Last night was the first of threefive Shanghai screenings of Red Light Revolution, a film from Australian director Sam Voutas that proudly proclaims itself "China's first ever sex shop comedy." The subject matter is definitely relevant to China today, where 70% of the world's sex toys are produced, and vibrators are sold next to the checkout stand at Family Mart (of all places.) The film has been shown all over the festival circuit, and lucky for us they are now touring China after receiving a grant to host private screenings in cities all over the country. more ›

One of our favorite local bands is playing a CD release concert tonight at Yuyintang and we think you should go check them out. Summer Sweat is Pairs' second album in as many years, and they've earned themselves a reputation for DIY methodology and audience-centric ethic. The duo, made up of Australian native Xiao Zhong on drums/vocals and his Chinese counterpart F on guitar, can get absolutely maniacal on stage and it really doesn't matter if you like their music or not - you'll have a great time anyway. more ›

Don Dworkin is the bassist for Reggie's Red Hot Feetwarmers, that are about to finish their 3-month residency at the House of Blues and Jazz (60 Fuzhou Rd.). The Dixieland band hails originally from Albany, New York. They were joined in Shanghai by Juli Aymi, a clarinet player from Barcelona and Mako Ruan, who danced alongside the band until last week when she went back to Vancouver. They'll be putting out a live album in the future with her on the cover. In the meantime, they play every night from now until Sunday starting at 9:30pm. We sat down to talk to Dworkin about Shanghai, jazz and everything else.

Ah, the elegance of a midday meal at the newly-opened and sensibly-priced Shook! fine-dining establishment at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. Ah, yes. Sun Yat-Sen stayed there a hundred years ago and agitated for a New China, the Imperial Army of Japan occupied it during the Second Big One. And last Thursday, Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins, newly crowned WBC, WBC Diamond and IBO Light Heavyweight Champion of Planet Earth stopped by for a light lunch. Gulp. more ›

We like it when China gets play on the Colbert Report, especially when he interviews people who know things about stuff. Last night The New Yorker's China correspondent Evan Osnos went on the show for his second time to face Colbert's wit-laden badgering (or as Osnos describes it on his blog, to play the role of "informative tackling dummy".) more ›

The Economist has posted an interview with "Mao's translator," Sidney Rittenberg (李敦白). Arriving in China in 1944, Rittenberg befriended Mao, Zhou Enlai and other top Communists. During his long involvement with the Chinese Communist Party, Rittenberg was imprisoned twice. The first time in 1949, after being falsely fingered as a "spy" by Joseph Stalin, he spent six years in solitary confinement and the second time in 1968, for ten years when labelled a "May 16^th element" (五一六分子). more ›

Electrolist, by Shanghai Ultra of the VOID crew, gives a regular lowdown on the Shanghai electronic music scene, with picks, tips, news, and other rumors. more ›

Tonight, take it back to the old-school with British DJ Andy Smith at The Shelter. Since 1998 Andy Smith has been releasing multi-genre mix albums, segueing vintage funk, R&B, and soul with doses of contemporary hip-hop . When his mix-CD The Document hit the streets back in 1998, it became the soundtrack for a generation who had heard Coldcut's Journeys By DJs but needed to hear more - The Document filled the void. He was also the touring DJ for Portishead some time ago and worked on their first two albums with them. more ›

Du was raised in a small town in Jiangsu Province before he went to the prestigious China Academy of Fine Arts. Last year, his "City impression: Window series" was awarded top marks at the Ministry of Culture-sponsored "National Youth Art Exhibition." Recently, I got the chance to talk to Du about his work, why he moved to Shanghai, and what he thinks about the new generation of Chinese artists. more ›

Lions of Puxi is a seven-piece 'project' that formed in 2008 in Shanghai. Composed of diverse musical backgrounds such as gypsy jazz and Mauritian seggae, the Lions' sound combines head-nodding melodies with foot-tapping rhythms and dynamic lyrics that flow from soul to hip-hop to pop. Performed in the the three languages spoken by the Lions (English, French & Mandarin) and named for the neighborhood in Shanghai where the handsome pride met, the Lions' music carries a message of change, love and truth. more ›

Helping to kickstart the Halloween weekend is Portland, Oregon-based electronic dance/performance art duo YACHT. Originally the solo project of Jona Bechtolt (who also contributed his electronic wizardry to indie-pop group The Blow), YACHT grew by one in 2008, inducting Claire L. Evans as a full member, just in time to add her no nonsense vocals to their newest album See Mystery Lights. more ›

Dee Dee Bridgewater, the illustrious Jazz singer, has been one of the premier artists in Jazz for the past forty years. From her early days performing with major Jazz legends and winning Tony Awards on Broadway to her more recent work on Billy Holiday, NPR and beyond, Dee Dee has been shaping and defining the way people all over the world understand and appreciate Jazz. To kick off this weekend's JZ Jazz festival, Dee Dee will be gracing Shanghai with a performance this Friday at the Yunfeng theater, sharing the stage with a big band of both local and international musicians. We had the chance to chat about her accomplishments both on and off the stage, her views on Jazz from the past to the present, and her unbeknown love of Chinese art. more ›

Jackie Chan may be an adorable and well-liked kung fu superstar, but he sure doesn't seem to know when it's time to stop talking. We've recorded several of his gaffes before, including one made earlier this year when he insinuated that Chinese need to be controlled... but this latest interview really takes the cake. more ›

Lucky for us, Montreal based indie rock duo Handsome Furs is coming to Shanghai! Currently touring Asia, the band will be making a stop at everyone's favorite live music venue, Yuyintang, on Saturday, September 5. more ›

