Results tagged “shanghai”

With everything that's going on tonight, FREE the WAX has got one more gig vying for your attention featuring American electro-cinematic producer maestro Eliot Lipp who is best known for his seamless weaving of 80s electro, 70s jazz-fusion and Bay Area hip hop.

After years of back and forth, it looks like Shanghai Disneyland has been given the go-ahead. According to news sources, the Shanghai Municipal Government Informatin offices announced the deal's approval early this morning. While details still have to be worked out between the mouse and the ministries, it seems like a pretty set deal.

Shanghaiist has spent the past few days bundled up inside to avoid the front that has chilled our city virtually overnight. Good news, though: temperatures are supposed to rise to 20 degrees Celsius tomorrow, and should be even warmer by the weekend. It'll be as if this cold spell never really happened, right?

With the recent news about Beijing giving Disneyland Shanghai the go ahead, it looks like it's only a matter of time before the mouse lands in town. After a recent meeting of the City's International Business Leaders Advisory Council, Mayor Han Zheng declared that a decision could be announced as early as next week. But between the lines, we all know that's code for unequivocal approval, right? After all, it's not like the Shanghai government would announce a greenlight on Disneyland and then snatch it away last minute. Oh wait.

Despite fears of the great economic recession destroying China's economy with the rest of the world, the average disposable income for Shanghai residents rose 8% since last year to 21,871RMB per person. That only counts for city residents, but even those not lucky enough to have the right hukou have still seen their annual salary raise: the average income for city dwellers is 15,051 RMB, which is 4.4% higher than last year. We've got some ideas, but what do you think all that extra pocket cash is being spent on?

Twist is a tiny little depot that specializes in cold Taiwanese desserts. They've got smoothies and juices, but what you really need to go to Twist for is the shaved ice. Though we're sure there are similar offerings sprinkled around the Taiwanese enclaves Hongqiao/Gubei, we're positive that in Shanghai proper, Twist has the freshest and most authentic ingredients meant to sit atop a mound of shaved ice.

One recent Saturday evening, we and a few friends enjoyed a happy hour at Just Grapes on Dagu Lu, admiring the hodgepodge of expat DVD hunters and pajama-clad locals passing by each us and each other on an unbelievably gorgeous day. Little did we know that Masala Art, the fantastic purveyor of some of Shanghai's best northern Indian cuisine, would soon be put out of commission by a smoky kitchen fire. Last night we rode past and noticed the storefront covered in canvas and plastic. Dear Masala Art, proud Dagu Lu stalwart, we wish you the best and hope you come back soon. If not, there's always your little cousin on Yandang Lu.

If you were President Obama, what's the best possible news you could hear from Hu Jintao during your upcoming visit in November? That the Chinese military will agree to keep their agreement to work more closely with the US military? That recent threats to potentially raise tariffs on US automakers were just a big joke? Or were you thinking something perhaps...a bit more...magical?

           

As we stepped off bustling Jiaozhou Lu and through the large and heavy wooden gates of URBN, we felt as if we had left Shanghai. The hustle and bustle of Shanghai seemed to have disappeared and already we could feel ourselves loosening up, relaxing. Just through the threshold was a small cobble-stoned, tree-lined courtyard... and to our direct left, decorated with an artful take on bamboo scaffolding, the hotel.

In a country that was once known as the Kingdom of Bicycles, it's become harder and harder to actually ride one in the increasingly congested traffic. Good news: Shanghai has decided to build a number of new bike paths between major transportation roads and metro stations. In addition, the new bike paths will include an increase in low-cost bicycle rental services, similar to the services offered in Hangzhou. Good for the environment, and way more enjoyable than trying to find a cab during rush hour.

It's finally here! On October 31, the bridge and tunnel linking Chongming Island to Shanghai will open. For all the 700,000 residents of Chongming and those of us mainland folks who venture there, we'll no longer have to rely on the iffy ferry service. Instead, one can get to Chongming from Pudong in just 30 minutes.

A picture of a deeply submerged Lujiazui has been making the rounds on various internet forums, and it's got Shanghai newspaper Xinmin pretty worked up. The picture shows several Pudong-side waterfront landmarks, including the iconic Pearl Tower, halfway sticking out of the water. The forum titles tend to show the photo with the title that the pictures are from a new study in the U.S. which purports that two thirds of delta regions around the world are at high risk of flooding - including Shanghai.

Dee Dee Bridgewater, the illustrious Jazz singer, has been one of the premier artists in Jazz for the past forty years. From her early days performing with major Jazz legends and winning Tony Awards on Broadway to her more recent work on Billy Holiday, NPR and beyond, Dee Dee has been shaping and defining the way people all over the world understand and appreciate Jazz. To kick off this weekend's JZ Jazz festival, Dee Dee will be gracing Shanghai with a performance this Friday at the Yunfeng theater, sharing the stage with a big band of both local and international musicians. We had the chance to chat about her accomplishments both on and off the stage, her views on Jazz from the past to the present, and her unbeknown love of Chinese art.

We love expos, especially when they're in Shanghai, and exceptionally when they involve music. Lucky for us, it's time for the Shanghai Music China 2009 Expo. Since 2002, Music China has been the trade show of choice for musicians, producers, sound/lighting technicians, and just about anyone involved in the production of music, making the expo the biggest annual fair for music products in Asia.

     

We're always fascinated by old pictures of China--we love seeing the tangible change in photographs from eras past. And since we can never get enough, here are a few more pictures from a wonderful photoset taken nearly thirty years ago.

