• Time Out Shanghai celebrates its first issue with you, the public, at M1NT on Thursday night. Drinks are free from 8pm to 10pm, but knowing M1NT and knowing how much we all love to get free drinks there, show up early lest you be stuck in line in the lobby.
• The Shanghai Philharmonic Association Chamber Orchestra (SPACO), a new classical ensemble put together by the Shanghai Musician Association Chamber Orchestra, makes its debut at Shanghai Concert Hall... tonight! [Cityweekend]
• Wonder where all the bars on Julu Lu and Tongren Lu uprooted by the Expo went? Yes, some actually miraculously survived, sinking their vines into other locations. [SmartShanghai]

Hotpot season is upon us, and the first in our series of hotpot reviews this upcoming winter is Three Travellers [sic] (三人行骨头王火锅), a chain that recently opened its newest baby smack dab in the middle of the fantastic restaurant corner that is Fumin/Julu Lu. more ›

Back in the day, before Tong Ren Lu became the predominant strip of seediness for Shanghai, we would cruise down Julu Lu and Maoming Lu for our dose of pointing at old expats trying to get laid (as well as some drinks and partying, of course). We went into a fit of depression when Maoming Lu lost its luster five or six years ago. And now we must bid goodbye to Julu Lu as well. Urbanatomy reports that the street is nothing but "hollow shells wallowing in clouds of asbestos dust" now, probably thanks to one of the city's many initiatives to clean itself up. New York lost part of its charm when those XXX theaters on Times Square closed. Is Shanghai going to be more boring from now on too? more ›

Quality and beauty are the two features Andrew James looks out for when he sources for contemporary art. This was what he liked about Dorothy M. Yoon's works when he first came upon them at a London art fair. Last Saturday's opening reception for Dorothy's first solo exhibition in China attracted a good number of people, presumably intrigued by the bizarre portraits of Asian females in all kinds of blonde wigs imaginable. While surreal images of pallid-faced beauties may not appeal to every art buyer's taste, seasoned portrait collectors should figure if they like this series fast since the large group portraits come only in editions of 3. more ›

The corner of Fumin Lu and Julu Lu is a hotspot for expat diners: Nepali Kitchen, Shintori, Guyi, Otto, Coconut Paradise, and Mesa. But smack dab in the middle are also a handful of Chinese restaurants that don't get much mention in our beloved English-language rags. We checked one of them out recently and have now added Hui Yuan Fang (汇元坊) to the list of worthy destinations located within that intersection. more ›

The sad thing is that this will probably work. Someone finally found a way to out BonBon the folks at BonBon. On the positive side, all of the schemey types that you didn't want to meet, but have more than 100 RMB in their pockets, will probably be at Bar Rouge on Thursday night. Which means I should be safe to roam the rest of the city at will. more ›

We remember, a few months ago, walking to Embre on Changshu Lu only to discover it had closed down, after decent reviews and six months of existence. We were exploring the restaurant options near our new apartment, and our second choice, a tapas place on Huashan Lu, also was no longer in operation — really, the building had been leveled. Food and beverage places disappear quickly here in Shanghai ... but sometimes they reappear quickly, too. more ›

Summer is here and everything is heating up. Leading up to this weekend, this is what Shanghaiist thinks is going to be hot today and tomorrow. more ›

We were taking an afternoon stroll down Xiangyang Lu today in our pajamas when we had our first ever encounter with Shanghai's high-tech parking meters. The meters aren't exactly new; according to the Shanghai Municipality website the first were installed in 2005. There were 141 meters at the beginning of the year installed across 22 road sections, but that number is now up to 555. more ›

Actually, we’ve been eyeing the portable game console/music and video player ever since it came out a year ago. Our buying decision this holiday season has every bit to do with the PSP being a nifty gadget as it does some of the extra "resources" available to us as residents of Shanghai, or China for that matter. As far as we know, other than maybe the original NES, no video game console has ever been released here in China, and for a very good reason: rampant piracy of games. The PSP is no different. Machines for sale here are from either Europe or Japan, but with firmware downgraded/modified so that they can handle “backup” (read “pirated”) games. ISO images of PSP games are readily available at most BT sites — ISO Hunt and Torrentspy just to name a couple — as are music and videos. more ›

We recently came across an article that for some reason was lodged in our minds as being about male pregnancy. It turns out that it was this China Daily article about a man that was mistakenly tested for pregnancy (given a urine test) because the hospital thought he was a woman. more ›

GigShanghai: Dance rock, a smashed bass, a Tang Hui challenge more ›

We started out the night getting one of those haircuts that looks atrocious and sends you rummaging through your closet for a good hat. It took us forever to get a cab too, and we might have lost the one we did catch if the cop that yelled at us for almost jaywalking -- "过马路不看灯呀？" "Don't you look at the lights when you cross the road?" ... we pretended to not understand -- had decided to fine us. Getting our pictures shown in public would have been bad, especially since this was near Julu Lu -- could we ever have lived that down? more ›

Recent reviews of the best burgers in town made Shanghaiist want a drink -- a cocktail, to be exact. Don’t get us wrong, we love our local favorites -- we’re addicted to Xinjiang Black Beer now that it’s stocked at the nearby convenience store. We’re even known to occasionally take a healthy shot of baijiu alongside our Qingdao Beer during dinner. (At least, we think so -- we usually don’t remember the details of baijiu nights.) But when the Black Beer’s sold out, and baijiu doesn’t feel quite right (does baijiu ever feel right?) a cocktail can hit the spot. more ›

But we like the place. For one thing, jalapeno pepper jelly was invented there. What's more, Houston is the home-away-from-home for Shanghai’s very own Yao Ming, who plays for the Rockets. There couldn't be a better reason to offer a hearty welcome to the newest kid on the -ist block, Houstonist. Go and check them out, for Yao updates and much, much more. more ›

With a name that sounded more like an advertisement for a Julu Lu massage parlor than a concert, we weren't sure what to expect from Free Touching, Sunday night's "free noise and improv" event at Live Bar (it didn't help that we misread 噪音 -- noise -- as something else). While there was no actual touching involved, it did turn out to be a very visceral experience. more ›

Fumin Lu in between Changle and Julu Lu is a small yet concentrated swath of Shanghai’s “pink and pirated” trades. more ›

Juan Vargas, filmmaker more ›

Camera conundrums? more ›

Shanghaiist is tired of living in a black hole of music. After our brother threatened to blackmail us if we asked him to send music AGAIN, we started thinking about alternatives. more ›

Cheapest beers in town more ›