Holy crap. Did you know that around 10,000 people flood into the Shanghai Zoo every morning to do calisthenics? They are all holders of the zoo's "excercise card" which grants free admission to the park for seniors over 70. But the repercussions of these mature morning masses are somewhat more serious than zoo officials anticipated. From Shanghai Daily, here's something you just don't read every day: more ›

TIGERS ENGLISH ALL DAY. more ›

Spring is finally here and with it comes the urge to watch greenery grow. What better time than now to check out some of Shanghai's best Bird & Flower markets? We've checked out several around Shanghai that are relatively easy to get to from city center - greenify your life today! more ›

• After reporting that The Office was on its way to China, we offered you an insight on what you could expect.
• We were rather surprised that the Henan Airline investigation revealed that some 200 airline pilots have fake resumes and flying histories. We were even more surprised that these pilots have been allowed back on the flight deck! No matter, we always preferred trains anyway...
• A rather LARGE can of worms was opened when we featured Morrissey in our ‘Quote of the Day’. He referred to Chinese being a ‘subspecies’, see what fellow readers thought here.

I wasn't aware that A. There were a lot of people here with a taste for exotic pets, and B. There were a lot of dicks here who abandon their exotic pets when they get too expensive, but apparently the Shanghai Zoo is running out of space to deal with them. Specifically, it's being overrun by red-eared turtles and estaurine crocodiles (which you'll remember caused quite a scare last year). more ›

People love the pandas Shanghai shipped over from Sichuan for the Expo! So as a feel good start to this Tuesday morning, here's a video from The Telegraph's Malcolm Moore of super cute Chinese kids explaining in super cute detail exactly how super cute those Expo pandas are. more ›

It isn't easy being an animal in a Chinese zoo. From the 11 Siberian tigers found starved to death, to the heartbreaking discovery of the animal mass grave and the fatal attack on a keeper by a starving Bengal tiger, zoological gardens and wildlife parks in China have gotten quite a hellish reputation. Now, we bring you the final part of a three-part series on what made our own Shanghai Zoo experience a stressful one. more ›

We've heard a lot about Chinese zoos in the last few months. From the 11 Siberian tigers found starved to death, to the heartbreaking discovery of the animal mass grave and the fatal attack on a keeper by a starving Bengal tiger, Chinese zoos and wildlife parks have gotten quite the reputation for being zoos from hell. Here, we bring you part two of a three-part series on why our own Shanghai Zoo experience was an unpleasant one. more ›

It's a pretty gross understatement to say that zoos in China are in the media limelight for their mistreatment of animals. From the 11 Siberian tigers found starved to death, to the heartbreaking discovery of the animal mass grave and the fatal attack on a keeper by a starving Bengal tiger at our own Shanghai Zoo, Chinese zoos and wildlife parks have gotten quite the reputation for being zoos from hell. Here, we bring you part one of a three-part series on our experiences at the Shanghai Zoo - unfortunately, it was unpleasant, to say the least. more ›

Has anyone noticed that the Year of the Tiger seems to have brought with it a lot of unfortunate tiger-related news? First, there was that Siberian cub who died two days after he was found. Now, a Bengal tiger killed his keeper at the Shanghai Zoo over the weekend, dragging his body around his cage as visitors looked on in horror. Apparently, someone had forgotten to feed the tiger the day before. Today, some more details have come out: the tiger will be kept in isolation for now, but will be reintroduced "when the time is right." Also Li Zhonglin, the 53-year-old deceased zookeeper, is thought to be at fault, but his mistake won't affect the amount of compensation his family receives. more ›

It's Day Two of the Expo pandas and, predictably, Shanghai is going crazy for them. The ten panda cubs are fresh off the plane from the Woolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center outside of Chengdu and, according to all relevant parties, adjusting swimmingly. more ›

Though we've heard some pretty sweet rumors about notable celebrities coming to town for the expo (was that David Beckham that just walked by us on Nanjing Road's pedestrian street?), it seems that a number of dignitaries are en route to Shanghai as we speak. In fact, there are ten of them, and we'd have to say they're the cutest thing that the expo has yet to offer (Sorry, creepily British Haibao!). Of course, we just have to be talking about pandas! more ›

While the mystery of the Subway crocodiles' origins are not yet solved, we at least now have a pretty good inkling where they came from. Officials in the Jinshan District seized an illegal shipment of 11 estuarine crocodiles this weekend. The district's Wildlife Protection Office said the crocodiles came from Guangdong and would've been additions to local restaurant menus. Those 11 are now chilling with the 20 or so estuarine crocodiles - all confiscated or found - at the Shanghai Zoo, which has said it will need to build a bigger home for all its new wards. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

According to Netease, around 5am yesterday morning, a 1.5-meter long crocodile was found in the construction area of Subway Line 10, Dongfang Mall stop in the Yangpu district. Workers immediately called the police and, with the help of firemen, the croc was caught and carried away safely. more ›

We're not really sure what to make of this. From the China Daily: more ›

Hepatitis, SARS, bird flu ... now add snakebites to your “to-worry” list when traveling to or staying in Shanghai. more ›

In other news regarding mammals being observed and unnecessary pain being caused (albeit pain inflicted in the other direction), Zoo keepers in northwest China are having difficulty with a chimpanzee's smoking habits. The chimp picked up his fags (that's British English for cigarettes) at the circus (as we all do). more ›

At Shanghai Zoo. One snake has half a mouse in its mouth, while its slinkier and nippier relative beguiles the snakes with its fancy footwork. Watch ... more ›

While there will most definitely be a nice selection of spirits at the upcoming Shanghaiist Happy Hour, we can say with extreme confidence that one of them will not be Tiger Bone Wine, which the Shanghai Zoo, reportedly, has started to sell. Tiger Bone Wine -- wine that has shared a container with tiger bones -- is "thought by millions of people to be an elixir of life." Since ancient times, the Chinese have considered tiger bones as a "cure for joint pain and stiffness, back pain, rheumatism, and muscle spasms." more ›