This new episode of Queer As Folk Beijing, China's first independent gay video podcast, discusses long distance relationships. Has technology, cheap phone calls and the possibility of phone- or cam-sex made it easier for people in long distance relationships? Interesting questions that are relevant to both gay and straight couples. Making a guest appearance in this episode is Jack Beck, who was co-host on season 1 of the show and is now working with an......

Photo by NoLimitsTW More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).......

A Date With Lu Yu《鲁豫有约》is one of the most influential talkshows in China which has been known to constantly push the envelope and to broach topics previously considered too hot to touch. One such episode is the one below which features two homosexual men from the Sichuan Province — who, long before the word "gay" had entered the Chinese lexicon — married each other, adopted a son and have been together for 21 years. VIDEO......

Photo by 2 dogs Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! 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.......

Here, Shanghai, were your favourite stories for the month of February: Most Voted: 1. Edison Chen, Bobo Chan, Gillian Chung and Cecilia Cheung embroiled in Hong Kong's biggest sex photo scandal ever 2. The Edison Chen sex scandal rages on with more pictures released by mystery man 3. Jolin Tsai, Maggie Q, Vincey Yeung sucked into Edison Chen scandal; Gillian Chung admits involvement 4. ShanghaiExpat.com reported to the Shanghai internet police? 5. From Hong Kong......

People’s Daily reports that Tianjin-based China National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre warns Chinese Internet users of a Valentine’s ‘virus’ which may spread through emails and on-line chat services (such as QQ and MSN): watch out for "Vbs_Valentin.A" in “attachments disguised with Valentine blessings for February 14.” Now who would like to mislead us naïve lovers on such a day like February 14? This looks a tad old hat as in 2006 the same......

The Italians are famous for their invention of romance and pizza. The Chinese are famous for expertly copying the Italians. And now along with Dolce and Prada, romance and pizza have been copied in time for Valentine's Day. Perusing the delivery menu of Deli Roma Pizza, you will be delighted to discover the 10" Love Pizza–heart-shaped and extra cheesy for 98 RMB (buy-one-get-one-free, in case you don't like sharing, also comes with chicken wings and......

Sufei of Sexy Beijing never fails to crack us up! This Chinese New Year, she takes her tireless search for a Chinese husband all the way from Beijing to Hong Kong, and asks people she meets on the street whether the guys from the north or the south would make better husbands. Some of what those interviewees had to say (in both Beijing and Hong Kong) were just hilarious! Watch it!......

A reminder that Shanghai's airwaves weren't always the preserve of Love Radio's soul-negating pop or bizarre phone-ins dedicated to giving out street directions, courtesy of the Radio Heritage Foundation. Around 40 stations operated out of the city in 1940, though this dropped during the course of the Japanese occupation to less than ten by 1945. The website has put together a list of the stations that broadcast during the period, and is calling for anyone......

Above, dear reader, you will see an example par excellence of lazy journalism. The header to this post is about as hackneyed as they come, but then so is the approach of a new periodical we stumbled across this week, the rubbishly titled SLmagazine. Whereas Dickens spent 500 odd pages flitting between London and Paris, SL pompously sees its "visionary mission" as to provide a cultural link between Shanghai and London (SL - geddit?) in......

Migrant workers—let's face it, you either love 'em or hate 'em. There's just no in between. It seems that lately, they've been getting some love from the people, what with Chongqing's official Migrant Worker Day and now with the recent announcement by none other than Premiere Wen Jiabao himself that the popular "Migrant Worker Song" (or "Ode to the Migrant Worker" as we prefer to translate it when we're feeling poetic), a song written by......

As Shanghai’s punishing winter falls upon us, few things counter the chill as effectively as a steaming, bubbling hotpot. While Shanghaiist has had a long-lasting love affair with spicy Sichuan hotpot, with its communal cauldron of numbing stock and gobs of pig innards, we realize that many of our loyal readers actually shy away from rubbery entrails and multiple chopstick dipping. It is to these dear readers, and to anyone else looking for a surprisingly......

Where to go, where to go: Shanghaiist is still trying to figure out where to carb up for our big dodgeball game tonight (that's right, patches, dodgeball). Pure, the fancy new Japanese restaurant that is part of The Collection at Xintiandi, has been offering their new sushi menu for 50% off since last Thursday. The special ends tomorrow night, however, so if we enjoy ourselves tonight we may find ourselves there tomorrow as well. On......

... with SCAA's Christmas gala which happens this evening at 6.30pm at O'Malleys! RMB 100 at the door gets you a glass of Champagne, two standard drinks, comfort food, lots of free gifts and one Holiday Raffle ticket for a chance to win over 100 prizes totaling more than RMB 150,000! For those of you on the hunt for Christmas trees but don't know where to get them, Smart Shanghai has the answers! 'Tis the......

It may only be a spit away by plane, but for those of us too cheap environmentally concerned to fly, getting up to Beijing for the weekend is a bitch (despite our love of munching through a bottomless nosebag of sunflower seeds to looped pan-pipe renditions of Celine Dion songs). Which is why we don't go. So the proposed high-speed line between Shanghai and BJ, which will reportedly cane it along at 350km/h and take......

