Apparently there are entire chopsticks gangs running around busy Chinese streets, preying on pedestrians ripe for the plucking! Who knows the necessary extent of kuaizi dexterity one must weld to pull metal and plastic from unsuspecting pockets, but these guys are clearly cashing out on their insane skills. more ›

According to Shanghai Daily, the "anti-pickpocketing map" was made to highlight theft hotspots in the days leading up to the Spring Festival (a notable peak time for crime). The creators of the map collected observations and experiences of theft from its users and marked the most high frequency crime scenes with red tags. more ›

Uh oh, it looks like us pedestrians aren't the only ones getting stolen from recently, thanks to the current dastardly economic situation. City police have now issued a warning reminding companies that keeping large amounts of cash on their premises may not be a good idea. Shanghai has seen a 35% rise in thefts of local areas since February, compared to the same period last year. The most robbed districts: Qingpu, Pudong, Fengxian, Songjiang and Jiading. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

News from the subway in the past couple weeks:
• "Can't the city give some street performers some space?" - Street performers in Shanghai are often lumped together with beggars as public nuisances, but often they are just free spirits chasing a musical dream. One cited example are Tuotuo and A-qing, a couple of guys who play the guitar and sing every evening at the City Plaza Mall in Jing'an, often attracting a crowd of mostly young women and foreigners before being "politely" cut short by the city beat patrol. Street performers are often cited under Article 25 of the "Regulations for the Management of City Appearance & Environmental Sanitation", which assigns fines to and confiscation of the equipment of businesses and individuals obstructing public walkways to set up stalls, sell merchandise, or otherwise affect city's public image. The author of the piece consults sociology Professor Gu at the University of Shanghai, who suggests that the city set aside certain allowed areas for use by street performers.
• "World Expo mascot makes an appearance on escalator handrails" - OK, so we lie. The actual headline names the mascot by his real name, Haibao, but who actually remembers that? (As opposed to the much more clever, literal Sea Baby, or ) Anyhow, he's showing up on escalator handrail covers at Zhongshan Park, which will eventually spread to other stations in the Shanghai Metro.
• "Metro pickpocket team scooped up by police dragnet on a dark and stormy night" - Last week a team of 80 special police agents arrested a team of 20 pickpockets living in homes and hotels near the Zhenping Rd subway station on Line 3. The group targeted mainly young women wearing backpacks on Lines 2 and 3. The police also seized nearly RMB 160 thousand in stolen property, including cash, gold jewelry, digital cameras and MP3 players.