At approximately 4pm today, a 30-year-old woman died at Changzheng Hospital (长征医院) after being stabbed 10 times at the Culinary Art Leisure Restaurant (厨艺休闲餐厅) attached to the D-Mall underground shopping center (迪美时尚购物中心) in People's Square. The woman's murder reportedly came at the hands of a forty-something male suspected of having romantic relationship disputes with the victim. The suspect was apprehended by police, and was found to have sustained cuts on both hands. Stanchions, rather than crime scene tape, were used to rope off the restaurant after the incident, and graphic images of the woman's body taken from a restaurant window are currently trending on Sina Weibo. more ›

Since people in Shanghai love constant surprises, the Shanghai Metro has been pulling out all the stops this summer, coming out with one hit after another on the Line 10 of Doom. We've been privileged enough to witness Line 10 trains going in the wrong direction, platform doors shattering, and now trains breaking down with all the doors shut and impossible to open from inside. more ›

At about 2pm today, the Shanghai Telecom Building on Wusheng Road near People's Square caught fire and cased an explosion, killing four people. From Shanghai Daily: "Rescue efforts are continuing in the Shanghai Telecom Building at 333 Wusheng Road, according to the Shanghai TV breaking news. More then 10 fire engines have arrived at the scene. The area has been cordoned off to traffic. The fire reportly broke out around 2pm but smoke was trapped in the building and failed to cause alarm on the outside, witnesses said. The fire was put out by 3pm and its cause is immediately unknown." more ›

Yesterday, around 11:20am, a woman committed suicide by jumping from the gym located on the 7th floor of Raffles City mall in People's Square. She broke through the roof of the Coldstone Creamery in the food mall and passed away. She was 20 years old. more ›

So not only will March 28 bring us the grand unveiling of the brand new Bund, it seems that the historic Peace Hotel has also chosen that day to welcome in the hordes. The north wing, which faces People's Square will retain its original appearance and the south wing will become a Swatch store. When it closed roughly three years ago, we mused on its history - you can read up on it here. more ›

Li Ning, the Chinese sportswear company named after (and founded by) the famous Chinese Olympic athlete, was recently featured in a Beijing Review article about the steps it's taken to open up a market in the U.S. According to the piece, Li Ning is using "exotic oriental elements" to attract buyers and entice trendsetters. How interesting! Maybe that explains Baron Davis using his NBA moves to baffle locals last summer. more ›

Even though our very own Eric Hu will be evaluating a series of hot pot restaurants for the winter season, we need to give the restaurant chain, Haidilao (海底捞火锅), a shout out for having captured the Chinese entrepreneurship in restaurant service form (even if veers very far from our Western/foregin standards of what is considered “appropriate"). If the patron has not made a reservation, Haidilao offers a variety of free services in their waiting rooms; aside from the comfortable sofas and chairs, diners may partake in shoe polishing, manicures, Wi-Fi, and even watch repair. There is a playground for kids, as well as chessboards, cards, and newspapers. And that's before actual dining has even occurred. After viewing the elaborate display of available sauces, we knew we were sold. more ›

Oh no! Apparently we haven't been checking Chinasmack enough recently because we completely missed out on this Michael Jackson tribute. On July 12th, at 5pm, a bunch of fans gathered at People's Square on Xizang Lu and Nanjing Lu to “complete MJ's unfinished dance” in one minute. So for a total of 60 seconds, a crowd of people jamoned and moonwalked and crotch grabbed and acted completely crazy! more ›

Like time lapses? We sure have some affection towards them. Perhaps sensing this, Shanghaiist contributor James Creegan recently went to People's Square to encapsulate all the frenetic activity there into a short little video. Check out the details of how it was made here. more ›

In just a few days, the People's Square rail station will be getting a new hoity toity fancy schmancy human waste disposal invention - vacuum toilets! more ›

"Donuts: Is there anything they can't do?" Homer J Simpson more ›

If living like a rock star in Shanghai has forced you to relive your college ramen days, this series is for you. ChinaOnTV shares with us a pilot from "50 Kuai Shanghai" where the host, Emily, explores familiar neighborhoods and shows us how to eat and play for less than 50RMB a day (about $7). This three part episode was filmed around People's Square. more ›

If you're dying to see a drag show like no other, you are in luck! Starting yesterday at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Broadway musical Hairspray made its debut in Shanghai and will continue to play nightly for about two weeks. After that, they are off to Beijing for a week of performances. more ›

A summary of some of the Shanghai public-transportation-related stories making the news lately:
• The longest ocean-crossing bridge in the world is set to open near Shanghai on May 1. According to the Shanghai Daily, "the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which starts in southern Shanghai and ends in Ningbo, will shorten the trip between the two cities by more than 120 kilometers". Construction on the bridge began in 2003.
• Nanjing will soon join Beijing in banning foldable bicycles from their subway system, leaving Shanghai and Guangzhou as the two major subway systems that don't explicitly forbid them.
• The 10 year-old Xujiahui subway station underground shopping street was closed for renovations on March 31st, and will reopen by the end of the year with a new set of tenants and new entertainment options. Exits 1-7 will be closed during renovations. Xujiahui is the site of the future Line 1/9/11 interchange.

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. more ›

Shanghaiist had long heard whispers of grandparents and parents heading to People’s Square at weekends and attempting to match-make their children but, assuming that it was merely half a dozen old people sat around talking, didn’t think it was anything to write home about. We were wrong. Very wrong. more ›