The International Herald Tribune has a great new article entitled Shanghai: The allure of individualism which explores the rising trend of young Chinese designers setting up shop to sell their own stuff. And they are not cheap.The New York Philharmonic has just left Shanghai for Beijing on its Asian tour that also includes Hong Kong and Taiwan and a landmark concert in Pyongyang. The New York Times talks about the disappointment of principal oboist Wang......

Guangdong Province is mulling a new law that will categorise all jobs into "encouraged", "restricted" and "forbidden" for foreigners in a bid to restrict the employment of foreigners and to ban them from certain jobs. Xinhua elucidates:For jobs in the "encouraged" category, the potential foreign employees will be issued permits. Employers will be charged fees for hiring foreigners for "restricted" positions. The employment of foreigners without permits will be illegal, said the spokesman, without indicating......

Hot on the heels of the FIFA Women's World Cup, yet another international sporting event, right here in Shanghai. The Special Olympics will open on 2 Oct at the Shanghai Stadium and run all the way till 11 Oct. We hear from the organisers:Award-winning producer and director Don Mischer has created a spectacular Opening Ceremonies event to mark the official opening of the World Games. The event will include star-studded entertainment, the Parade of......

Chinese Benchmark, CSI 300 Closes Above 4000 To New Record; Analysts Concerned Over Market "Bubble" The Shanghai benchmark index has surged over the 4000 mark for a new record. Rising Chinese shares at a breakneck pace adds to concern over market overheating. Shanghai's benchmark index CSI 300 ended up 2.6 percent to 4,090.57. Since 2006, the index has increased four fold, and has doubled since the beginning of the year. China's outrageous claim The......

Shanghai agency seen playing the market "The Shanghai government agency responsible for clearing drains and repairing lifts in apartment buildings has emerged as a leading shareholder in at least three listed companies, in spite of being barred from such risky investments." For sale: A simple dwelling for plain folks. 3.75 million. "'Be a foreigner's landlord!' crowed one advertisement -- in Chinese only -- for buyers to invest in a new apartment block in a......

The Shanghai Traffic Bureau has announced that another 100 public bus routes began offering passengers transfer discounts today, on top of the existing 140 discount routes. Public transport card holders will receive a 0.5 yuan discount on their two-yuan fare for air-conditioned buses if they take a second trip on any of the routes involved in the discount scheme within 90 minutes of boarding the first bus. This follows moves in Beijing earlier this year......

Shanghai Flickr photographer Shanghai Sky[1] just posted an interesting a photo set from the ongoing 2007 Shanghai Auto Show. What makes it interesting? There are almost no cars. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has ever attended the auto show (there are showgirls everywhere) or to anyone who has viewed Shanghai Sky's photos (the man likes photographing women ... candid street shots mostly, nothing smutty). We like the comments some of the......

Thanks to everyone who came to the Shanghaiist Happy Hour on Saturday! Thanks to ENO (so, the more beer I drink, the more free clothing I get, you say?). Thanks to iiiit! (please put the tacos and hot dogs on your permanent menu). Thanks to MANifesto for making us feel sexy again. And a special thanks to The Shotgun SheRas (the country band's lead singer is from ... Newcastle? And no, not Delaware). [Sorry......

Chinese man dies during gaming session "The 26-year-old man, surnamed Zhang from the city of Jinzhou, died Saturday after a marathon gaming session from what a doctor said was overwork and obesity." Tom Online apologizes to The Beijing News for copyright violation "Tom Online apologized to The Beijing News for republishing articles from the paper without authorization between 2003 and 2006 and will provide compensation, Tom Online said in a statement." China Confirms Human......

"Lost in Beijing" seeks OK from China censors "After seven days spent re-editing the adult drama 'Lost in Beijing,' producer Fang Li said Friday that he and director Li Yu have agreed on 65% of the cuts requested by China's Film Bureau. The movie is scheduled for a February 16 premiere at the Berlin Film Festival." James Bond arrives in China - not shaken not stirred "Craig chatted with fans and signed autographs at......

Shaanxi peasant's diary--spanning 60 years--is published He started in 1941 and kept it until 2001, and now the sixty year diary of over 2 million characters has been published. (article in Chinese) NEWS BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL BOSSES ORDER CUTS IN CHINESE MOVIE Now it's Westerners asking the Chinese to cut out parts of their films? Comment is free: Sexual development Daniel A Bell asks whether China might not learn from Singapore and consider the......

Big brand names such as Burberry, Dior, Zegna were singled out by a city watchdog for false-content claims. Surprisingly, these are products sold in the malls. For example, the report claims the cashmere content of a MNG coat was only 1.7 percent, not the 20 percent it claimed. Some products allegedly even have too much formaldehyde. Photo from Shanghai Sky. Shanghaiist features a "Photo of the Day", daily pictures of life around the city.......

Yes, it's real. Yes, his RMB 50 is now worth USD 6.37. The yuan has appreciated 5.31% since July of last year. So if you're an expat earning in USD, you just got a slight salary deduction this year. And the outlook doesn't look any better for next year, either. Photo from Shanghai Sky. Shanghaiist features a "Photo of the Day", daily pictures of life around the city. We want you to share how you......

Brace yourselves for single-digit temperatures. A cold front is forecast to arrive tomorrow. Photo from Shanghai Sky. Shanghaiist features a "Photo of the Day", daily pictures of life around the city. We want you to share how you see Shanghai. Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos at shanghaiist.com. So go ahead. Show us your......

