Despite being around for a while now, Morrocan eatery Marrakech is holding its grand opening tonight. The details we were given were rather brief, but apparently visitors will be able to sample the food and drink between 6pm and 9pm. The place is well worth a visit, if not for the tasty (if somewhat small-portioned) fare on offer, then for the after-dinner Afro-beat sessions and belly dancing to be had in the bongo room, complete......

We seriously LOVE some of the things we hear about going on in our city. Yes, some of the people we meet here can be harsh and mean, but this story goes to show that humanity still exists in Shanghai. Two weeks ago, Rebekah Pothaar, an executive with Ctrip.com, found that her ayi's husband was in a serious motorbike collision. They went with her to the hospital and found that surgery was going to cost......

With Christmas just around the corner, there are plenty of parties to attend, plus more wine tastings and other opportunities to get thoroughly blotto. Here's what Winopete has heard about so far: Nov 29 Oriented Happy Hour at MoCA art gallery in People's Park. Please visit www.oriented.com for details. Nov 29-Dec 1 Italian wine exhibition at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre (Tongren and Yan'an Roads) hosted by the Institiute of Fine Italian Wine. No other details......

This week's Shanghai pub news HAMILTON HOUSE: Hamilton House Restaurant and Bar (137 Fuzhou Road 福州路137号) opened last week and is located at the corner of Fuzhou and Jiangxi Roads, opposite the Metropole Hotel and a couple of blocks back from the Bund. Hamilton House is a 1930s art deco building with nice high ceilings and reminds me of many bars in Melbourne. On the ground floor (i.e. first floor for you North American readers)......

RUSSIAN STANDARD VODKA: At a recent vodka blind tasting event at Sashas (corner of Hengshan and Dongping Rds 衡山路/东平路), the winning vodka out of the field of 23 was something called Russian Standard. A few days ago we were invited to partake in consuming a bottle of this drink. Very neutral and smooth, it ended up going down particularly well when served on ice with some crushed basil stirred in. Sashas hasn't confirmed a definite......

This rather unassuming restaurant sits near the corner of Changde Road and Xinzha Road. It looks far too kitschy to be any good so we were skeptical when a Chinese pal suggested we eat there, but he seemed to recognize it as being somewhat well known. The decorations inside are about what you’d expect from a place with lanterns hanging outside, but frankly we didn’t go to the restaurant for the atmosphere, we went for......

In preparation for the upcoming National Day holiday and the enormous amount of tourists that it will bring to the city's eateries, top restaurant review website Dazhong Dianping (roughly "Reviews by/for the Masses") has posted a list of the best locations to indulge in five of Shanghai's local specialties: Shengjian: those small, pan-fried baozi that you see people lining up on the sidewalk waiting to savor. Dianping recommends Xiaoyang Fry-Dumplings at 54-60 Wujiang Rd (previously......

Shanghaiist loves our dear readers because you never hesitate to let us know when you disagree when it comes to a restaurant recommendation. Well, now's your chance to put a little of your own skin in the game. Famed restaurant guide Zagat is currently collecting survey responses regarding restaurants in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Users who submit the survey by the September 23rd deadline will receive a free copy of the resulting 2008 China's......

Call to abandon wooden chopsticks [China Daily] Restaurant owners and patrons should abandon the use of disposable chopsticks for the good of their health and the environment, an official with the China Cuisine Association (CCA), has said. The country produces and discards more than 45 billion pairs of wooden chopsticks every year, at a cost to the environment of about 25 million trees. Protective pig takes bite out of man's penis [Shanghai Daily] A......

Closing Dish: Although we haven't ventured out into the heat to check with our own eyes, we did hear from a very credible source that, at least for the 12 minutes he was standing in front of the place, Rendezvous Cafe appears closed for business. Apparently, all the lights were out and a sign written in Chinese had been placed on the locked doors. It wasn't too long ago that Rendezvous was duking it out......

