It was our good friend Anna Jacyszyn's penultimate night singing at the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton 2nd floor jazz bar, so we went by last night to hear her. Little had we realized, the band is once again playing in their old haunt on the second floor that has been undergoing renovation for at least a few months (6 or more it seems). The bar was originally scheduled to reopen much earlier than now, but the......

We know that many of you have been affected by the tragic aftermath of this week's devastating earthquake in Wenchuan and are looking for ways to help the victims, so here is your chance to immediately get involved. We received word from ShanghaiExpat that the blood mobile will be out today in front of the Shanghai Exhibition Center opposite the Portman Hotel (a.k.a. the Shanghai Center). Those interested in donating blood have been instructed......

Photo from erussel1984Via email from Shanghaiist reader Ned: I just wanted to let you know there was a fire at approximately 3.45pm in the Shanghai Centre. I am not sure what floor it started on but was in the Portman Hotel. I work in the office tower and we had no warning until we saw smoke outside the windows. I got to the lobby with my camera but the staff made me delete the photos......

We told you about Shanghai's skyscraper envy. Now, the World Financial Center has barely been completed but our wonderful city has already announced plans for yet another skyscraper that will dwarf it. Two days ago, the all-authoritative Xinhua produly proclaimed that the new building, which is to be named Shanghai Center (we are unsure if this has any relation to the existing Shanghai Center) will be the world's tallest at 580 meters and 118......

Live Bar has always been open to different genres of music, and of late, seems to be the venue of choice for Chinese folk, metal and student bands. Friday night they will host one of China's most popular nu-metal bands, Twisted Machine. Any fan of metal should not miss this show, a great chance to see what Chinese metal has to offer. On the other side of town, up'n'coming indie rockers, Yuguo will play an......

We love WiFi — Shanghaiists are sociable folk, and this Shanghaiist in particular has fallen into an easy Sunday routine of catching up on news and email with a cappu and sandwich at local cafés. We like having a “third space” — a local hangout where we can meet up with friends, have the occasional coffee, and wile away the hours. We’ve already mentioned a few recent faves, and celebrate the expansion of free internet......

A brief note regarding the City Diner we told you about not too long ago: We have learned that it is supposed to open this week, either today or Friday, depending on who you believe. We assume the source that said today is reliable, because he was seated in one of the City Diner's booths working on a computer. We'll explain: We ate at Eat, Drink, Man, Woman on Saturday (delicious, as always) and afterwards......

How does that Arcade Fire song go? "I woke up with the power out, not really something to shout about." Well, that is our theme song for the day. The power is out on a large chunk of Nanjing Xi Lu -- no street lights during the middle of the day on one of the city's busiest streets ... beautiful -- and we live on Nanjing Xi Lu. So our power is out. A sign......

For a city notoriously lacking in live music, last night Shanghai rocked. While we (along with headliners Another Kind of Light) weren't able to make it to the opening of Yuyintang's Music Warehouse, we did manage to catch local rock-with-Chinese-characteristics band Three Yellow Chicken at Shuffle before heading to Tang Hui's pre-re-opening party, Electro Town. Co-organized by Tang Hui and Shanghai Real-Live Entertainment, Electrotown was the second in a series of events combining DJs, VJs,......

Like many of you, Shanghaiist spent the Spring Festival holiday alone in our apartment, drinking to ease the unbearable pain of being enjoying a malt beverage. Or two. Having a preference for hopped-up beverages, Shanghaiist is pleased to report the following alternatives to the formaldehyde-enhanced, flavorless, pilsner-style local product: Fiddler’s Elbow. Hoppy, clean English ale. Available at City Super’s Shanghai Center location. Relatively expensive at 35 RMB/500ml.Sam Adams. American beer, slightly heavier than Fiddler’s Elbow.......

The JW Marriott is now officially Shanghai's 25th five-star hotel. Shanghai has 40 four-star hotels and 125 three-star hotels. But ... 23 of the city's hotels were just de-listed from the star-ranking systemShanghai's Maglev train may eventually link the Pudong and Hongqiao airports. Also, two more highways heading to the Pudong airport are set to be built.A woman is Sichuan died from the bird flu. Seven of the 10 humans in China who have contracted......

A Shanghai Daily story provides example number 1,029,349 why the Shanghai real estate market is so ridiculously inflated. With 47 square meter, semi-serviced studio apartments at Shanghai Centre going for $2,300 a month, it's no wonder Shanghai consistently manages to rank as one of the most expensive cities in the world ... all with the help of clueless foreign companies throwing piles of money at employee housing. According to the story: The Shanghai Center has......

We all know that California is famous for its pizza. Wait ... no it's not. Still, the California Pizza Kitchen, a mainstay in malls across America, is a welcome addition to the Shanghai restaurant scene, even though they tend to put some crazy shit on their "hearth-baked pizzas." CPK, as they refer to themselves, opened an 88-seat branch in Shanghai Center on Tuesday. It's right next door to the Haagen-Dazs. Shanghaiist wants to say this......

With forecasts calling for temps reaching 38 degrees -- that's 101 for you Fahrenheit folks ... and damn hot for everyone else -- Shanghai dwellers will be looking for ways to keep cool this coming week. If you don't want to beat the heat in a large air-conditioned shopping mall, it's time to find a good place to swim. But what if your apartment doesn't have a swimming pool? Shanghai's municipal swimming pools tend to......