How did we miss this?! China's Got Talent finally began auditions for its second season yesterday, and they started with Shanghai! Reports about the number of registrants who showed up in Zhabei district yesterday vary - Sina says around 9,000, which is three to four times the number of participants last year. more ›

Speaking of racism, here's something from the other side which highlights where I believe China in general wants to keep its foreigners: as showpieces that interact with the Chinese, but never to the point of becoming part OF the Chinese. Benjamin Hess actually won a round of the now infamous dating reality show If You Are the One (非诚勿扰), but he was censored out of the final episode. more ›

Remember Shanghai Rush? Seems like just yesterday that a bunch of Shanghai hopefuls got together to race around the city and participate in a bunch of zany, and sometimes just plain weird, events. In case you saw it and thought "I wanna be that... but on a larger scale" - here's your chance. more ›

Addicts beware: If you're like us and have been spending more than forty hours on the internet each week, then you're a prime candidate for internet "rehabilitation". But if you happen to miss out on the gulag-styled addiction camps, then chances are you've also been missing a whole lot of exercise, essential vitamins from sunlight, and being social. more ›

One of the most controversial entrants of the new Happy Girls, the reincarnation of that uber popular Pop Idol-like show Super Girls, has been Zeng Yike. more ›

This week's Shanghai Rush elimination interviews is a two-for-one, since we only got around to watching the last two episodes on Youku (sorry, but it loads sooo slow outside of China!). Last last week, mother and son team Norma and David got kicked off after failing the map challenge. Then most recently, Brazilian couple Rodrigo and Fernanda came in last and had to go as well. more ›

We hope everyone's readying their tv sets to watch Shanghai Rush, China's first English-language reality show, which premiers tonight at 8pm on ICS. While others have taken a sneak peek at the first episode - in which we're introduced to the ten teams of two that will be gracing our televisions for the next twelve Sundays - we decided to have a chat with the man behind the scenes: Eric Ransdell, director. more ›

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

We have a confession to make: We have been known to watch the occasional episode of America's Next Top Model. Odd that while living in America we refused to watch trashy American reality shows (other than The Real World, which we allowed in on a grandfather clause) and now that we live in China and own a Filipino TV satellite (that we won't shut up about) we seemingly can't get enough of them. What can we say — this place makes you do strange things. more ›

Shanghaiist remembers being totally hooked on the second season of the reality TV series Survivor, primarily because we were impressed with the um, substance of one particular contestant on the show. That seemed like ages ago, and we haven't watched an episode since. But we might need to start tuning back in next year, as CBS has announced that the 15th season of the show will be held in China. Originally, the reports indicated that the location would be inland China, one of the few times the show would take place in a non-island setting. Apparently, charming but geographically challenged host Jeff Probst clarified things recently: more ›

From February until August, Chinese TV "golden hours" (5-8pm) programming is going to go on moral diet, shedding excess and unwanted sex, violence, and moral degradation. This we learned from a Chinese report as well as Asia Times Online, where they quoted official Wang Weiping on the matter:

"The country's satellite TV stations should only screen ethically inspiring TV series during prime time," Shanghai Daily quoted Wang Weiping, an official from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

In an attempt to woo audiences many broadcasters have allowed reality TV shows, crime series, featuring heavy dose of violence, as well as shows with explicit sex scenes to feature prominently on Chinese television.

As the world holds it's breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. more ›

Phillyist rejoices in the Phillies' wild card chances, mourns the injuries sustained by Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse, and goes pirate on our asses. more ›

It seems everyone, including UN health officials, are giving the Chinese government kudos in terms of embracing greater media transparency in avian flu reports. This new style of Chinese government was even lauded on US network news, where they noted that the Chinese, rather than trying to keep things hush-hush like with SARS, were now showing everything the government was doing with gusto, a reality TV show about the formerly corrupt and ineffective government that turned a corner and changed its ways. more ›