For art, last weekend was about as big as it gets for Shanghai. There were more gallery openings than I care to count, so of course I attended all of them. Alright, I may not have attended all the events of last weekend, but I did manage to see the main event -- the Shanghai Biennale. more ›

Taken at a recent art exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum. more ›

Neocha Edge, cataloguer of everything artsy in China (and around it), has pointed out this amazing short animation called Dark Rain. Unfortunately, it's only on Youtube right now, but you're bound to have a solution for the GFW by now, right? more ›

"China's giant centre Yao Ming will undergo surgery Monday to fix a stress fracture in his left foot, the Houston Rockets announced on Saturday." more ›

Still looking for something to do for Halloween? Here are a few parties that should be worth checking out. If you are stuck hanging around People's Square head over to the MOCA where you will find (besides interesting art) a wicked Halloween party featuring lots of killer tunes from Bananas Soundsystem. For those who aren't keen on going downtown, head out to Xujiahui where Harley's Bar will host Banana Monkey and more Banana DJ music. At Logo bar 3 bands are going to dress up as the Misfits, Sex Pistols and Ramones and churn out some gnarly tunes. Billed Punks for Monks, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to a charity helping the monks in Burma. more ›

The monthly MobileMonday meeting will be held in Shanghai today. Interested in the future of mobile shopping in China? Here's the official invitation: more ›

This service, located at ditu.google.cn, has replaced Google Local, which was at bendi.google.cn. First off, there's a couple of big differences between this and Google Maps for the US. You can't use satellite or hybrid mode in the Chinese version. If you want a satellite you have to go back to using Google Earth or other such sites, and of course it's hard to find your way there because all you see are blotches of rooftops. Ditu.google.cn just has the regular graphics. more ›

Over 200 photos by Man Ray and other notable photographers, like Henri Cartier-Bresson, are currently on exhibit at the Shanghai Art Museum. You might want to catch it this weekend as the exhibit runs only until January 31st. More details of the exhibit can be found here. more ›

As Shanghaiist recently reported, AIDS in China continues to be a serious, rapidly growing problem. Much of the current epidemic stems from illegal blood selling in Henan Province during the mid 1990s. Dr. Gao Yao Jie , an activist for AIDS patients in Henan Province, estimates that up to1 million people are infected in Henan province alone. In spite of this, HIV/AIDS still has a reputation in China as a disease of “marginal groups” like drug users, prostitutes, and men who have sex with men. This stigma keeps many infected persons from getting tested or informing their families/friends/lovers of their condition. more ›

Photo from theshanghaieye. more ›

We know we are a bit late on this, but the Shanghai Biennale will be going on until November 4, so you still have time. The following are our observations from one day spent at the Shanghai Art Museum last week. We accompanied a friend who is into design to the opening of this Biennale, themed HyperDesign. It features more than 100 artworks by 93 groups of artists from 23 countries and regions. more ›

This weekend, Shanghaiist went to the Bund area and scoped out a couple of galleries. First stop was Contrasts Gallery on Sichuan Zhong Lu. The ultra-modern space is housed on the fifth floor of a run-down heritage building (providing the "contrast" of the gallery's namesake) and shows work that leans more towards design than fine art. The current exhibition features the sculptures of Luo Xu, whose work Shanghaiist had never seen before this weekend and probably will never see again (consciously, at least). It's a shame when a great space like Constrasts Gallery has is wasted on mediocre work like Luo Xu's. Most of his sculptures, which are made to resemble dying leaves, are cold, impassive blobs that give no indication of the emotions that the leaves are supposed to represent. Then there was the piece called "Bathtub", which is indeed a large bathtub ... but one that is formed from a woman's naughty bits. We would call it clever if it weren't so tacky ... and there wasn't a woman's leg daintily arching above to make the showerhead. Cute, but cute vaginas aren't really our thing. more ›

Photo by spiky247 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 ›

Shanghaiist is neither fashionable nor interested in fashion, but we know a good party when we hear of one. Which is why we held on to the three invitations that landed on our desk for the opening of the Giorgio Armani Retrospective at the Shanghai Art Museum, a Giorgio Armani fashion show in the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and a Vogue China after-party at Three on the Bund, all on Saturday night. more ›

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: more ›