Continuing in the dead, too-hot-to-move season of the Shanghai/China music scene, this week you can scrape by on another round of local garage/punk rock meet up Trash A Go-Go, Japanese punk rock at MAO, and French punk at LOgO. Read on for details, or check out our calendar for more! more ›

British culture magazine Monocle has an interesting look at Taiwanese pop and its infiltration into the mainland. Despite the decades of turbulence between Taiwan and China, the entertainment mega-machine based out of Taipei has barely hiccuped in its flow from the island to its more than receptive audience here. 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 ›

Tonight (Tuesday, 3 June) "Hip-Hop" group the Black Eyed Peas are playing a hastily arranged benefit gig for around 700 people at the Shanghai Concert Hall. more ›

Well, 2007 is pretty much over. This Shanghaiist has never really been a big New Year's person, maybe because we always end up the odd one out at midnight or the one that has to break up the drunken fights that erupt. But, in the spirit of the season we have decided to do that traditional (way over done) recap of the past year. 2007 was a big year for music in Shanghai and below are our picks for 2007...and of course this list is biased, memories are subjective to each person and the most memorable shows for me usually tend to be because of personal involvement at some level. more ›

Shanghaiist finally made it back from the Beijing Pop Festival and had a great time. We give respect to the organizers bringing some great international bands to China, but do recognize that this festival has a lot of logistical and organizational flaws to work out before it can claim to be of global standards. Being great at weaseling our way into places we don't exactly belong, Shanghaiist was able to get on stage during the Marky Ramone set which was all the more exciting by the presence of Joe and Dave of the Queers on guitar and bass. The Queers are excited about a China tour that might happen next year. more ›

The emergence of China as a commercial superpower is, by some way, the most important economic phenomenon of our time. In the last few years, analysts of the global economy have had to rewrite their computer models and recalibrate their slide rules to cope with the People's Republic. more ›

Shanghaiist usually waits until Friday to update you on this weekend's live shows, but this week we decided to actually get something in a timely manner (actually we are going to Beijing for the Pop Festival so will be partying way too hard to write this later). Yuyintang, those stalwart music promoters, are back with a show tonight (Thursday) at the Zendai Moma out in Pudong. If this morning's weather holds out it should be a great night to make the schlep out to the boonies and catch Norwegian, brit-popish band, Flare and Shanghai based Boys Climbing Ropes. We have also heard from various sources that 2nd Hand Rose will be in town playing at some sort of art function tonight. more ›

Hardcore Public Enemy fans in China, don't attempt to kill yourself or your flat mate just yet. According to Beijing promoters, Public Enemy is not canceling their BJ Pop Festival appearance scheduled for the 8th of September. So put in your gold teeth, hang some bling around your neck and get your ass on a plane. more ›

Two days ago, we received this email from a local event promoter: more ›

Punk might not be dead, but it seems that, due to permit issues, the Exploited tour is. What Shanghaiist can't figure out is why the Exploited, in all their anti-government glory, would even apply for permits (many of the bands who come for China tours do it on tourist visas). Any one who has already purchased tickets for the show will be able to take them back to 4Live for a full refund. more ›

Shanghaiist loves good music gossip, and we are tickled purplish-red (our face usually turns this color after being overly tickled) to be the first to report that Busdriver, underground rapper extraordinaire, will be coming to China in October. Don't know who Busdriver is? Well, damn it, you should. more ›

Disgruntled Shanghaiist critics will have a fit when they realize that the prison in question is in the Philippines. To which I reply, "Black or white, Chinese or Phils: Jack-o knows no borders." more ›

Yeahhhhh, boyyyyyyy! more ›

It's possible that we just caught the recently opened Piccone Live Music Bar on a bad night, but honestly the most interesting aspect of our experience was the toilet in the men's bathroom. more ›

Our brothers and sisters at Londonist breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday — they no longer have to redesign their logo. They will remain, for the foreseeable future, the city with the biggest ferris wheel. Pop open the champagne, guys! They have Shanghai to thank. Our idiot city planners have decided to scrap plans to build a "spinning giant": more ›

This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. more ›

is a hit. It's getting rave reviews, grossing millions, and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour. more ›

Sensing that our caffeine levels were low, we recently made trip to the convenience store at the end of the block. There we saw Christina Aguilera on the cover of a magazine on the bottom of the rack, which upon closer inspection was the new Chinese Rolling Stone. You might recall that we wrote about this back in late March, after the inaugural issue came out with Cui Jian on the cover. They ran into problems with the publications authorites back then, and it looked like that even coming out with a second issue was going to be a problem. more ›

