More and more international and Chinese brands are getting embroiled in the tainted milk scandal. Latest news from the Straits Times:SOUTH Korea's food watchdog said on Tuesday that two more snacks imported from China were contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine, bringing the number of tainted brands discovered locally to six. The products are Ritz Cracker Sandwiches Cheese, produced by Nabisco Food Suzhou Co, and Savory Rice Crackers from Danyang Day Bright Foods Co, said......

The World Expo Tunnel, which stretches beneath the Huangpu River, connecting Pudong and Puxi reached its full length on August the 20th: it's 2.67 kilometers long, and located 1.117 kilometers below the river.The soccer World Cup qualifier match between North and South Korea has been moved from Pyongyang to Shanghai, because the North had refused to play the anthem or fly the flag of its opponent (technically the two Koreas are still at war). The......

It's the best that we have, though we have to admit this video doesn't do justice to the incredible spectacle that was made up of North and South Korean fan contingents at Hongkou Stadium for the two Koreas World Cup qualifier play-off on Wednesday. The action on the stands was just as, if not more, amazing to watch as the action on the field. Here are other vids we found on Youtube:......

DPRK 0-0 ROK; China 0-0 Australia; 26th March, 2008 A large crowd created a fantastic atmosphere at Hongkou Stadium last night but neither team were able to reward the great support with a goal, as North Korea battled to a 0-0 draw with South Korea. A game of few clear cut chances was largely controlled by South Korea, particularly in the first half, as DPRK fielded a defensive side with striker Jong Tae-se playing......

Ok, we know that China are taking on Australia in a crucial World Cup qualifier this afternoon at 2pm, but that's all the way down in Kunming and, frankly, we're not too optimistic about China's chances in this latest 'Group of Death' match. Therefore, match of the day has to be this evening's fixture at Hongkou Stadium where North Korea will take on South Korea (kick-off is 7pm). For those of you at the back......

Like all football connoisseurs, Shanghaiist loves nothing better than a good derby. Games like Feyenoord v Ajax where travelling supporters are banned. The sheer evil of Rangers v Celtic. The Latin heat of Real Madrid v Athletic Madrid. The Manchester United v Liverpool grudge match. The Superclásico of Boca Juniors v River Plate. And Shanghai Shenhua v Inter Shanghai lacked the history but not passion before one half upped sticks and moved to Xi'an. But......

People who made the news this week Kim Jong-Il, the President of North Korea, has met up with Wang Jiarui, the head of the international department at the Central Committee of China’s Communist Party, in Pyongyang on Wednesday. According to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo, when Wang voiced his explicit dissatisfaction with the DPRK's failure to meet its nuclear disarmament deadline, Kim said, “The present difficulties are temporary and can be conquered.” Kim also made a......

Our second show for the day is the critically acclaimed documentary Seoul Train (featured on PBS) which offers a look at the estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China today, who have braved untold dangers to escape a food and humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of 3 million back home. The camera follows several groups of North Korean refugees, some have chosen to forcibly make their way past the gates of......

Hong Kong Triad T-Shirt Gets Fashion Label in Hot Water [Asiaone.com] The arrest of 18 employees of a Hong Kong lifestyle and retail chain over a controversial new line of T-shirts '14K' bearing the name of a well-known triad gang spurred an apology from the store's founder.Pakistan - Besieged Musharraf plays for time [Asia Times] Having opened a can of worms by declaring a state of emergency, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is now in......

South Korea starts construction of space centre [Channel News Asia] Asia's space race is heating up with China's latest launch of its first lunar orbiter. And neighbouring South Korea is working hard to catch up.Malaysian police officer denies illegally amassing US$8m in assets [Channel News Asia] The head of Malaysia's Commercial Crimes Investigation Division has denied allegations that he illegally amassed more than US$8 million in assets. India rediscovers East Asia [Asia Times] The visit......

Alibaba.com, China’s largest B2B commerce site is going public in Hong Kong in a few weeks. With the current frenzied market back drop, and Alibaba’s tremendous earning power (Goldman Sachs’ analyst pegs the site will earn a net profit of USD $83.8 million this year, up 186 percent from last year), the IPO will no doubt be a roaring success. Sounds great, so where can we get some allocation? Well, that’s the thing, there will......

We just received news that North Korea has expressed its intention to attend the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. How exciting is that, people! Having attended the World Expo in Hanover in 2000, we just wonder what wonderful propaganda awaits us at the DPRK pavilion in 2010! So we looked up Youtube and found this clip which we thought would be a fantastic example of what would be shown at the North Korean pavilion. Leo......

Shanghai's booming subway [LA Times] The Chinese metropolis was even later than L.A. in building its system. But it is already big, with plans to make it the biggest within a decade. Shanghai: Art Deco capital - for now [The Telegraph] Just as Shanghai's priceless architectural legacy is gaining overdue recognition, it faces new threats from developers, reports Richard Spencer. Don't exaggerate product quality issues--China [The Inquirer] Concerns about the quality and safety of products......

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Student comes under fire for rap video of Malaysia's national anthem An ethnic Chinese Malaysian student has enraged ministers and the man in the street alike with his allegedly seditious rap video of the Malaysian anthem. In the video, he raps about racial discrimination against the Chinese, corrupt cops and indolent civil servants, most of whom are Malay. He does so against the Malaysian flag, with the Negaraku melody playing in......

Gold, silver, bronze? Nah. According to Bloomberg.com athletes the world over have smog on their minds when it comes to the quadrennial Olympics competition next year in Beijing. Gunn-Rita Dhale, Norway’s reigning world champion for women’s mountain biking had this to say about her future host city, It's probably the most polluted place I've ever competed. Your mouth and throat dry up because of the dust. It's not good for the system. Clearly, Ms. Dhale......

