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev was canceled. In the report just linked to, it says that the official reason why the thing was canceled was because of health and environmental concerns, while the supposed "real reason" was that residents in the maglev's path were starting a petition. Reading over this report reminds of how this issue has been ping-ponging back and forth for years. We thought perhaps that the ginormous cost of the thing, including some behind-the-scenes bickering between Zhejiang province and Shanghai regarding the division of construction costs, was the final nail in the coffin, but if you think about it, since when can a few petitioners writing letters to their National People's Congress "reps" can hardly hold back the ineluctable forces of progress? more ›

Yesterday's copy of the Wall Street Journal has a very interesting observation: that few of China's top political and business leaders these days have white hair:

It is possible that could have something to do with genes, but something else is involved, too. For aging men of influence here, the dye job appears to have become as commonplace as the Mao suit once was. more ›

According to the official countdown, the Beijing Olympics are about 240 days away and the pressure is mounting for China's athletes to bring home the bacon, especially in China's strongest events like ping pong, diving, and gymnastics. In traditional Chinese business fashion, gymnastics coaches are making their gymnasts sign a contract to stay injury-free and drug-free in preparation for the Games, according to this article from China Daily. In an unusual move to secure a... more ›

Ang Lee's steamy blockbuster Lust, Caution was named Best Film at the 44th Golden Horse Awards in Taipei yesterday, the Chinese-speaking world's most coveted film awards. It also swept away six other awards, including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Film Score, Best Makeup and Costume Design, and Best New Performer. Here is the list of winners:Best film: "Lust, Caution" Best director: Ang Lee, "Lust, Caution" Best actor: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, "Lust, Caution"... more ›

Photo taken by meckleychina at the Pudong International Station. Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos[at]shanghaiist.com.... more ›

Looks like a high intensity lightning bolt hit someone at the China Daily recently that foreign journalists want to know the truth about China, so they decided to do an article to inform their readers, just in case they, erm, didn't already know. Here's an excerpt from the story:French journalist Caroline Puel wants to present the real China to her readers, who are eager to know more about the country with the Beijing Olympic Games... 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 ›

Honestly, when China threw a shitfit after German chancellor Merkel met the Dalai Lama, we really didn't give a hoot, in part because we've given up on seeing our dream of Tibetan secession realized in our lifetimes. But one thing you might not have known is that this diplomatic contretemps spilled over to affect our fair city. There was supposed to be a week long symposium sponsored by Der Spiegel at the Duolun Museum... more ›

Bravo to the big corporations — Hewlett Packard and Hennessy — that are each throwing huge music events this weekend and both are free to the public via registration on their respective webpages. On Friday, Hennessy is holding what is being billed as a "Hennessy Artistry Showcase" (last year featuring Juliette Louis and the Licks), out at the International Expo Center in Pudong and featuring Hong Kong pop star Wang Lee Hom, Gary Chaw, and... more ›

This World AIDS Day, we witnessed an extraordinarily well-coordinated effort by Chinese media to raise AIDS awareness among the populace and to communicate the resolve of the central government to win the battle against the disease. This small sampling of stories that appeared in state-run English-language media is enough to give you an idea of what went out on Chinese news: President Hu: HIV/AIDS not scary President Hu tells HIV carriers, communities not to be... more ›

We seriously LOVE some of the things we hear about going on in our city. Yes, some of the people we meet here can be harsh and mean, but this story goes to show that humanity still exists in Shanghai. Two weeks ago, Rebekah Pothaar, an executive with Ctrip.com, found that her ayi's husband was in a serious motorbike collision. They went with her to the hospital and found that surgery was going to cost... more ›

If you've been browsing the DVD shops lately, you might have already come across Nanking, a documentary—of sorts—about the Nanjing massacre of 1937. The film consists of three elements: first-person accounts from survivors and eye witnesses, including Chinese civilians and soldiers as well as Japanese soldiers. These are all real people, telling their stories on film. Then there actors portraying some of the people, mostly Europeans and Americans, that played a role in setting up... more ›

Will the Dalai Lama reincarnate before he dies? Calgary Herald: Two Dalai Lamas? Reuters: China condemns Dalai Lama for ideas on succession The Times: Dalai Lama offers his flock a vote on whether he should be reincarnated The Economist: Communists can live with reincarnation. A referendum is a different matter AP: China Reports Riot in Southwestern Tibet Sino-US relations NYT: China Explains Decision to Block U.S. Ships Bloomberg: China Denies Saying Incident Was `Misunderstanding'... more ›

