It's not been a good week for Chinese women in Western media. First this poor pensioner failed spectacularly in her attempt to alleviate stress, and now a woman in Beijing has gone and given fuel to the female/Chinese driver stereotypes. Apparently she smashed through a bush and a lamppost before claiming her free car wash because she accelerated 'a bit' too hard. more ›

Chinese drivers, our heart goes out to you (when you're not trying to kill us on a daily basis). We know of the Book of Job-like struggles you face just to get your hands on a car, now one of the main face-maintaining/wife-snagging accoutrements in contemporary China. Import taxes and price markups are absurd: the starting cost of a 2011 BMW 650i Convertible in the United States begins at 550,880RMB ($85,550 USD), while the same car in China starts at 2,039,000RMB ($316,650 USD). more ›

Four people were killed in a scuffle between rival construction companies in Gansu province last weekend when arguments over a parking dispute escalated to outright violence. After a highway construction company started a fight with a rival railway construction company, the railway construction company set off explosives in revenge against the other crew. Just another good reason never drive or own a vehicle in China. more ›

Also known as "dogging" (or is that a term for sex in a public place in general?), bumping uglies in your car has been a favorite pasttime of pimply teens and enthusiastic lovers since the dawn of the automobile. Apparently that trend has arrived with full force in China, where it is known as "car quaking" (车震, chēzhèn). Thanks to this post circulating on the Chinese internet, we now have a map of the best places in Shanghai to grab a park 'n' pet. more ›

Elsewhere - Indian-born billionaire Lakshmi Mittal - the fifth richest man in the world - has emerged as a contender to buy Birmingham, while Arsenal faces a takeover bid from an Arab tycoon Mohammed Al Hashimi who was a partner in a £450million bid to buy Liverpool. In the meanwhile, ousted billionaire Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is reportedly poised to buy English football's Manchester City, although the Bank of Thailand said it has not received a money transfer request from Thaksin. Are Asians going to take over the English Premier League someday? 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 ›

Shanghaiist has been hearing a lot of rumours of late of dodgy, well, more dodgy behaviour along the Tongren Lu bar strip south of Nanjing Road. This morning, Shanghaiist was forwarded an email by our golf-enthralled editor via one of his trusted acquaintances. The email contained details regarding the assault of two expat males on Tongren Lu this week. more ›

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's? more ›

There's a few things in this life that start with the letter M that Shanghaiist doesn't like. Malingerers, marmite, and men with no moustache but full beards (OK, the last one is a bit of a stretch M-wise). Some would say that these are irrational and ill-conceived categorisations, but there is another one on the list that isn't — and that is mosquitoes. And it looks like Shanghaiist isn't going to enjoy our coming summer evenings. more ›

Photo from k.enne. more ›

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did. more ›

Torontoist has some awesome, cutting edge news: A movie is being made about a gay hockey player - filmmakers even got approval from the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs! Also awesome: Toronto's "Do the Sneeze Sleeve Campaign". And most awesome is this dreamy photograph of Toronto's skyline in fog. more ›

Photo from Allan Siew. more ›

The band, scheduled to perform at 7:30 with an end time around 9:30, was bumped up to accommodate a double booking with a Chinese acrobat show intended to entertain "distinguished guests" both of the governmental, business and tourist variety, said the Yunfeng Theatre manager. more ›

Is it strange that we had bowling during gym class in high school? The end-of-class bell would ring, we'd all head down to the parking lot and pile into our respective cars and drive on over to the P-Nut Bowl. After bowling two games, we'd drive back and get to school in time for Calculus. We always thought it was normal, but based on the funny looks we get when we tell that story, maybe it's not. Hmmmm ... maybe rural Pennsylvania is different from the rest of the world after all. more ›

Here are Miss Chen's qualifications for the 2006 Da Er Wen (达尔文) Award: more ›

How’s that an “escape” from Shanghai you ask? Good question. And a “captivating jungle experience” in a freaking mall? Point taken. Alright, there is still the miniature golf part, which is the real/only reason why we’re telling you about this place. more ›

Imagine this: A high school parking lot in Irvine, a small city in southern California. It's the mid-1990s and Shanghaiist, who in his wildest dreams had never thought he'd grow up to be a blogger, is busy scraping a faux-"handicapped" sticker of a stick figure in a wheelchair smoking a bong off his car. So this is what teenagers do to relieve their boredom in the O.C. (Orange County or 橙县). more ›

