“China’s reputation in the Arab world will be hurt to some degree [because they don't support Syrian intervention], but it will surely be quite temporary and limited. After all, China should not be required to agree with others every time. Otherwise, its reputation, including that for willpower, might be negatively impacted even more in the longer term both among the Chinese public and some, or perhaps many, nations in the world.” more ›

Seen in the elevator of a building near Beijing's Renmin University: the handiwork of a math geek! Be honest now, how many of you will be able to navigate through this? more ›

NetEase tells us of the most creative and harmonious protest we have ever seen in all our years here:

April 22 -- This afternoon, Wu Hao (伍皓), the deputy director of the Yunnan Propaganda Bureau arrived at the live recording studio of the Renmin University to give a lecture. At 2pm, after the host of the event gave the audience an introduction of Wu Hao, Wu stepped on stage and proceeded to start with his presentation. But he had barely started with his lecture when a 25 year old youth went on stage, and threw a stack of 50 cent bills at him, shouting, "Wu Hao! Wu mao!" [Editor's note: Wu mao means 50 cents in Chinese]. Later in the day, a Chengdu journalist managed to get in touch with the young protestor, a Wang Zhongxia who says he is a Renmin University graduate. Wang says in the morning, he went to the bank to exchange 30RMB worth of bills to "shower Wu Hao with respect". Subsequent attempts to get in touch with Wu Hao via phone calls and text messages went unanswered. [Translation by Shanghaiist]

Harshing the mellows of college kids all over China, the Ministry of Education has announced a ban on off-campus student housing:

In a notice issued on Friday, the ministry instructed all universities to make the dormitories "another front for political and ideological education" to create "a good climate for the students' growth." more ›

Over a year ago, a Chinese billionaire businessman made headlines when he published a seeking marriage ad in the newspaper where one of the requirements of the woman be that she is a virgin at the time of marriage. more ›

Photo by Peijin Chen taken from 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. more ›

Something's definitely afoot in the smoky backrooms of Zhongnanhai and the smoke-free and spooky chambers of the Vatican: China is pulling The Da Vinci Code off screens nationwide. So far, there is no official reason, just conjectures. The Scotsman said that it had something to do with Beijing's relations to the Vatican: more ›