You guys ready for yet another ranking of most expensive cities? ECA International has ranked Shanghai the 8th costliest city in Asia for expats, so if they're to be taken seriously, Shanghai is cheaper than Beijing which came in 7th but more costly than Singapore which came in 9th. Seoul was the most expensive Asian city, while Guangzhou came in 10th. Also, Shanghai was named the 100th most expensive city in the world. That's 99... more ›

Shanghai-based Scandinavian photog 2 dogs began yesterday bright and early to bring us the action from the 2007 Toray Cup Shanghai International Marathon which saw 20,000 runners from 46 countries and regions gather here. The run flagged off at 7:30am. Some runners did the full 42 kilometre marathon, others did the 21 kilometre half marathon, and yet others chose to do the 4.5 kilometre fun run. The Toray Cup has been held in Shanghai since... more ›

They say bad news travels fast. That Pudong gas blast we told you about on Saturday has made it to international news. The Associated Press, Reuters, the International Herald Tribune, BBC, Times of India, ABC (Australia) all reported on the blast. more ›

For those of you wondering what Shanghaiist's founding editor Dan Washburn has been up to for the past half year or so (other than not posting very much on Shanghaiist) there was some evidence last week that he is alive and well and doing more than sitting on his couch counting his Shanghaiist money (really, that would only take around five minutes). Go to ESPN.com (here, here and here) for stories related to his book... more ›

And here are some of the style awards that were given out last night at the Shanghai Grand Stage. Some really dubious choices there: more ›

WARNING: CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES more ›

The yuan broke the 7.4 mark against the US dollar for the first time yesterday largely fueled by expectations that China is seeking a quicker appreciation of the currency to fight inflation. more ›

For those of you that haven't been able to pluck yourself out of that sinking feeling, Xinhua has a scientific explanation for it — our city has been sinking! In fact, geologists say it's sunk 7.5 millimetres this year, with "severe subsidence" of 8.3 millimetres detected in downtown areas. The sinking's been caused by heavy construction as well as water being pumped out of underground aquifers for "industrial and agricutural purposes" which has now been... more ›

For all displaced Americans and tryptophan lovers, consider these lovely Thanksgiving dinner options for tomorrow night in our cozy little Chinese metropolis: more ›

Shanghaiist has been living in this town for five years now, and while we often get the "哇！你是老上海了！“ ("Wow, you're an old Shanghai hand") remark, there are days when we think we actually moved here too late (sadistic thought, some might say). Although we have witnessed some pretty breathtaking changes ourselves, we have to defer to the experience of Chris Devonshire-Ellis of China Briefing who founded his own law firm 15 years ago in his... more ›

The International Olympic Committee has called on Beijing Games organisers to release detailed information about air quality gathered during an August trial when 1.3million cars were taken off the Chinese capital's roads. more ›

We went to opening night last Thursday and were able to get a sneak peek into the 1933 building mentioned a few posts back, where some of the exhibitions were still being touched up at the last minute. One of the purposes of the SICIW is to bring together art and design entities from all over the world into one place, perhaps fomenting future collaboration and connection. From Shanghai Daily: more ›

The Xinhua News Agency is reporting that China may allow foreign multinationals to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange(SSE). SSE officials are conducting feasibility studies and companies names mentioned include HSBC Holdings Plc, Coca-Cola Co., and Siemens AG. China is under renewed international pressure to speed up its currency reform and open its financial market. Letting foreign firms trade on domestic bourses may just be the first of many steps toward integrating China into the... more ›

New Burger on the Block: Thanks to the always up-to-date Christine Lu from the China Business Network, we learned that Los Angeles based burger joint Fatburger is planning on expanding big into China, starting with their first restaurant at the Venetian in Macao. From their press release: Additional Fatburger restaurants are scheduled to open in Hong Kong in the coming months: the first on Queens Road East and the second at Jia Hotel in Causeway... more ›

You will get to see scenes like the one above on Nanjing Lu a lot less often from next year on. All those rumours that we've been hearing have been confirmed. The May Golden Week holiday is going to be cut down to one day, and this may happen as early as 2008. In the meanwhile, three more national holiday have been added: namely the Tomb-sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. This... more ›