How does the other half live? Shanghaiist is talking about our print media counterparts — you know, the ones that have actual deadlines and office space to fuss over. We won’t pretend to put ourselves in their shoes (well, some of us might, seeing as how we occasionally swing both ways — in the non-biblical sense, of course), but we can, at least appreciate an alliterative headline, a punchy lead, and some slick, savvy reporting. Oh, and artsy photos — we like those too. So without further ado, we bring you Shanghaiist Reads, where we tell it like they tell it — only better. And without costing you a dime. (Just kidding ... we love our local rags. And they’re free.) Think of our summary of what's in the local mags as a tribute to our print brothers and sisters who fight the good fight — and still have time to come to our website when their bosses aren’t looking. more ›

"The Japanese have the kimono and the Koreans also have their traditional.clothing. But not the Han people, although they represent the largest of China's 56 ethnic groups," said Liu, who actively promotes cuture.

Shanghaiist asked its contributors (and a few "music people" in town) to list their five favorite albums released (or yet-to-be released) somewhere in the world in 2006. Got a list of your own? Submit your favorite 2006 music as a comment to this post. Enjoy! more ›

Yeah, we know -- unfair fight. Pop music versus (diluted agitprop) theater. But that's what this article is about: more ›

GigShanghai: The scoop on the city's live music scene more ›

Sure seems like it lately. Scientists have called the Yangtze River (heard of it?) "cancerous." This is not good news. The Yangtze is China's longest river. It is also Shanghai's main source of drinking water. Pop Quiz: How many tons of wastewater flowed into the Yangtze in 2004? If you guessed 16.75 billion, you win! Fifty kuai for a bottle of Evian doesn't sound so bad now, does it? And if you think this story is just propaganda dreamed up by the evil Western press, think again. It looks like it was first reported on by Xinhua. Does this make Shanghai a really big "cancer village"? more ›

In the past few months, Shanghai has been visited by quite a few notable foreign musicians: a group of wily geriatric rockers, one-third of a has-been disco brotherhood and a spiritual singer with a love for Chinese orphans. There's also been a consistent lineup of bands playing Shanghai's underground rock scene. But what of all those poor souls in the city that yearn for some live Chinese pop music? Their prayers will be answered this summer, when a steady stream of Mando-pop talent make their way through town. more ›

) competition, will soon appear on collector's stamps throughout China. For its incorporation of SMS voting into its decision-making process, cultural critic Zhu Dake declared Super Voice Girls "blazed a trail for cultural democracy" in China. China National Philatelic Corp. is eager to cash in on that trailblazing, as they are set to issue a series of eight stamps (RMB 36) and a set of eight commemorative envelopes (RMB 38) designed by Guo Chenghui. more ›

The Shanghai Evening Post tells us that Mission: Impossible III (or M : I : III, as the cool kids are calling it) will make its world premier in Shanghai. Yes, Shanghai! The red carpet event is slated for April 22 at the Shanghai Grand Theater. But leave your camcorders at home: more ›

The New York Times has posted a four-minute video entitled "What's on China's TV Tonight?" It's narrated by David Barboza, an NYT writer based in China, and focuses on Hunan province, which, thanks to mega-hit Super Voice Girls, is the epicenter of China's television boom. The video shows clips of SVG -- including eventual champion Li Yuchun's awful rendition of Bryan Adams' awful "Everything I Do" -- but it also mentions a couple new shows, like the Gong Show-esque Who's the Hero?, where one guy tried to undress women and serve tea to them using a forklift and another bloody-mouthed guy set some kind of record for opening bottles with his teeth, and another show that tries to find China's next young ping pong star. more ›

It didn't seem like Tom Cruise was in China all that long, considering 40 percent of the film is reportedly supposed to take place here (but apparently not all Shanghainese will be sad to see him go). Cruise and Mission: Impossible 3 director J.J. Abrams talked with journalists yesterday atop Bund 18. They must not have said much because we only found one quote in the two stories we read about the "press conference." Cruise said of Shanghai: "It's spectacular. It's unbelievable. It's going to look extraordinary on film." He said he plans on coming back to China as a tourist some day. There was also reportedly a moment during the rooftop gathering that involved Cruise singling out a Chinese journalist who started talking on his mobile phone -- Cruise insisted that he talk to the person on the other end ... and he even said Ni hao and Xie xie! He is SO DREAMY! (Good thing it wasn't a squirt phone.) more ›