Dance punk band Pet Conspiracy releases their new album, Alchemist and Chicha combine for a chilled out Sunday party with premium Sagatiba cocktails for only 50RMB, a vintage Audrey Hepburn film showing, and Mandopop queen Fish Leong performs! And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. more ›

Sinan Mansions is starting a "Restaurant Week" of its own - only it lasts three weeks and doesn't seem to be very widely promoted. Still, it lasts from this Friday to May 8, according to SmartShanghai, and includes discounts from Chicha, Yucca and Funky Chicken. Speaking of which, Apothecary apparently soft opened on Sunday. You should check it out. more ›

Kelley Lee is the young, talented chef and mastermind behind some of Shanghai's most famous and well-loved eateries (The Alchemist, Boxing Cat Brewery, Cantina Agave). Not long ago, she expanded Mexican favorite Cantina Agave to Pudong and had a slew of new venues open up at the Sinan Mansions complex. A remarkably tenacious business woman, Shanghaiist gets her to open up on what constitutes a good meal, how a guy should impress her over dinner, and whether she has any more plans for world, excuse us, Shanghai domination. more ›

What we're being privy to is Apothecary cocktail bar and kitchen as it readies the opening of its Shanghai location. (Actually, we have bragging rights. Lee let us know we were the first people to be served at the new bar.) The place is a joint project between Leon Lee and Max E. Levy -- the latter you may know as the masterful chef from Bei, Opposite House. The duo have already created a stir on Beijing's dining and drinking scene for their emphasis on high-quality ingredients and attention to detail. One part mixologist's empyrean, one part fine Creole kitchen, Apothecary is now bringing its love of great food and drinks down south (and finally returning Creole food to Shanghai, we might add.) more ›

All the things you'd want to do this Monday through Thursday. On the schedule this week: Prehistoric animatronics, an Agatha Christie murder mystery play, live music at Lola, and Eduardo Vargas fully moves into Chicha. Read on (or check out our calendar) for more! more ›

Many of you more avid Shanghaiist readers already know my thoughts on Sinan Mansions, the high-end hotel and restaurant location that is unfortunately located on a street that's historically dear to me. Now that Expo is almost ending, the demolition of my grandmother's house is drawing ever closer. This photo, by Sue Anne Tay, is a striking example of the ephemeral mingling of the old-old with the new-old. more ›

• Following Chris St. Cavish’s departure from Smart Shanghai, we’ve been slightly starved of food gossip. To fill the void, we gave you our three favourite food blogs in our ongoing feature; Threesday.
• Our quote of the day has once again provoked much discussion. This week Gao Xiaosong, China’s Got Talent judge, referred to all Shanghainese men as wimps. This has resulted in men from Shanghai demanding an apology, as well as a lot of discussion from our readers. Have your say here.
• Trying to avoid the ‘there’s something fishy’ pun when talking about the fish section in Chinese supermarkets, we all know that animal rights campaigners are probably going to want to avoid the sea food section in order to avoid the buckets of live frogs, turtles etc. Imagine some peoples surprise when they stumbled across shark’s heads. This has thus led to speculation that Wal-Mart is selling shark meat.

To be honest, I've resisted writing about the Sinan Mansions development because it's a bittersweet area for me. On one hand, it contains a piece of history really dear to my family that's about to be torn down and redeveloped into a bastion of ostentatious Chinese wealth. On the other hand, I do like fine dining and fancy cocktails - both of which will be in abundance there - and what else were they going to do with it? more ›