On Tuesday, dissident-artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) who was freed not too long ago from an 81-day detention, was slapped with a RMB15 million fine for tax evasion, a princely sum he has been given 15 days to cough up. The very next day, his mother Ai Ying (高瑛) and brother Ai Dan (艾丹) announced that they were mortgaging the former residence of his father, the poet Ai Qing (艾青). Following calls on Twitter by Shanghai human rights lawyer Li Tiantian (李天天) and feminist scholar Ai Xiaoming (艾晓明, no relation) to send money, his supporters also swung into action, setting up Alipay and Paypal accounts to collect donations. more ›

Yueyue's ashes have been returned to her hometown in Shandong province after her cremation in Guangzhou on October 29. Her father Wang Chichang's phone has been ringing off the hook with calls and texts from strangers, some requesting financial assistance, and others expressing doubts over his arrangement of donations he had received, accusing him of appropriating the money to himself. In a recent interview with state broadcaster CCTV, Wang said the donations he had received put him in a quandary. more ›

The outpouring of sympathy and the flood of donations from around the nation has given Yueyue's parents a major headache even as doctors continue to work overtime to save the life of the toddler caught in the Foshan double hit-and-run that has now made international headlines. more ›

A 31-year-old man from Jiangsu Province frittered away over 6 million RMB ($940,800 USD) in Beijing. The money was sent to him by his parents, who thought he was at Oxford University pursuing advanced studies. more ›

Those looking for some free cash should head out to Jiading District and keep your eyes on the sky. About 1,000RMB has already fallen from a high-rise building on Haibo Road since Wednesday. Since windows are often left open rain or shine here, one wonders if some unlucky accountant needs to invest in some paperweights... more ›

In 2008, Patti Waldmier of the Financial Times referred to a McKinsey survey that said, “Chinese consumers are becoming more price conscious, less brand-loyal and generally harder to please.” Oh, how times have changed. more ›

The Heritage Foundation has again published their infographic tracking Chinese investment abroad. The totals do not include bonds and only include transactions over $100 million. We posted their graphic for 2009 last year, and comparing it with 2010's figures shows huge growth of investment in places like Brazil and Nigeria, which more than tripled in both countries. If you're interested, be sure to read the Heritage Foundation's full analysis, which includes trends over the past few years and investments by sector (energy and power were by far the winners this year.) more ›

• After having a read about the stats of disposable chopsticks...We decided that it was a moral imperative to take your own chopsticks out to eat.
• We got excited about Ricky Gervais bringing 'The Office' to China and discussed the influx of foreign television being remade for a Chinese audience.
• We were miffed when we found out that 51.25% of sold property in Shanghai remains vacant. Way to drive up rents, rich people!

Is this what Mugabe came over to Shanghai for? Rumors are rising that Zimbabwe may be considering using the Chinese yuan as legal tender, rather than their now completely useless Zimbabwe dollar (officially stopped in 2009). Allegedly, tourist department head Hon. Walter Mzembi told , "I hope that in the future, people in Zimbabwe will be able to use Chinese bank cards and the yuan to make purchases, even take out RMB loans." more ›

Holy cow, no wonder China is now cracking down on naked officials! A study conducted for Credit Suisse AG found that as much as $1.5 trillion in income made here in China is strictly "off the books." That represents nearly 30% of China's gross domestic product, and would make the average urban disposable household income 32,154RMB (90% more than official figures). Well - it'd be one thing if it had been distributed evenly amongst the urban populace, apparently most of that extra cash is going to the top 10% of Chinese households. more ›

During a routine trip to Bank of China to send money back to the fatherland, we discovered that the former ceiling on funds that can be sent in one day - $500, without exhaustive documentation from one's employer - has been raised in conjunction with Expo. Customers can now send up to $1,500 per day to foreign bank accounts. As was the case before, an administrative commission of RMB 200 applies, though as much as $10,000 can be sent (over a period of several days, naturally) before a second fee is applied. At this time, it's unknown as to whether these changes will expire once the Expo ends, but we plan on transferring as much dough as possible prior to November 1, just in case. more ›

The Falungong group may have all the money in the world to spread their anti-CCP message through TV stations and newspapers, but they still haven't forgotten to win hearts back on their homebase here by putting their propaganda on the humble 1RMB note, as @AlexBowman discovers. The writing alleges that the CCP has created fake self-immolation stories, killed Falungong members, stolen their internal organs, and calls upon heaven to destroy the party.
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Nothing quite gets the point across like a good graphic, and here's a lovely one by The Heritage Foundation documenting where China puts its money overseas. Of note, the huge amount of investments in Australia (guess it pays off to have a Prime Minister with a strong grasp of Chinese) and Sub-Saharan Africa. Foreign Policy analyzes the data better than I ever can, so head over there for more info... and to The Heritage Foundation for more infographics! more ›

Marriage is forever, unless you get divorced, or so the saying goes. Well, the Shanghai version also includes "or want to make some money really quick:" couples who divorce receive double the state's compensation for relocation, so the new trick is to get divorced, get paid, and then get remarried. more ›

