The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres this weekend at Beijing's Olympic baseball stadium. Seating capacity is limited to 13,000 spectators, and sure enough Emma has sold out their allotment of the cheap seats here in Shanghai. We're curious as to the scalper situation in Beijing, but for the risk-averse, other Chinese ticketing websites still have a small number of tickets left. A little internet sleuthing can still get you into the RMB 88 section! As far as the line-ups, San Diego is bringing a mix of veterans and new players to Beijing:

The Padres traveling contingent includes players with substantial experience in the Major Leagues (closer Trevor Hoffman), up-and-coming regulars (Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff) and a host of players who will play in the Minor Leagues in 2008.

None of the pitchers on the roster played more than 16 games in the majors last year. Non-roster invitee Chan Ho Park, who is seeking to revive his career, is the most experienced with 11-plus years of major league service, and will be joined by pitchers including Hong-Chih Kuo, Eric Stults and Eric Hull, who spent most of last year in the minors.

China currently has no privacy laws, but that may change, if lawyer Yu Guofu from the Beijing-based Internet Society of China has his way. In an interview with the China Youth Daily 《中国青年报》, Yu made the following comments:

There is no privacy protection law in China so far, nor is there a single item in any laws and regulations that covers privacy protection... The only mention of privacy is in a judicial explanation by the Supreme Court of China that focused on the protection of the right of reputation... Moreover, there had been scarcely any research on the right of privacy for a long time in China...

"And let's not forget the bad influence those pictures have exerted on Chinese Internet users which include not only adults but children too," he said, saying that the picture would do "unredeemable damage" to children... more ›

Image from Pocacola.com more ›

The Xujiahui Cathedral (徐家汇天主教堂), otherwise known as the St. Ignatius Cathedral of Shanghai (聖依納爵主教座堂) is lit up especially for the Special Olympics. more ›

Right: We told you about the duet between mainland crooner Sun Nan and Singapore pastor-turned-popstar Ho Yeow Sun that was supposed to have been the theme song for the Special Olympics but was scrapped. Now we found the video. Make your own judgements. more ›

At the closing ceremony at Jiangwan Stadium last night, Kenny G played a rendition of “Butterfly Lovers” (梁祝) as women in butterfly costumes descended from cables strung to the stadium lights. When they reached the stage, they claimed a Special Olympian and escorted her back to the lights as the announcer declared in a monotone voice, “Now she has made it.” And that was just the beginning. more ›

Perhaps you have noticed that Shanghai taxi drivers are wearing orange T-shirts these days. They are for the Special Olympics (which, we assume, local cabbies are more interested in than the Women's World Cup?) and on the back we're pretty sure it says "I Know I Can," which is the event's slogan. We asked one of our drivers today if he liked being able to wear a T-shirt instead of the usual cabbie outfit (some... more ›

Attracting celebrities, dignitaries, and mass media coverage, the Opening Ceremonies are a highlight of the Games, showcasing the spirit of Special Olympics and the athlete's achievements through the theme I know I can. more ›

Shanghai is back in Beijing's good books. Or so an article published by the People's Daily two weeks ago indicates, claims the Associated Press. The article, titled "Glad to hear the new good tidings from Shanghai", lavished praise on Shanghai for it's recent successes. "A golden breeze refreshes Shanghai; one important, auspicious event after another" gushed the lead article. It is a sign, claims AP, that the fallout from last year's pension scandal has started to settle. As AP points out:

...such propaganda is a cue that top communist leaders have come to a consensus that the scandal was confined to a few "bad elements" and that China's biggest and richest city has Beijing's support.

Ever thought of what you're doing to offset your carbon footprint? This Saturday, instead of driving your car or taking a taxi, why don't you try taking public transport, cycling or walking instead? Residents will be asked to avoid driving private cars within the Inner Ring Road, and while compliance is not mandatory, driving will be banned outright in some areas.
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Pigs are back in the headlines once again, and with a vengeance. Here is an interesting juxtapose of three pig-related news stories found via the informative China Digital Times. more ›

This weekend is the next stop for Olympics hopefuls at the Gymnastics World Cup stop in Shanghai. The action begins tomorrow with the preliminary competition, which will determine the eight finalists that will compete on the four apparatuses for the women and six for the men. Since this is a World Cup event, there will be no all-around competition. Tomorrow's preliminary competition will be followed by the event finals on Saturday and Sunday. With the... more ›

Notorious NBA bad boy Yao Ming has done it again. He's late for national team training — and China's official sports association has made it clear they are sick and tired of his Rodmanesque antics: more ›

Picture of Chinese soldiers from tigeranger1971. more ›

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. more ›

For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day. more ›

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It may seem that we just can't get enough of blowjob jokes, but the Shanghai Daily's headlines are just too doggone funny. more ›

So what happens during a meet up? Well, we practically shoot everything in sight. But more than that, it's a great venue to make new friends, learn about your camera, discover photography tips, find your way around Shanghai, have some fun, and maybe we'll grab some drinks afterwards. more ›

Meanwhile, locals watched skater exhibitionists, had near-death experiences snowboarding, checked out the flowers in Century Park, sang their heart away, went to their favorite bars, and, well, did their laundry. more ›

Photo by captainvideo taken from the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site. more ›

We're not sure what prompted us to buy a bottle of REEB Antarktik Beer the other day. We don't normally buy beer at Shanghai convenience stores. We don't normally buy Chinese beers. But it was exceptionally hot and humid on Saturday. We were thirsty, and perhaps got suckered in by the photo of ice caps on the label. Or maybe we just thought it was cool the way they used Ks in the word "Antarctic." (Apparently, REEB used the Bosnian and Serbian spelling of the word -- another creative coup form the people who brought us "beer spelled backwards.") more ›

Here's the lineup for the concert: more ›

With so much attention being focused on that other film shot in Shanghai, Asia Pundit fills us in on another movie featuring our city that you may have overlooked (and probably should continue overlooking based on what he says). It's the latest Milla Jovovich vehicle UltraViolet: more ›

A friend pointed us to this amusing and probably pretty accurate post at a blog called DiligenceChina, which appears directed at Americans looking to do business in China. This post deals with what they call the "Lexicon of China-Business Entry Terms" and offers blunt definitions of terms like "Greater China," "Special Chinese Method" and "Chundits." What initially caught our eye, however, was this entry: more ›

Shanghaiist feels lucky that we will stay home for Spring Festival after reading this Sohu report (in Chinese) about the annual holiday transportation peak between January 14 and February 22. Ticket prices for trains, buses and boats are up 20-100 percent during this season and everything is going to packed, uncomfortably packed, like can't fight your way to to the toilet packed (and then if you finally make it to the toilet, you'll wish you didn't -- trust us). more ›

The English translations of the top 10 phrases used in Chinese newspapers in 2005 are: more ›

Since Shanghaiist kicked off in July this year, we've inflicted opinion after opinion on you, our faithful readership. Here comes a whole bunch more. more ›

America's favorite action star and advocate for the mentally handicapped, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, isn't the only US governor on a trade mission to China this week. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is here too, just nobody seems to notice. AFX reports: more ›