While some of our readers are lucky enough to live in far off lands of fast internet and access to that thing called YouTube, the many of us here in China are stuck behind the ever-present and always annoying Great Firewall. So how do we at Shanghaiist still have access to our favorite timewasters websites like Facebook and Twitter? Does it have something to do with our obvious awesomeness? Well, yes and no. more ›

Coming to us off a European tour, Australian band Grace Before Meals is set to play at Yu Yin Tang tonight at the Indie China Showcase, along with six other bands from around China. more ›

He graced our Happy Hour two weeks ago and liked it so much he's returned. Yes, Brian Seymour is performing during the Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Cotton's on Tuesday. more ›

Decide for yourself when they play their first show in Shanghai at LOgO this Friday. As an added bonus to our Shanghaiist readers, we're giving away four of their CDs - just send an email to contest.giveaway (at) shanghaiist (dot) com with the words "Shanghaiist Random K(e) CD Giveaway" in the subject line and your name in the body. The first four to send an email to us with that info will get a CD. more ›

Internationally renowned artist Tony Wong is no stranger to success in the art scene, with his work having been exhibited extensively across major US cities, in Hong Kong and Taipei, and throughout Europe. more ›

We recently caught up with Shanghai-based independent filmmaker Luis Tapia of Daedalum Films, who is currently busy preparing for the May 9 premiere screening of his new documentary short about Shanghai band Hard Queen and the life of indie rock musicians in China. Seats are still available for the screening. Advance tickets can be purchased here. more ›

Canadian Jewish rap is truly something to behold. And tonight, you'll be able to behold it at Yu Yin Tang when Socalled (aka Josh Dolgin) hits the stage. Socalled is known for mixing hip hop with slightly less street sounds - drum & bass, folk music and klezmer. more ›

Say what you will about celebs talking politics, but perhaps, this is Jackie Chan at his best - wearing his Greennovate Green T-shirt and looking sweet as a little kitten. And come on, who didn't enjoy the bathtub scene in Shanghai Noon with Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan drinking baiju and wearing nothing but bubbles? That almost makes it okay that he thinks Chinese people need to be controlled... right? more ›

The Lab, a non-profit, non-cost DJ Hip-Hop workshop studio, is throwing its Third Anniversary Party tonight at the Shelter. Debuting two new talents, DJ Freeze and DJ Sense, the lineup features ten total DJs including founding member DJ V-Nutz (a.k.a: Gary Wang). more ›

Ever heard of Ghost rock? We hadn't either until Berlin-based outfit Mio Myo stepped into town. The four person group, consisting of Uwe Eger, Thomas Authenried, Benni Pollach, and Michael Angerer, first formed in mid-2005, and have been making their mix of electro, guitar-based indie and pop sounds ever since. more ›

Battles consists of four men with long histories in music making: Tyondai Braxton, son of alterna-jazz musician Anthony Braxton, has worked with hip hop producer Guillermo Scott Herren and noise rockers Parts & Labor. Ian Williams is originally from Pittsburgh math rock pioneers Don Caballero, and also played in noise rock trio Storm & Stress. Dave Konopka, guitarist and bassist, brings the rhythmically complex guitar style of his previous band Lynx into the equation. Veteran of the hardcore scene John Stanier used to play for Helmet - now, when he's not drumming for Battles, he fills out alterna-metal rock supergroup Tomahawk and Australian hard rock band The Mark of Cain more ›

Zachary Mexico's first book, China Underground, just came out this month. It's an edgy look at margins of modern China—and it's a real page-turner. Mexico mixes it up with the masses, returning with sixteen tales of unique individuals "trying to figure out what's going on, trying to carve a place out for themselves in the new China." more ›

So by now, everyone knows the gig is off, presumably because of Oasis' pro-Tibet leanings. But before we learned that the British brothers wouldn't be performing on our shores, the editrixes at managed to get an exclusive interview in with them - separately. If it really was because of the Tibet issue and not just finances, the Chinese government really ought to read the piece and change their minds. more ›

Imprint has come across one of the few interviews of the late Bruce Lee. Soon after the release of his first film, Hong Kong mega-hit , Lee sat down to talk about his life philosophy, super stardom, and of course, martial arts with Canadian television personality, Pierre Berton. more ›

Shanghaiist had the opportunity to sit down with Denise Cheng, general manager of Kiwing Fine Foods, to learn a bit more about the organic food industry here in Shanghai. Some readers may have recently attended the Organic Farmer’s Market at El Willy, which has happened the past three Saturdays and is co-sponsored by Kiwing. more ›

The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres this weekend at Beijing's Olympic baseball stadium. Seating capacity is limited to 13,000 spectators, and sure enough Emma has sold out their allotment of the cheap seats here in Shanghai. We're curious as to the scalper situation in Beijing, but for the risk-averse, other Chinese ticketing websites still have a small number of tickets left. A little internet sleuthing can still get you into the RMB 88 section! As far as the line-ups, San Diego is bringing a mix of veterans and new players to Beijing:

The Padres traveling contingent includes players with substantial experience in the Major Leagues (closer Trevor Hoffman), up-and-coming regulars (Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff) and a host of players who will play in the Minor Leagues in 2008.

None of the pitchers on the roster played more than 16 games in the majors last year. Non-roster invitee Chan Ho Park, who is seeking to revive his career, is the most experienced with 11-plus years of major league service, and will be joined by pitchers including Hong-Chih Kuo, Eric Stults and Eric Hull, who spent most of last year in the minors.