From the World’s Biggest Fishing Village to Bruce Lee’s Most Famous Kick ... more ›

A record number of more than 10,500 Chinese Muslims are expected to fulfill their pilgrimages to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, according to the Islamic Association of China (IAC) Sunday. more ›

As the economic gap between China and North Korea widens, more and more young Chinese people are traveling to North Korea to see the sort of poverty their parents endured. more ›

Elsewhere - Indian-born billionaire Lakshmi Mittal - the fifth richest man in the world - has emerged as a contender to buy Birmingham, while Arsenal faces a takeover bid from an Arab tycoon Mohammed Al Hashimi who was a partner in a £450million bid to buy Liverpool. In the meanwhile, ousted billionaire Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is reportedly poised to buy English football's Manchester City, although the Bank of Thailand said it has not received a money transfer request from Thaksin. Are Asians going to take over the English Premier League someday? more ›

As you can see to the right, TIME's next cover is dedicated to China. Nothing wrong with that. "Already a commercial giant China is aiming to be the world's next great power," they say. "Will that lead to a confrontation with the U.S.?" Fine, as well. And what is the title of the cover story? You guessed it — "The Chinese Century." There's nothing wrong with the headline, we guess, other than the fact that it is grossly unoriginal (as we pointed out in the summer of 2005). Here's why: more ›

It's good to see that Shanghai isn't the only major Chinese city with major problems getting foreign music stars to take the stage these days (no offense, Air Supply). Down in Hong Kong, Mariah Carey's concert scheduled for this weekend was canceled. Why? Depends on who you ask. The promoter says the show got canned because Carey made "specific last-minute demands which we find wholly unreasonable and not with the best interests of Hong Kong, us and also the fans." They also said only 4,000 tickets for the show had been sold. Carey's manager, of course, disputes these claims. He said 8,000 tickets were sold and the reason the show won't go on is because the promoter failed to pay Carey money that was owed to her. "If there were only 10 people in this venue, and this particular promoter ... had fulfilled his contractual obligations, we would be there," he said. "Mariah Carey loves her fans in Southeast Asia." Hmmmm. But what about China? more ›

The show, broadcast live on Dragon TV until August, is like a male beauty contest that began on May 21. We read the rules of the competition, and it seems they aim to select charming men with both ability and moral integrity, to make them the new image of the young generation. We suppose it helps if the guy is hot, too, although that clearly was not the case for Super Voice Girls. more ›

For those of you who love generalizations of China in the Western media, we've got a doozie for you. The Chicago Sun-Times has a regular feature called "Agent of Travel" where readers will write in a travel related question and someone on the staff will track down the answer. Last week, the headline was "China wear tips: Casual clothes, comfortable shoes." Enjoy: more ›

There are several things Shanghaiist hates about winter in this city. First, the rain (which had mercifully stayed away until yesterday's drizzle). Second, the number of people gloating of their imminent escape to a tropical beach resort in Southeast Asia. Third, getting dragged to hotpot restaurants because it’s the "done thing" when it gets cold. Come on, does anybody really like that stuff? Okay, so that special hotpot sauce is good. Damn good. But other than that we’re happy to avoid hotpot wherever possible. Note: this may be due to an eventful visit to such a restaurant in Changchun a few years ago when a corroded gas tube threatened to put an incendiary end to our meal (and our lives). more ›

Shanghaiist knows a thing or two about Australia. So we obviously know a bit about sharks (or “Noahs”, as they’re called Down Under). We therefore read with great interest that the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium has opened a special exhibition called “I Love Sharks -- Our Ocean, Our Home.” more ›

Shanghaiist rarely hears about avian influenza -- the "bird flu" -- from anyone in China. It's always relatives and friends back in the United States worrying about something, whether it be unhygienic restaurants, bad healthcare, government spooks, or just crossing the street. And they always blow things out of proportion. Things are never as big and bad as the sensationalistic Western media would have us believe -- well, OK, once -- so when they keep bringing up this bird flu business, we just blow them off: "Oh, they're just trying to sell newspapers. And besides, the bird flu is down in southern China. We don't have anything to worry about in Shanghai." more ›