Today's video of the day is about pyramid schemes: of course, pyramid schemes are creepy all around the world, but in China they've got a je ne sais quoi that makes them creepy in a Waco sort of way. Scarier is the fact that an estimated ten million people are involved in get-rich-quick schemes around the country: judging from the poor conditions and confinement of the "members", we think it would be more advantageous if the pyramid scheme just switched to treating internet addiction. Or better yet, a pyramid scheme treatment camp that was itself a pyramid scheme. more ›

If you've ever wondered why Zhejiang has a penchant for drawing successful businessmen from its ranks, then you probably won't be surprised to know of the "22 Rules for Zhejiang Businessmen." Of course, it's a little seedier than what you'd find in business ethics books, but it seems to be pretty spot on from what we know of Zhejiang businessmen and their practices: Jiaren.com lovingly calls them the "Jews of the Orient," which we guess is a compliment? more ›

Yeah, it's sad but true: in order to build Disneyland Shanghai, a lot of villagers in Chuangsha will have to be forcibly relocated in order to free up space for the 4.12 square kilometer theme park. Like usual, the government has promised to provide those relocated with monetary compensation, but hasn't revealed exactly how much they'll give out. As a result, farmers have begun to erect new buildings overnight to try to drive up the value of their land. One part entrepreneurial, one part sad: but with the government notoriously bad at providing displaced people with fair settlements, who can blame them? more ›

Police have succeeded in breaking records for confiscating more counterfeit money than ever before. Since the crackdown was announced in January, over 280 people have been arrested, 190 cases involving counterfeit money have been cracked, and over 1 billion yuan has been confiscated. more ›

Despite fears of the great economic recession destroying China's economy with the rest of the world, the average disposable income for Shanghai residents rose 8% since last year to 21,871RMB per person. That only counts for city residents, but even those not lucky enough to have the right hukou have still seen their annual salary raise: the average income for city dwellers is 15,051 RMB, which is 4.4% higher than last year. We've got some ideas, but what do you think all that extra pocket cash is being spent on? more ›

People's Daily reports that the number of smaller denomination fake bills has increased sixfold since 2005. However, the overall amount of fake money in circulation is decreasing: a ten month crackdown by the government has seized 684 million counterfeit yuan so far. To avoid suspicion, counterfeiters have begun to make more fake 50 and 20 yuan bills, which are less likely to be checked for authenticity. Most of the fake money is made in Guangzhou and distributed through Henan and Hunan, so it seems that Shanghai is at less risk. But next time you break a hundred, you might want to check your change a little closer than normal Photo: QQ News more ›

Yes, it's been a very serious day, which means we need to wash it down tonight with something a little more silly - like this ad about making money multiply. Hopefully you're already at home because this vid could be considered a little NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Those crazy German ad companies - what will they think of next? Also, watch for a Chairman Mao cameo near the end. All we can say is... Don't do it! He'll either confiscate or tear up any money babies you make after the first one! more ›

Photo from Laurence&Annie more ›

We chanced upon this old, but super awesome picture of a RMB50 bill recreated with eggs on Neatorama. The art installation was exhibited in Guangzhou about two years ago. more ›

Security cameras at an ATM belonging to the Agricultural Bank of China in Zhengzhou, the Henan provincial capital, have captured a crime in action committed by a (not too intelligent) young man in a suit. Upon withdrawing some cash, the man did not take his money immediately, but instead swapped one of the RMB100 notes with a fake one from his pocket and, if we're understanding this correctly, fed it back into the machine and got a new note in exchange for it! The ATM, like many other ATM's across China could not tell real notes from fake notes. Bank employees, on finding the fake note, immediately made a police report, and the young man was nabbed on his next attempt to trick the ATM. The young man told police that he had heard from his friends that ATM's would take in fake notes and give new ones in return and so proceeded to try his luck. The police spokesperson said this guy was guilty of "severely disrupting the banking and financial system of our nation". more ›

The Economist has issued its latest Big Mac Index which uses the price of McDonald's hamburgers to compare international currencies. The fast food dish is a funny but apt international measuring stick, since its 31,000 stores in 119 countries make it a widespread global phenomenon. But all those burgers are telling essentially the same story, at least as it relates to China: the yuan is severely undervalued. That might be bad for foreign economic competition, but it’s good for us — the Chinese burger, at $1.41, is the second most affordable in the world, beat out by India for the cheapest spot by a single cent. And people wonder where the Chinese obesity epidemic comes from. more ›

According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center, online shopping expenditures in the first half of 2008 total 16.2 billion RMB, with Shanghai leading the way in per capita consumption. Looks like China's netizens are doing more than just stirring up trouble. more ›

Within just three days of the introduction of the new Olympic bills noted for their absence of Chairman Mao's portrait, the price of the 10 yuan bills has shot up a hundredfold, with some collectors willing to part with RMB1,100 just to get hold of one of them. Some traders at Beijing's Madian Philatelic Market expect prices to come down to about RMB300 eventually. more ›

We're always on the look out for a cheap pint, because we're tight and like a drink purely as a service to you dear reader. Unfortunately, unless you like sharing your table with overly friendly bar staff and/or cockroaches, finding a decent beer that doesn't hurt your wallet can some times be a little tricky in this city. It'll come as no surprise for you to learn then that when it comes to buying a pint of beer, Shanghai currently sits at the top of the average price table for China. more ›

The man who posed as the farmer on some of the old renminbi notes is still alive... and he's in Shanghai!
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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... more ›