Shanghaiist was out in the neighborhood of the Nanpu Bridge taking some photos yesterday, and on our way back, we saw a crowd gathering in the parking lot across the street. We thought it was a fight or argument, and were surprised to see two men laying immobile on the ground. Considering the temperature outside we thought it might have been heat stroke, but judging from the fact that there were two men and that they both looked a bit roughed up, it seemed that perhaps there was a traffic accident and that they had collided: One of them had a moped or scooter that was laying on its side. It was only with the arrival of more cops and the cordoning off of the crime scene -- or was it the pool of blood that was seeping out of one man's head -- that we realized that this was more serious than that. more ›

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. more ›

It's not just Shanghai residents who are mightily miffed about upping and leaving their homes for what they believe is poor compensation. more ›

Shanghaiist found itself out at the Qi Zhong Tennis Stadium yesterday, clutching a media pass for the final day of competition in the FINA 8th World Short Course Swimming Championships. Outside, the rain pelted down in sheets and the parking lots were awash with water. This seemed rather apt, considering that the organizers had taken the ATP Masters tennis court and turned it into a 25-metre pool. If only they'd turned the forlorn "Media Snacks Centre" into a Burger King. more ›

It finally happened. Sometime between the early evening last night and this afternoon, Shanghaiist's bicycle was stolen. Yes, it was locked. Twice. And no, we did not bring it into our apartment, to the collective shock and incredulity of our landlord and the retired woman that minds the front entrance of our apartment block. Shanghaiist had naively believed that the four flights of stairs we schlepped the thing every time we used it (almost daily) would be enough to deter what few opportunists found their way into our building in a “safe” part of town. But ultimately, one of the immutable truths of Shanghai life prevailed. Your bike WILL get stolen. more ›

The following is an excerpt from an actual IM conversation that took place between Shanghaiist editor Dan Washburn and this Shanghaiist contributor between 8:11 pm and 8:27 pm on Sunday, March 19. The subject? An ad posted on SmartShanghai advertising the launch of an unfortunately named night club in Shanghai and the arrival of one of boxing's greatest figures (prior to the early 1990s) -- Mike Tyson -- to our fair city. more ›

First, due to construction work on the Hongmei Road elevated highway, pedestrian crossings have been covered over and the only way for residents of the Gumei area to reach their home is to brave their way across several lanes of near-highway speed Humin Road traffic. more ›

Shanghaiist likes dining out at different restaurants with friends -- surprise, surprise -- but we are also a busy woman of the '00s, so we are glad we can finally cut out the fuss of flipping through all the restaurant cards we collect. Now, all we need to do is dial one number -- 5757 5777 -- to decide where to eat. Make reservations at any restaurant (almost) in town with one phone number? Cool. Sign us up. more ›

You might want to go out and invest in Chery. China is about to lift its ban on small, low emission automobiles. Evidently small cars are had been restricted in 84 Chinese cities because of "noise and air pollution, poor safety and unattractive appearance." Um ... more ›

Shanghaiist liked this little article from Business Week which focuses on the innovative architectural landscaping that is going to make certain places look less shitty remake China from the ground up. Yessirree, we've got the National Swimming Center in Beijing, the new Beijing International Airport, the Shanghai World Financial Center (which looks like a huge sewing pin or snazzy bottle opener for giants), Shanghai's planned Donghai bridge that will connect us with the outlying islands, and the Dongtan eco-city on Chongming Island (the first phase to be completed in 2010, the whole thing by 2040 ... which means just in time for Shanghaiist to retire in what we hope will become an eco-Brooklyn on the Yangtze). There's also some less monumental but also interesting concepts, like "The Commune", eleven avant-garde villas by the Great Wall which we think is being run as a hotel, and what to us is the best of the lot -- the "Linked Hybrid", a residential complex which will house 2,500 people in 700 geothermally heated and cooled apartments that will be connected at a certain floor with a ring of cafes. Though we had problems opening up some related web pages, we think it will also include a movie theater, a kindergarten, and parking for all those extra Bentleys. more ›

Shanghaiist is always relieved to hear that we’re flying out of Hongqiao rather than Pudong airport. First, Pudong is just so far away (anyone know if they’ll be extending the Maglev anytime soon?). Second, the food at the Pudong International Airport is … well, we don’t want to bring it up again (literally). Not that Hongqiao is brimming with quality dining establishments, just that it’s so much quicker to get there from the city and it’s often for a domestic flight, so you don’t feel the need to kill time by eating. more ›