Pyongyang, North Korea - Two Koreas to hold first summit in seven years South Korea's President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il will meet in Pyongyang from August 28-30 -- their first summit in seven years to promote lasting peace on the peninsula, divided for 60 years by minefields and barbed wire. Kabul, Afghanistan - Taliban offer women hostages for female Afghan prisoners The Taliban said Tuesday they were willing to swap women......

What Crossing the Line - a documentary by VeryMuchSo Productions with Koryo Tours Synopsis Witness the stories of four US army defectors who abandoned their homeland to seek out a new life in communist North Korea in this fascinating documentary from filmmaker Daniel Gordon. It was August of 1962 that Private First Class James Joseph Dresnok crossed the heavily fortified border from South Korea into the North. Now, more than forty-years later, the last......

Gil Kim is a professional baseball player from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, which we are sure you all know is the home of Yuengling Lager (and is not too far from Bloomsburg, which we are sure you know is home to the Bloomsburg Fair). After graduating from Vanderbilt University, where he was "primarily a role player," Kim spent 2006 playing with the Omron Pioniers, a minor league team in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 2007, he was signed by......

Southeast Asia - Southeast Asian nations are battling a surge in dengue cases, amid signs that climate change could make 2007 the worst year on record for a disease that often gets less attention than some higher-profile health risks. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Malaysia's top civil court has rejected the appeal of Muslim convert Lina Joy to be recognized as a Christian in a landmark case that has been seen as a litmus test......

Kaesong, North Korea: The managers of this capitalist enclave in communist North Korea are appealing for the world's support, saying their experiment in free markets can pave the way for regional peace. Kaesong supporters are aiming for the city to emulate Shenzhen, the special economic zone bordering Hong Kong, which kick-started China's economic boom, and say this will narrow the huge economic gap between North and South Korea with the help of foreign support. Liupanshui,......

Chinese monthy trade surplus nearly doubles "...the February surge was caused by exporters shipping goods early to beat an expected change in taxes, leaving less to ship in March." US engineer found guilty of 'spying' for China "Mak was convicted on two counts of attempting to send sensitive material to China, acting as a foreign agent without notifying the US government and making false statements to federal agents." 133 punished for roles in mining......

Despite chalking up their first point of their 2007 AFC Champions League campaign, Shanghai Shenhua are out of the competition after being held 0-0 by J-League champions Urawa Reds yesterday. On a gloriously sunny Pudong afternoon, both sides failed to impress, with an Urawa header against the crossbar in the second half the nearest either team came to scoring. Ironically, the loudest cheer of the day was reserved for captain of the Japanese champions, Nobuhisa......

Shanghaiist loves lists. We've embraced the love of lists ever since we picked up Nick Hornby's novel High Fidelity. So when browsing the morning news yesterday, our honed powers of list detection and surveillance led us to discover that Shanghai has been included in yet another list. Not just any pokey little list might we add, but The Economist magazine's 2007 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey (WCOL) for expatriate workers. So let's get to the......

For profit and patriotism, Chinese flock to antique auctions in Japan, where they buy a lot of old Chinese items.Chinese swimmers are going to take on Cook Strait, and then the Bering Strait, Red Sea, Panama Canal, and Strait of Gibraltar.South Korea braces for another toxic sandstorm from China.You mean Tibet wasn't always part of China? A Chinese scholar says different.US veep Dick Cheney, in Australia, criticizes China's arms build-up.The ghost of Spring Festival past—celebrating......

China has moved a step closer to diversifying its US$1.07 trillion in foreign reserves, with the yet-unofficial appointment of two senior officials to head new vehicles that will seek to invest a portion of China's reserves, which are the largest in the world. According to The Standard:Guo Shuqing, chairman of the third- largest lender, China Construction Bank, is tipped to become head of a new state-owned investment company that will adopt Singapore's Temasek model, China......

Yesterday MobileMonday had their third monthly gathering in Shanghai. This time the topic was Mobile TV, a very hot topic in China right now (trust us). Four different presentations introduced this topic to the audience: the encryption technology (Thierry A. Raymaekers, Irdeto), the content aggregation (Jan Henrik Pratje, 1MP), the technical aspects (Johann Le Roux, MIH Group), and the programming (Angela Chan, I-Vision). More details aboutteh presentershere. The main messages of all the speeches were......

Beijing retailers told to mind their manners with customers or be found violation of the law.Beijing has opened what we believe to be China's first pitch-black restaurant—where diners eat in complete darkness and the staff use night vision goggles.300 new bao mu's are being trained for deployment during the Chinese New Year, when many of the city's bao mu's are heading home.Was it climage change that brought down the Tang dynasty?A Shanghai production of the......

Everyone is reporting about North Korea's apparent "successful" test of a nuclear weapon, which happened last night. North Korean scientists "successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions," the [Korean Central News Agency] report said, adding this was "a stirring time when all the people of the country are making a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation." ... "The nuclear test is a historic event that brought......

From the Shanghai Daily, we learn that three airlines that fly in and out of Shanghai have banned the use of batteries on certain Dell and Apple laptops for fear that they might spontaneously combust. The three airlines are Korean Air, Qantas Airways and Virgin Atlantic. We've organized the information presented in the story below. Korean Air The Ban: "... all Dell laptops and Apple's iBook and Powerbook models must have their batteries disconnected before......

Northwest Airlines has submitted a proposal to start nonstop service between Shanghai and Detroit on or about March 25, 2007. The report says they have filed their request with the U.S. Department of Transportation. We're not quite sure how this clearance works, but wouldn't they have to get approval from China, too? Detroit would be the first city in the U.S.'s eastern time zone to offer direct service to Shanghai, and being from the east......