Shanghai. It is all happening. Here's the proof: Friday, June 1st The Millionaire Fair Tired of your staid millionaire lifestyle? Shanghaiist is. Well, you better join us as we swing by the Shanghai Exhibition Center this weekend to get some new ideas. No. 1000 Yanan Road, Shanghai. Big Beer Bonanza at Kommune American Beer Craft Partners have iced thirty different beers from ten different breweries. The rest is self explanatory. A beer-filled night wouldn't be......

Editor's Note: Sorry, forgot to send these out last night in our rush to get to the Sonic Youth show. Leading Chinese Enviro Activist Detained "In the meantime,here, from today’s Wall Street Journal, is another thing all those green minded local officials are doing: locking up irksome environmental activists" China to keep 2008 Olympics 'dry' "Beijing will use aircraft, missiles and cannons in what could amount to a massive umbrella over the city to keep......

Shanghai in hot debate over pets "The anti-pet brigade, angered over noise and mess from domestic cats and dogs, is lobbying the authorities for tougher restrictions on pet ownership, as the number of people keeping them without a license increases." FedEx plans new domestic China service "FedEx's domestic China service will flow from its hub at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in east China's Zhejiang province. ... Domestic carrier Okay Airways will provide air transportation,......

Potatoes grown from seeds that mutated in space while aboard a Chinese spacecraft are the newest culinary fad in Shanghai. This potato, dubbed the Purple Orchid Three, is supposedly going to be popular choice for upscale Valentine's Day dinners: Several Shanghai restaurants have developed dishes using Purple Orchid Three 'space potatoes,' claiming that the unusual colour of the vegetables represents the 'nobility and romance' of Valentine's Day, the official Xinhua news agency said. Hong Kong......

Shanghaiist was browsing around on SHExpat Forums yesterday, and came across a thread discussing the loss of one of Shanghai's renowned cheap eating establishments — Turk's. To our recollection, Turk's Restaurant was last seen on Xiangyang Road's restaurant strip during the final days of the old fake market's death-throes. The row of shops that occupied the western boundaries of the old market was soon reduced to rubble along with the remainder of a big portion......

We're a little late on this, but we're sad to report Shanghai has lost one of its better dining options: 239. Shanghai-Eats had the scoop last week: Shanghai lost a star earlier this month, when Eduardo Vargas' popular 239 Restaurant on Shimen Yi Lu was forced to close its doors unexpectedly. It seems 239's landlord wanted to cash in on the sudden property value appreciation as a result of the residential complex going up next......

Because Shanghaiist is too poor to afford satellite TV, he's often had to entertain himself with China's favourite (and only) English-language channel, especially when he's suffering from insomnia. Today's news coverage includes a story of what is touted as "Asia's first Dark Restaurant" which has just opened in Beijing (we briefly told you about this on Jan. 5). The video to the right is from a Chinese-language CCTV report. The restaurant experience begins in a......

Michael Ohlsson is an American living in Shanghai. He's a DJ named Ozone. He writes about Shanghai's music scene for City Weekend. And, like many people we know, he eats meals ever day. On his Weird Meat blog (where he writes about eating, um, weird things) he recently posted a list of restaurants he likes in Shanghai. It's not meant to be a definitive list, but he does say he has worked as a food......

After almost half a year, Shanghai’s iconic “alternative lifestyle nightclub”, Home Bar, officially reopened last week under its new brand, Pinkhome. It has been transformed from its previous existence into what is China’s first gay multiplex including a dance club, restaurant/lounge, and hotel. As some readers may remember, there was a pre-soft (is that a word?) opening last October for the bar, after which the establishment was closed again until renovations were completed. For those......

We've heard a lot of buzz about Arch opening up a new place on Changshu Lu near Changle Lu. And we had friends who were looking forward to smoke-free Mondays and Wednesdays within walking distance from home. Too good to be true? Seems to be the case based on this email sent out to the aFuturePerfect mailing list by Arch owner Frank Steffen: Dear and most valued customers, As some of you might have already......