This coming Saturday, Antidote will be hosting Knifehandchop from Toronto and Sulumi from Beijing. Antidote organiser Michael Ohlsson aka DJ Ozone explains why he invited the two DJ's:These guys are producers, not just DJs. I've always been interested in music that is current, innovative, cutting-edge ... but also accessible. Not just experimental noise. And I love to share this new music with people. The music that Sulumi and KnifeHandChop are doing is very different from......

By Julien Bertrand: On his first official visit to China, French President Nicolas Sarkozy must have been dizzy, witnessing the signing of contracts worth 20 billion euros in total, comprising of 160 Airbus aircrafts, two EPR nuclear reactors (to be built in Taishan, Guangdong, by 2014) and signal equipment for Shanghai’s future 36-kilometer metro line #10, a long-awaited deal between Alstom and Shanghai Metro that will link New Jiangwan Town to Hongqiao Airport. In an......

For all of those of you who stayed at home, hunched over the computer, waiting for an update on the happenings in live music this weekend....well, we apologize. Dust yourself off, pick up the shaver and take a shower, today is a big day for music. Getting things started early, 4:30pm at 4Live, are Taiwan indie pop duo, Natural Q. Seems to be the season for indie pop, after performances last month by Carrchy and......

WHAT TYPE OF DRUNK ARE YOU? When you get pissed out of your mind, are you a harmless drunk? A violent drunk? A poetic drunk or what? We all prefer not to meet a violent drunk because that's just trouble, and it's then up to somebody like a Zapatas bouncer to take him out. Loquacious drunks, like a German acquaintance, are pains in the backside, but it's usually easy to make a quiet exit. Then......

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......

Okay, so we've all seen people writing with their feet, but have you seen anyone doing calligraphy with their HEAD? Hell, eversince we received our first computer, we've barely been able to hold a pen! We can't be too sure where this amputee-calligrapher-busker is exactly because the guy who uploaded this video did not give more information, but from a few comments we gather he is somewhere out there on the streets of Guangzhou. Okay,......

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......

Déjà vu all over again? Here it is once more, Shanghaiist's nearly quarterly review the Douban book Top Ten List: Annie Baby - "Sunian Jinshi" (Beijing-based author, photographer and blogger who writes about love and self-exploration in the big city.) JK Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (Official Chinese version, published by the People's Literature Publishing House.) Markus Zusak - "The Book Thief" (Australian author of Austrian-German heritage writes a WWII book......

Since Thursday, mallrats visiting Citic Plaza on Nanjing road may have noticed the greeting card and painting exhibit on the ground floor, right across from McDonald's. We were struck by how atypically childlike the artwork was, and then we found out why: they were all produced by children. The event is called the "Share Your Love" Art Charity program and is organized and hosted by the SMIC Private School in Pudong. We'll let the website......

Shanghaiist is looking for a few good men and women to round out its staff of talented contributors. If you think you can help make Shanghaiist just that little bit more fabulous, read on! You may be the one that we're looking for... What We Can Offer You Liberty. Free at last. Contributors on Shanghaiist get to do what they want to do, and do it on their own terms. We edit the content of......

This week's Adoptable Pet from Second Chance Animal Aid, Shanghaiist's adopted animal charity. From the SCAA: Name: Peanut Age: 1. 5 years Personality: Cuddles and plays with other social cats and enjoys being around people, although needs a short period of adjustment to a new environment. Favorite hangouts: The bed (and in between foster mom’s knees if possible); the sofa next to foster dad; and anywhere a kitten friend is chilling out. Silly habits: picking......

Yet another weekend has arrived, and seems a lot of people have been talking about the opening of the Shelter. They are holding a 'soft opening' tonight and hosting Dex, from the Underground Resistance, tomorrow. For those of you who are in the mood for more of a visual than some dude spinning on the decks (or laptop), there are plenty of live shows to choose from. Just down the street from the Shelter are......

The Red Laowai (红老外) — yes, that shirtless dude in New York that's been singing communist propaganda songs such as “My China Heart"《我的中国心》, "Without the Communist Party, there is no New China"《没有共产党就没有新中国》and "Oriental Red"《东方红》and putting his videos online — has done it again. This time, he has put his shirt on, created a music video and he's singing Jay Chou and rapping. The song 止战之殇 (The Wound That Ends War) is an anti-war song in......

If you are like us at Shanghaiist..... then weeks in advance you strategically map out a strategy to maximize potential fun for the weekend. So here are a few noteworthy events coming up that we think should not be missed and we are always (sometimes..maybe) right when it comes to picking events. The 8th of December will be a big night with PK-14 back in town as is Coldcut w/ DJ Nu-Mark and Pfadfinderei. PK-14......

The sun is out, it's a beautiful day, and there is a man who decides his shank needs some good crankin'. So he positions himself somewhat discreetly — in front of a public education banner encouraging "civilised behaviour" to welcome the Olympics — and proceeds to polish his bishop without a single care in the world. We love how NONE of the passersby seem to notice or be bothered. Surely, this must be the hallmark......