As we mentioned earlier this week, the Ted Koppel special "The People's Republic of Capitalism" is currently airing on the Discovery Channel in the U.S. For those of you who can't wait for the bittorrent, here are some clips from the series, most of which was filmed in Chongqing. The People's Republic of Capitalism: The American and Chinese economies are irreversibly intertwined. Not to rub it in or anything, but this particular Shanghaiist is currently......

A Date With Lu Yu《鲁豫有约》is one of the most influential talkshows in China which has been known to constantly push the envelope and to broach topics previously considered too hot to touch. One such episode is the one below which features two homosexual men from the Sichuan Province — who, long before the word "gay" had entered the Chinese lexicon — married each other, adopted a son and have been together for 21 years. VIDEO......

It has been just over a month since the earthquake hit Sichuan, and while much of the media coverage has moved on to other disasters, we can still catch musical tributes while waiting for the subway. From the very beginning, we were impressed by how quickly state-owned media mobilized to air reel after reel of footage to inspire citizens across China to action and in many cases rally hope. Popular musicians all over Asia have......

Leading political scientists Kishore Mahbubani of the National University of Singapore, Prof Barry Sautman of the University of Hong Kong, and Dr Chandra Muzaffar of the University of Science Malaysia provide much food for thought in this latest discussion on how China is dealing with the pressure of protests as the Olympics draws ever nearer on Al-Jazeera's 101 East.......

With a 600-year long history, Kunqu (崑曲) opera is one of the oldest extant forms of the Chinese opera and known as the "mother" of a hundred operas. Although dozens of professional Kunqu troupes used to operate across China, only a handful remain today in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chenzhou and Yongjia. Kunqu has been awarded the title of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO, which also recognises that the......

Since Hu Jia (胡嘉) is currently being charged for inciting subversion behind closed doors, we figured there is no better time than now to show you Prisoners in Freedom City 《自由城的囚徒》, a documentary made by him and his wife, Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕), while under a seven-month house arrest from August 2006 to March 2007. As ironic as it may sound, Freedom City is the name of the compound that houses the couple's apartment. This is......

From National Geographic: Cars are racing into China supercharging its economy, and delivering dreams of a better life. But Chinas cars are clogging its highways and spewing out clouds of pollution. The rest of the world better watch out, because some Chinese automakers have plans to flood the world markets with cheaper Chinese cars be they made by GM or Chinas own Geely Automotive. We go inside the Geely plant in Ningbo, and follow a......

Our second show for the day is the critically acclaimed documentary Seoul Train (featured on PBS) which offers a look at the estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China today, who have braved untold dangers to escape a food and humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of 3 million back home. The camera follows several groups of North Korean refugees, some have chosen to forcibly make their way past the gates of......

This week on Shanghaiist Sunday Show, we turn on our eye to the refugee issue and bring you not just one but two documentaries. The first documentary is a show on Al Jazeera's 101 East which features Tibetan refugees trying to get out of China and the second one is a show on North Korean refugees trying to come into China. In this report, Al Jazeera's Teymoor Nabili speaks to Tenzin Choephel, a Tibetan journalist......

It's Sunday! Kick back with Shanghaiist with this light-hearted Survivor-type documentary on three British businessmen looking for their big break in China: cushion manufacturer Tony Caldeira, ex-colonel Peter Williams who's looking to sell his energy-saving device to the Chinese, and controversial kitchen retailer Vance Miller who has built a huge business by undercutting everyone else and selling cheap Chinese kitchens in the UK. These three characters will remind you of people you have met in......