• Shanghai's old people know how to live (and not just longer!) To make sure their mahjong runs go late into the night and into the early mornings, they are binging on ketamine, cocaine and meth! [Guardian]
• A Shanghai court has convicted six people Thursday in connection with the Minhang building collapse, sentencing them to terms ranging from three to five years for causing a "criminal major accident." [WSJ]
• Well this sounds delicious-ish? McDonalds has said they're going to launch a new hamburger university in Shanghai to train 5,000 employees. [China Retail News]

Six people related to the collapse of the Lotus Riverside building in Minhang have plead guilty to a charge of "causing serious accidents," according to Shanghai Daily. They admitted that several of the builders and construction managers didn't have the right qualifications, which led to the mistakes that caused the 13-floor building to topple. Two major suspects in the case, Que Jingde (former assisting director of Meilong Town) and Zhang Zhiqin (Meidu Real Estate Development's legal representative) didn't appear at the hearing. more ›

As shameful PR fiascoes tend to do here, the collapse of a Minhang apartment building has now spawned a new set of regulations, to be implemented on October 1. These new construction rules will focus on safety and compel developers to check on the structural integrity, appearance, function and overall quality of apartments they build, according to Xinhua. Homeowners can refuse to pay for units that don't produce a certificate guaranteeing the quality of their apartments and authorities are allowed to hand out fines and create fault records for uncooperative developers. But people are already finding fault with the new rules - namely with the fact that developers are the ones in charge of policing themselves. As one real estate lawyer said, "How can people be their own judges? It is obviously problematic for developers to conduct quality checks on buildings that they constructed... Supervisors cannot be credible either because they are paid by the developers. The government should find an independent third-party." more ›

• Oop! Que Jingde, a high-level town government official who was a major shareholder in the Minhang building that collapsed, has now been arrested for corruption. [Shanghai Daily]
• The United Nations Environment Programme has taken stock of Shanghai's environmental efforts and said that the city has actually made strides in "greening" itself. [UN News]
• Morgan Stanley has sold The Exchange, a 52-story office and retail tower in Jing'an, to SOHO China Ltd. for $358.5 million. For those of you who are interested, only 30% of the building's space is currently rented. [AP

It's been over a month since the infamous Minhang building collapse and construction crews are finally coming in to clean up the site. Yesterday around noon, six bulldozers drove into the Lotus Riverside apartment complex to begin the removal work, according to Shanghai Daily. more ›

• Well, good for the US expo team. They were able to miraculously sign the official Expo confirmation of their presence on Friday despite only having half the funds they wanted just last week. [Shanghai Scrap]
• Speaking of the Expo, new lottery tickets - with proceeds going to Sichuan earthquake charity funds - will feature Shanghai's 2010 pride on them. [Xinhua]
• One of the best sommeliers in China is in Shanghai! Vivian Tian of Kee Club took second place in the China National Sommelier Competition and wins a trip to Argentina for her good nose/taste buds. []

What is it with buildings in Minhang? First that notorious Minhang building collapse happened, and now it seems like another building in the district has serious construction problems too. more ›

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). more ›

• An autopsy has been ordered on the bus driver who swerved into oncoming traffic on the Yangpu Bridge last week, killing three and injuring 27. [Shanghai Daily]
• Four employees of global mining giant Rio Tinto have been mysteriously detained for questioning by Chinese authorities. Nobody is sure why or how to reach them. [Reuters]
• The Financial Times talks about the importance of the Peace Hotel's restoration on the Bund. [FT]

• South China rains kill 20, force 700,000 from homes [Xinhua] "Torrential rains and floods in southern China have left at least 20 people dead and two missing. More than 700,000 people have been relocated as downpours have destroyed houses, flooded crops, cut power, damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow, according to the latest figures from the provinces of Hunan, Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. "
• SHANGHAI BUILDING COLLAPSE: Hundreds protest [Straits Times] "HUNDREDS of Chinese homeowners protested outside government offices in Shanghai demanding refunds after a 13-story apartment building in a complex under construction toppled over, newspapers reported on Sunday. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said the protesters marched on Saturday through central Shanghai, holding handwritten signs and chanting: 'Lotus Riverside, refund (our) homes!'"
• China apologizes to Mexico for tough swine flu stand [AFP] "China's Health Minister Chen Zhu Friday apologized to his Mexican counterpart for failing to warn him about the tough measures Beijing imposed on Mexicans to combat swine flu. "I regret that I did not talk first" to Minister Jose Angel Cordova, Chen said on the sidelines of a meeting in Cancun about the swine flu pandemic."