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Todd Boddingham must've been confused when his custom order from China for a special sized slipper showed up at his house in a box the size of a car. more ›

It's a problem that never troubled Kim Philby but if it had, it would perhaps have saved MI-5 a lot of embarrassment. Online rumors circulating yesterday claimed that Wan Wuyi, the 58-year-old head of domestic news at Xinhua, may have switched teams after going AWOL following a training course at Oxford University. But Wan has apparently surfaced to refute this, saying he’s actually holed up in London with a bad back. more ›

You were originally living in London, what made you decide Shanghai as your destination and why did you decide to travel London-Shanghai by land only? more ›

We all kind of figured that it would happen someday, but it might be a little sooner than you could have imagined: Shanghai is becoming a dominant world financial center. Law firm Eversheds released a survey of over 600 economic leaders from around the world weighing in on their companies economic prospects in the coming year: those in the west had a far gloomier outlook than their eastern counterparts, and if that trend continues, international opinion could have Shanghai and London battling for the title of "world's second most significant financial center" behind New York within the next decade. Sounds crazy and/or a bit far fetched to us, especially coming from an economic outlook survey, but with China, you never know. more ›

Five Chinese swimmers received two year bans yesterday after testing positive for the anabolic steroid clenbuterol at a national competition last June. According to the AP the athletes' coaches also received one to two year bans. more ›

Forget coming to Shanghai to pick up a cheap knock-off handbag, the latest fashion is for middle-class Chinese to head to the UK to pick up the real thing at knock-down prices. more ›

Everyone likes a good party, especially one with free flow champagne like last night’s M1NT pre-launch. In spite of the copious amounts of alcohol, we are sad to say this exclusive billionaire-millionaire club opened not with a bang, but with a pop. As an old China hand, maybe Shanghaiist is just too jaded to enjoy the hype, but here's our summary of Shanghai's newest club. more ›

He Pingping (何平平), the world's smallest man from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, meets Svetlana Pankratova from Russia, the world's leggiest woman in London's Trafalgar Square to celebrate the launch of the 2009 edition of the Guiness World Records. [Source] more ›

Fox Sports: As Olympics come to a close, questions remain more ›

And here's an assortment of pictures that will give you a good sense of what we saw and experienced: more ›

Editor's note: Former Shanghaiist contributor Hélène Franchineau was present at the Olympic torch relay in Paris earlier today and tells us of what she saw and heard. more ›

UPDATE, 20:21: The flame has just been extinguished for a second time amid protests in Paris. Following an earlier disturbance along the banks of the Seine, the flame had been extinguished by officials and put aboard a bus to avoid further protests. The torch was then re-lit and the relay restarted but the procession was again halted and officials once again extinguished the flame and boarded a bus. More to follow shortly... more ›

Unsurprisingly, given recent events, there have been huge problems with the London leg of the Olympic torch relay in the UK today. Despite the Metropolitan Police launching a huge operation to try and safeguard the flame's path The Guardian reports that there has been a string of major disruptions to the relay:

A Free Tibet protestor attempted to wrestle the Olympic flame from Blue Peter TV presenter Konnie Huq in Ladbroke Grove before being bundled to the ground by police; two others were taken away after trying to put out the torch with a fire extinguisher in Holland Park, and the relay was also temporarily stopped near Bloomsbury after three people blocked Sir Clive Woodward's path. more ›

NOTE: The opinions expressed in "Opinionist" columns are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Shanghaiist. more ›

Calling out to all you London readers of Shanghaiist! If the Trans-Siberian seems a little too Express, your carbon footprint keeps you awake at night, or you're just ready for a new adventure, then a new company is offering the unique chance to go from London to China by bus. 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 ›

Feeling artsy today? Go catch London-based artist Dorothy M. Yoon's exhibition which features 13 Asian females in blonde wigs and equally blonde bleached eyebrows inspired by her childhood fantasies. A joint exhibition by contemporary artists Christeene Britton & Wang Youling celebrating harmony and life can be a good bet if you're looking for something a little more abstract (and perhaps a little less quirky). Enjoy. more ›

Beijing Capital Airport's spanking new Terminal Three opens this Friday. The Norman Foster-designed building is being touted as the largest building in the world. And it is colossal. To give you an idea of just how big it is, the terminal is the size of 170 soccer fields put together, and that is 17 percent more floor space than all of London Heathrow's five terminals put together! The terminal is shaped like the character 人 which means people, and its design reminds one of the dragon, complete with 'scales' oriented south-east to capture as much of the winter sun as possible. more ›

By W.E.B Lowery more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/02/air_bound.php"> remove one man from Gatwick.

Britain's most tiresome newspaper the Daily Mail has a typically sober and balanced report on a new animal show in Xiamen, Fujian (presumably HaiCang Safari Park). more ›

In Paris, New York City and the Hague:
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We were surprised to read from the China Briefing blog that ShanghaiExpat.com has been reported to the Chinese Network Security Police:

The social expatriate website Shanghaiexpat.com has had a legal case against it lodged with the network security division of the Public Security Bureau in Shanghai for libel and ‘disrupting social harmony’ it has been reported today. The site, which last year celebrated its fifth anniversary, has proved popular with local expatriates yet has consistently drawn criticism for its generally negative online forums and it’s sometime racist portrayal of Chinese nationals and the general living environment in China, it has been alleged. more ›

Nasty. Nasty. Nasty. If we didn't have to walk the dogs, we'd just stay inside our (semi) warm living room all day. We know the miserable sleet (or is it freezing rain?) and slippery conditions are forcing some offices to send workers home early today. But winter's icy grip on China is far more serious than some missed work or a slip on the sidewalk. Here's a rundown (and, please, feel free to add to this list in a comment): more ›

Four Chinese from Hubei have just opened a restaurant in the world's most dangerous city — Baghdad — reports the London Times. Edited highlights: more ›

Air Asia, Asia's first budget airline, has just announced its latest China destination. From now on, you can fly from Hangzhou (which is just a stone's throw from Shanghai) to Kuala Lumpur at a fraction of the price! We just did a quick check on their system and if you plan ahead of time, you can expect to pay around RMB1,115 (taxes included) for the flight. You can even select your own seats on the website if you pay an additional RMB48! Kuala Lumpur being Air Asia headquarters, you can fly onward to a host of other exciting Southeast Asian destinations for that much-needed break. Other Chinese destinations currently served by Air Asia are Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Macau. more ›

By James Creegan more ›

So if you’ve ever fancied travelling from I’m a hot dashing dinosaur (Shanghai Indoor Stadium) to Thoroughly Hawaiian Satanists (Shanghai South Railway Station) to Drab Penguin (Nanpu Bridge) now is your chance! more ›

Reuters has picked up where the Sunday Times in London has left of. 10 workers are said to have died in the construction of the Olympic stadium and their deaths covered up with unusually high amounts of compensation.
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