Steve Buscemi and Southern Barbarian owner Feng Jianwen (Credit: Southern Barbarian) Next time, Steve, stay for some Grandma's Mashed Potatoes. Trust us. It's not every day that a Golden Globe and Emmy award nominated actor shows up unexpectedly at the launch party for a small photo exhibit at a Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai, China, but that's what happened yesterday when Steve Buscemi stepped in from the rain to check out Ying Tang's "Balance" at......

Just off the northern edge of Fuxing Park, this unusual building was the original French Club (le Cercle Francais Sportif) circa 1904. Later it was moved what is now the Okura Garden Hotel (and much later moved to Cafe Montmartre). For a while this was the French Concession's most prestigious public high school, Le College Francais. You can still see the monogram 'CFS' cast into the wrought-iron railing of the main staircase. There's also some......

Although Cirque du Soliel's Quidam opened a few weeks ago, Shanghaiist didn't get the chance to see the show until last night. Initially, we weren't exactly over the moon about seeing the Canadian troupe perform...to new age music...in tights...on one of our precious Friday nights. But, we were wrong. Insert foot into mouth here. Last night's show was a great display of entertainment, music, and dance that bridged that cultural divide. It was a welcome......

New York Yankees sign on first Chinese players. The New York Yankees announced today that they have signed left-handed pitcher Kai Liu and catcher Zhenwang Zhang to minor league contracts, becoming the first Major League team to sign a player from the People's Republic of China with approval from the country's baseball association. China Fines Six Banks for Lending to Stock Purchases China's banking regulator fined six banks for making loans that were illegally......

Shanghai's Science and Technology Museum is getting somewhat of a workout of late. Firstly, it hosted perhaps 2007's biggest bash, and then the news that Canadian entertainers Cirque du Soleil will perform their long-running Quidam show at the museum forecourt from June 28th. The shows will be performed inside a huge tent at a 2,000-square-meter site across from the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum in Pudong. Shanghai will be the only stop for the popular......

Lucky for Shanghaiist, we won't be. But we certainly feel for people who will be stuck in the city for the holidays. So we've compiled an incomplete list of a few things to keep you occupied while your friends are back home drinking eggnog and getting wasted with family around the Christmas tree. The first time Shanghaiist went to the Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Resort was back in the SARS era (2003). We went back this......

In Shenzhen, 2,000 people commit suicide each year. Anyone know Shanghai's number?Hey, look! Beijing has a "SoHo", too.Remember when organizers of the 2010 World Expo said they expected the event to earn a profit? No? Good, because now they don't even think it will break even. Wonder what the thousands of people being relocated for the project think about that."China's answer to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida" is slated to be built in Minhang......

Authorities to Shanghai woman petitioning the government over a property rights dispute: "You're crazy!"That President Bush enjoyed Jung Chang's 814-page biography of Mao does not surprise us. That he actually read an 814-page book does. Bush reportedly liked the book because "it 'really shows how brutal a tyrant he was' and that 'he was much more brutal than people assumed.'"What's the second most popular video clip on Toodou.com? A band called Beautiful Pharmacy performing in......

Dog Year treats...