If you start banning dogs on the grounds that they are potentially dangerous and a public nuisance, why stop there?Want to know the status of Wikipedia in China? Just keep checking this blog.When ordering from Hello Pizza, best to ask what pizzas they do have, rather than telling them what you want. Slim pickings. Is this a sign that the end is near?Want to know the top 100 Chinese websites? Look at the "Chinese Alexa."We......

News Corp just clinched a deal with China Mobile to provide wireless music and is also in early talks with Chinese blog providers such as blog.cn and Bokee.A boy's death at a south-western hospital sparked a riot after the hospital refused to give him care before his grandfather could pony up the money. The cost? £40 or $82 or around 500 RMB.No more photocopying of foreign textbooks in Chinese universities -- now they can finally......

Details of this fashion revolution can be found in our previous post. Grab a bag today. Photo from Shanghai Sky. Shanghaiist features a "Photo of the Day", daily pictures of life around the city. We want you to share how you see Shanghai. Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos at shanghaiist.com. So go ahead.......

If we were in Beijing right now we'd definitely go to the Robot Expo just to see Zou Renti and his evil robot twin. (Can you tell, in the picture, which one is the human?)World renowned architect I.M. Pei built a $40 million USD museum in Suzhou, his ancestral home. This is only the second building that he has designed and completed in China.Seventeen si he yuan (四合院) or traditional Beijing courtyard houses (the kinds......

Shanghai Sky (left) and Shanghai Streets (right) have posted some great photos from the weekend's 1234 Music Festival at -- the beach! -- Shanghai's Sanja Harbor. We couldn't go because we were busy trying to find a holiday home for our dog. Any readers out there check out the shows? Let us know how it was in the concert.......

Beijing officials have rejected the rumors that all the migrant workers in Beijing would be expelled during the Olympics. The Olympics welcomes poor people!Most of the aspiring hackers out there no doubt know that Baidu received its most damaging attack from a hacker ever on the afternoon of September 12. The search engine was down (or at least severely hampered?) for about half and hour. It's been said that "Trail," the hacker responsible for this......

We know you all have been eagerly awaiting the 2006 Shanghai Tourism Festival (site appears to be only in Chinese -- helpful for tourists). Well, it kicks off with a parade tomorrow ... and it seems like traffic downtown will be all sorts of messed up. Here's the rundown: Buses will be banned on Longmen Road between Jinling Road M. and Huaihai Road M. from 10am to 9:30pm. They will also be banned from 5:30pm......

Jay-Z (with Beyonce in tow) -- Shanghai, Hongkou Stadium, October 23.The Beijing Pop Festival, which starts on September 9th, will feature bands such as Placebo, Supergrass, and Sebastian Bach, former lead singer of Skid Row. Check out some photographs from the parched Chongqing region.Sport apparel brand Champion is going to enter the Chinese market.Boondoggle is spelled m-a-g-l-e-v: losses this year have reached 440 million yuan. But it's a great way to show the world how......

TIME magazine's advice: Learn Mandarin. Their subhead: "China's economic rise means the world has a new second language—and it isn't English." Hmmm. Really? We're all for learning Chinese -- our lesson starts in 30 minutes -- but would you really suggest someone who speaks neither English nor Chinese, choose Chinese as their second language? Obviously, the answer depends on the person and whether they, say, plan on doing business in China or something. But we......

This World Cup is so exciting that a Chinese fellow had a heart attack due to excitement. (And having been on a three day bender.)Chinese women, however, can't get enough of it.Liu Xiang is being praised yet again, as he deserves to be. He is apparently now a role model for not just you and me, but for other athletes as well. Get this -- he doesn't run when he is injured. A King amongst......

NBA stars grace the "Basketball Without Borders" training camp for teens in Shanghai.Japanese government drastically ups the number of diplomats to receive "antispy" training, citing the suicide of a Japanese diplomat in Shanghai. Does this training include how to resist getting turned on by "sexy women" and not falling for "honey traps?" Sign us up!China's first genuine e-book was released on June 8. Sixty percent of Chinese readers get their books in some form online.Shanghai-Hangzhou......

A rundown of some of Shanghai's top cheap hotels.A Shanghai snub for that "old waxwork" Prince Charles?Please direct us to Shanghai's "ancient" parts, Mr. Abrams.Next up on your Chinese weather report: dust forecasts.Public places in China are required by law to pay royalties on background music ... and, reportedly, some actually do pay.Make sure your "mini jellies" are big enough.China to remeasure Great Wall.Just what the poor people of Jiangxi need: The world's largest Ferris......

No time to burn paper money at your relatives' graves? Pay your respects online: "Several cemeteries and funeral companies in China have heeded the call, establishing online memorial halls promising access to relatives within seconds, 365 days a year. Shanghai Funeral Service Center claims to have had 40 million visits from respectful relatives grateful to pay respects at the click of a mouse since the service was introduced in 2001."China would like some credit for......

The prices of both Pepsi and Coke (the beverage) have gone up in Shanghai. The eight percent hike, due to higher prices for raw materials like sugar and plastic, went into effect this month. The result: soft drinks are still really cheap here.How is this for a vote of confidence: "Chen Guoguang, vice director of the local branch of the state Water Quality Monitoring Network, said it might not taste good, but tap water is......

OK, we think we've finally recovered from Friday night. The Shanghaiist launch party at British Bulldog Pub was hot, in almost every definition of the word. We packed the place, forcing the bar to open its rarely used third level. Opening band Xingfu 13 rocked the house in a shortened set (they were delayed by a lack of a stool for their drummer, and couldn't stay longer because they were using a cable needed by......