Another week, another edition of Shanghaiist Reads. SH and Shanghai Talk are on the clock … SH With Shanghai fashion week in full bloom, it’s hardly surprising that the bulk of SH’s coverage is devoted to hot young designers, hot fads, and hot, hot hotness. “Design Time” is a no-frills sampling of the city’s rising fashionistas, though it’s probably safe to say that an all-gray background is hardly the most fashionable layout to accompany all......

Shanghaiist Reads returns—to the delight of some, to the dismay of others—with a blow-by-blow markup of the Oct. 20, 2006 issue of SH. Get your highlighters out, kiddies: FBC (Foreign-Born Chinese)—it’s a way of life, not an identity crisis. Mercifully, SH steers their coverage away from asking, “But do they truly fit in? Those poor, confused FBCs?,” by presenting a varied cast of entrepreneurs, talk-show programmers, and marketing consultants. Of course, dreaded buzzwords like “roots”......

Shanghaiist has a new favorite bar in town, and it’s great. It’s stylish yet unpretentious, has great cocktails, and a killer view. It’s ... Glamour Bar?!? Who knew! Adjoining old Shanghai chestnut M on the Bund, Glamour was once a nice place to chill while waiting for a table, but was easily outshone by the flashy upstarts elsewhere on the Bund. What a difference a renovation makes! It now takes up the entire floor below......

Last week, the always entertaining People's Daily website ran a series of photographs under the headline "Yao Restaurant opens in Shanghai." The first Yao Restaurant opened in Houston, Texas, in 2005 -- Yao Ming's parents are part owners. The People's Daily headline surprised us. We hadn't heard anything about Yao opening up a place in Shanghai. Perhaps that is because he isn't. A Shanghai Daily story from June suggests what the People's Daily is calling......

Next time you’re in the Xintiandi area and are looking for lunch/dinner ideas, try Lan Ting Restaurant (兰亭餐厅). A block away from the tourist hot spot, on the corner of Taicang Lu and Songshan Lu, Lan Ting is perhaps one of the most well known eateries in Shanghai you’ve never heard of. The restaurant serving mostly the local crowd, doesn’t exactly grace the listings sections of City Weekend or Shanghai Talk on a regular basis.......

Shanghaiist doesn’t eat much spicy food, but every time we pass a xiaolongxia (小龙虾 or "little dragon shrimp" or "little lobsters" or crayfish -- the most popular food in Shanghai now) restaurant, we always try really hard to keep ourselves from drooling. The idea of cracking the crayfish, sucking out the meat and licking the messy goodness off our fingers is way too enchanting. Mmmmmm. (We realize this is strange talk coming from the site's......

Or the better question is: What would you suggest a visitor to Shanghai do if they only had one night to spend in the city? (And, no, your first stop can't be a travel agency so they can extend their stay.) We ask because the June 5, 2006 edition of TIME Europe has a feature called -- you guessed it -- "One Night in ... Shanghai." Three "people in the know" told the magazine their......

Shanghaiist doesn't drink much (okay, the occasional snifter of brandy at Christmas), and we don't keep a lot of progressive trance on our iPod (none, in fact), but we've enjoyed enough nights on the tiles in Shanghai to speak with some confidence about the different clusters of clubs and bars in this city. At least, we thought we had, until we read yesterday's China Daily article, "Top 10 Shanghai Nightspots". Now we're left feeling sorry......

Due to popular request (OK, two people) we are highlighting our post-meal impressions of Shanghai's new Greek restaurant, Aegean. These originally appeared as a comment to our original post about the place, in response to another commenter who said: "Can we get an update please? I imagine you'll do a full review at some point, but for now, a simple 'yea' or 'nay' will do...": Yea. It is officially "the best Greek restaurant in Shanghai."......

Being the new guy anywhere sucks, but being brand new to a country can really be scary. Rebuilding social networks and finding the places to operate a functioning household are tough in any new enviroment, but can be doubly difficult when faced with a seemingly insurmountable language and culture barrier. For those still trying to figure which side is Pudong and which is Puxi, this Saturday there might be help: CCI and Kathleen Lau, author......