Naturally, we think that Shanghai beats Beijing in the better city competition, but here's some extra reasons why. The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) has found Shanghai's air quality to be far better than Beijing's, an auspicious ruling ahead of the Expo. The blue sky index shows that Beijing's levels of PM10 particles are twice as high as Shanghai's.

It seems to be a recurrent theme in Chinese history that farming and happiness are linked. The ancient Poet Tao Qian wrote of the idyllic beauty of picking chrysanthemums and gazing towards the southern hills; everyone from politicians to students were "sent down" to the countryside to promote re-education in the ways of the land; and these days, you can even farm on Kaixin to ease the pain of your technology-ridden soul.

CNN's new web-based travel experiment, CNN Go has collected 50 reasons why Shanghai is the greatest city in the world. Yeah, we too like brunch and Mao memorabilia and outdoor ballroom dancing (though we're not sure how unique they are to Shanghai, exactly), but we noticed at least one thing missing from the list: awesome city blogs and their adorable editors. *ahem* Check out the rest of the list here.

Because we know you can't get enough of timelapse videos, here's another one by Shanghai newbie, Joe Nafis, who tells us that he's been in town for just a month and jobless. We're totally amazed that all this was possible with the humble Canon A540. Anyone out there wanna give this guy a job?

The old ladies and fellas you see dancing in the parks in the morning, China´s "forgotten generation", rarely gets a chance to be the central subject in Chinese movies. Director Ye Kai is now presenting an exception to that rule, by creating a feel-good comedy about a charming group of elderly amateur dancers, caught up in a quest to win a competition that will let them take part in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

With all the talk of National Day, we may have completely forgotten to mention how Shanghai celebrated it. Here's a good reason - it was rainy and gross. We stayed indoors most of the time, glued to the television screen and its vision of a sunny, beautiful fall day in Beijing.

We all knew this was coming - along with the 60th anniversary holiday, there was bound to be strict traffic controls. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau has given us the details about what we can expect: Traffic will be controlled everyday between today and October 4th from 3:30pm to 11:30pm.

Wouldn't Sting be proud: China's new expo outreach plan is to put bottles with invitations to the expo into the sea, and let them float to neighboring countries where someone might pick them up, and decide to come. We guess this is China's SOS to the world: please, please come to the Expo! But since the message was in English, French and Chinese, and they sent them off towards Japan and South Korea, we have our doubts that it'll work.

What's with superstar athletes dropping out of Shanghai sporting events? First Usain Bolt doesn't show up to the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, and now the number one ranked tennis star Roger Federer has pulled out of the Shanghai Masters event next month. Federer, citing fatigue, pulled out of both the Shanghai event and the Japan Open, but had some nice words of consolation for both cities, stating "I am disappointed that I have to withdraw from Tokyo and Shanghai as they are two of my favorite cities in the world and the fans have been great to me over the years." We're sad we have to miss out on yet another superstar coming to Shanghai. Photo: swampa @ flickr

Yesterday's action at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix was nearly record breaking. American sprinters Tyson Gay and Carmelita Jeter stole the show from hometown favorite Liu Xiang with the second fastest men's and women's 100m races in history. Liu still held his own and then some, tying times for first place with American rival Terrance Trammell, but only receiving credit for second place. Still, Liu's trainers were impressed with his results, and expect a full return to health and glory in the near future. We're excited, Liu Xiang's sponsors are excited, and, judging from the advertisements in today's papers, so is Liu. Is it just us, or does his Christ-like pose seem like it's heralding the second coming? Photo from Danwei.org

In case you don't know, FREE the WAX is a Shanghai-based bastard child production dedicated to presenting only the frontline of groundbreaking musical pioneers from across the globe. In preparation for their big anniversary party on Friday at Shelter, we chatted with Leo Messias, one of the founders of the musical expedition, about their exciting year, the effect of world-class DJ's on the Shanghai scene, and their love of old Chinese ladies who exercise in the park.

Oh (golden) boy! News has it that celebrated track and field star and hometown favorite Liu Xiang will be competing at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix later this month. The Golden Grand Prix will serve as both a comeback and a homecoming for the track star, whose presence on the international sports scene has been sorely missed by China.

This is an advertisement. The Australian pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 is recruiting now! We have a number of positions across a variety of teams. Please visit our website and the recruitment section at australianpavilion.com for the opportunity to be a part of the biggest event in Shanghai next year. More job ads. Place a job ad.

If you've caught Golden Grand Prix excitement, you may want to try your hand (well, your feet) at Shanghai's Toray Cup. The international race offers a full and half marathon, as well as a health race for the shorter winded. Of course, Usain Bolt won't be there, but you can consider it training for your shot at next year's Grand Prix, or even the 2010 Asian Games.

Back in the day, before Tong Ren Lu became the predominant strip of seediness for Shanghai, we would cruise down Julu Lu and Maoming Lu for our dose of pointing at old expats trying to get laid (as well as some drinks and partying, of course). We went into a fit of depression when Maoming Lu lost its luster five or six years ago. And now we must bid goodbye to Julu Lu as well. Urbanatomy reports that the street is nothing but "hollow shells wallowing in clouds of asbestos dust" now, probably thanks to one of the city's many initiatives to clean itself up. New York lost part of its charm when those XXX theaters on Times Square closed. Is Shanghai going to be more boring from now on too?