A Shanghai man who had helped hundreds of Chinese travel abroad with visas based on falsified information has been given a 14-year prison sentence. 30-year-old Jiang Yi is accused of running one of the country's biggest human smuggling rings so far discovered. more ›

From Al-Jazeera English:

The Beijing Olympics are still 5 months away but they're attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. more ›

Photo from Shanghai Sky more ›

Next time, Steve, stay for some Grandma's Mashed Potatoes. Trust us. more ›

Fire broke out last night at about 8pm in the 12-storey Dehui International Plaza in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Almost 200 fire fighters and 48 fire engines were sent to fight the fire, which they did all night, right up till this morning when they were forced to retreat fearing the tower might collapse any moment. Alas, the fire had by then spread to another neighbouring 20-storey, and they had to continue working. All guests were evacuated safely from the hotel. Latest reports suggest at least three firefighters have lost their lives. This fire comes three weeks after the Wenzhou blaze which we happened to witness with our own eyes. It took away 21 lives. more ›

By JFK Miller 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 ›

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 ›

Hu in new bid to tighten screws on rival faction, by Chua Chin Hon of the Straits Times:

One has died from an undisclosed illness while another is already behind bars on corruption charges. But there appears to be no let-up in Chinese President Hu Jintao's attempts to put the squeeze on members of the rival Shanghai faction, a group of senior leaders and officials allied with his predecessor Jiang Zemin. more ›

Video of mudslide in Sichuan Province from Youku. more ›

Latest in the series of food safety scandals to rock China: the Philippine Bureau of Food and Drugs has found traces of the cancer-causing agent formaldehyde in the White Rabbit candies produced in Shanghai by the Guan Sheng Yuan Group. We must admit we were a little taken aback because the yummilicious milk candy was one of our favourites growing up several thousand miles away in Singapore! more ›

When the doors of the train closed, he was unable to step back onto the platform as the glass safety doors had closed, trapping him between the safety doors and the train. When the train started to move the man was pulled under the car and killed, police said.

We admit it — we kind of like old wind-up tin toys. We only have one, though. It has ping pong players who go back and forth and it really used to scare our dog. Well, the International Herald Tribune recently published a story ("A trip into China's past, through its toys") about a museum filled with such gadgets from the first three quarters of the 20th century. The Museum of Shanghai Toys, naturally, is in Singapore. A snippet: more ›

Heading near the Shanghai Expo site today? Might want to hold your breath. This from the International Herald Tribune, originally by way of AP and Xinhua: more ›

Despite stuff like Academy Hills and an in-house art museum, most of the descriptions that we've read so far make Roppongi Hills seem like a it's a playground for the gliterrati, i.e. the rich, influential, well-connected as well as tourists. more ›

China has moved a step closer to diversifying its US$1.07 trillion in foreign reserves, with the yet-unofficial appointment of two senior officials to head new vehicles that will seek to invest a portion of China's reserves, which are the largest in the world. more ›

Are you in the Chinese stock market? We're guessing the answer is no for most of you — by law, only Chinese nationals are allowed to purchase A Shares traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. Well, sucks to be you (and us). We're missing out on a get-rich-quick opportunity of a lifetime, as millions of Chinese are swept up in stock trading mania. The International Herald Tribune reports: more ›

For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day. more ›

For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day. more ›

What would be your response if we were to pose the question, "what is better than a black bear and a white Siberian tiger sporting traditional sevillanas dresses, adorned with flowers and dancing a Spanish Flamenco under the bright lights of a ballroom platform, televised for all of the world to see?" Well, if you're like us, then kangaroo boxing and monkey-ostrich pair jousting may come to mind. But, now, it seems that some international group of party-poopers* known as "animal rights advocates" have deprived Shanghailanders of the one sure-fire joy of living in China: the Shanghai Animal Olympics has been canceled. more ›

On Friday, Chinese protesters clashed with Japanese coast guard ships and helicopters off the coast of the East China Sea islets, known as the Diaoyutai (钓鱼岛) in China and the Senkakus in Japan. The islands are located 170 km (100 miles) northeast of Taiwan and 410 km (250 miles) west of Japan's Okinawa island are a long-standing source of dispute between China and Japan. In brief, Japan claimed the islands in 1895 when it colonized Taiwan, but the United States controlled them after World War II and returned them to Japan in 1972. While they are currently administered by Japan, the Diaoyutai are independently claimed by Japan, China, and Taiwan. The islands are uninhabited but surrounded by rich fishing waters, and it is believed that they sit above vast underwater oil and gas deposits. more ›

So everyone is reporting what we warned you about. Here's what the AP said: more ›

Perhaps soon we will be able to place some of French's photos on our coffee tables. From the Daily Shooter interview: more ›

Regarding the International Herald Tribune article called "required reading" by some sites out there, Shanghaiist has one word: Duh. That, and please stop already with the cutesy movie-reference titles -- "Crouching corruption, hidden fraud" -- there's nothing hidden or crouching about fraud and corruption in China. But here it is one more time for good measure: more ›

Shanghaiist remembers when they first appeared on street corners throughout the city. Shanghai's crossing guards look like lost UPS workers with whistles. And we've always felt kind of sorry for them. Because they have no real power -- they can't issue tickets, or even official warnings -- and everyone knows this. So pedestrians ignore them. And all the crossing guards can do is blow their whistles louder. Shanghaiist was a crossing guard in elementary school. Back then, in the mid 1980s, it was the cool thing to do for an 11-year-old. Not the case for a 40- or 50-year-old in Shanghai, as Howard French points out in the International Herald Tribune: more ›

Image of internet police from ESWN. more ›

While some choose to generalize and lump all Chinese into one big pool of "Confucian consumers," others might say that to do so would be akin to corporate suicide (not to mention just plain stupid). For example most young Shanghainese want iPods and the latest mobile phones while their counterparts in Guangzhou would be happy with a nice mobile phone that doubles as an mp3 player. The expert in this interesting International Herald Tribune story calls the kids in Guangzhou "pragmatic cool." We suppose youth in Shanghai are legitimately cool ... or just rich and spoiled. more ›