McDonalds is set to raise prices for the fifth time in two years. Citing the pressures of rising food and rental costs, McDonalds said it would increase the prices of some of the items on its menu by between 0.5 and 2 RMB. With the changes, a 5-piece box of McNuggets now costs 1 kuai more at 8RMB, and a Big Mac 18.5RMB, up from 17.5RMB previously.
McDonald's, Starbucks and Pizza Hut raise prices
Starbucks to Shanghai: We are absolutely NOT spying on you in the bathroom
After a spy camera was found hidden inside the air freshener of a Hangzhou Starbucks last week, Shanghai Starbucks spokesman Huang Yun says "The incident in Hangzhou is just a single case... Our toilets are absolutely safe and we staff also use them." From Shanghai Daily:
Wednesday WTF: Starf*cks, to go please
Circulating wildly now on Sina Weibo and the Taiwanese media -- Starfucks, a shanzhai cafe, located in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province. We dug around a little and found that Liuzhou Laowai discovered this gem in March. Maybe he can give us an update on how it's doing?
Caffeine overload: Starbucks will more than triple its stores in China
Do you think that Starbucks...a) serves crappy coffee at prices that warrant a boycott b) the leading symptom of Western imperialism or c) the embodiment of all that is wrong with globalized society? If you selected any of the above well, you're out of luck because Starbucks has just outlined its plans to more than triple the number of its stores in China, up to 1500 locations by 2015.
Star F*cks: Where grinding takes on a whole new meaning
Heh, while it's been a while since we've seen a Starbucks rip off (it seems that their efforts at litigating the crap out of everyone here weren't in vain) in Shanghai, it seems like they're still popping up in smaller, less visible cities. And this has to be the funniest of them all.
Around Shanghai: Getting ready for the end of holidays
- Ah, fireworks. Here's one more video - this time of Shanghai welcoming in the Fortune God with a city-wide show that made us feel like we were part of The Blitz. Don't worry guys, soon it'll all be over. [Dan Washburn]
- While the last couple days have been bitterly cold, apparently the end of the Spring Festival also means the beginning of slightly more comfortable weather. Tomorrow, just as everyone gets back to work, temperatures are set to rise to about 13C. Sunday and Monday will see the weather get even warmer, heading to a high of between 14 to 16C. [Xinmin]
- Speaking of CNY almost being over, Shanghai is now bracing for the rush back. Wednesday reported a daily transport volume of 750,000 passengers, 70,000 more than on Tuesday. Today's supposed to be even worse, since it's the last day of the holiday. [Xinhua]
Fake Starbucks Coffee vouchers
Hot on the heels of the dubious iTunes vouchers, it seems that less-than-kosher Starbucks vouchers have now hit the streets of Shanghai. This warning was spotted on the wall of the Starbucks in Metro City, XuJiaHui.
Chinese-grown Starbucks coffee: The next big thing?
Starbucks has launched a new brand of coffee grown in Yunnan Province in southwest China called South of the Clouds, the meaning of Yunnan (云南) in Chinese. Martin Coles, president of Starbucks Coffee International, told AP that his goal is to bring Chinese coffee not just to China but to the world: "Ultimately I'd love to see our coffees from China feature on the shelves of every one of our stores in 49 countries around the world."
UTO: Unidentified Terrible Object
So you're walking down that much talked about half of Wujiang Lu that has been torn down and built back up as a blandclean and modern commercial pedestrian street. You notice this section between Shimen Lu and Maoming Lu is bookended by a Costa Coffee on one end and a Starbucks on the other. A Coffee Bean is located in between, just in case you simply do not have enough time to reach the other two places for your emergency corporate caffeine fix. You notice the more homegrown Il Panino has reserved a spot here, and regional chains Awfully Chocolate and Honeymoon Dessert have taken root as well.
Dunkin' Donuts coming back to Shanghai
There might be a recession on the way, but American culture is doing just fine. Although we've said nunca más to Taco Bell, but we got the MLB coming our way, Rambo's back in a way that Rocky Balboa could only dream of, and best of all is the surprising news that Dunkin' Donuts is on its way to Shanghai.
Can we just rename our city Starbucks?
One of the things that makes being on the tube during rush hour even more miserable than we had previously imagined possible is the "film" made by Starbucks and Pepsi showing on the subway TV. Titled 晴天日记 (Qingtian riji), the film is about a young man and a young woman, blah blah blah. Of course the film takes place in Shanghai but most of the scenes take place in Starbucks. We think the whole rationale...
Starbucks' cup brimmeth under
Though never a fan of Starbucks, more because of their bland-ardization of the world's greatest drug rather than due to any kind of deeply held anti-corporate leanings, Shanghaiist nevertheless enjoys supping the occasional hot chocolate from a Medusa-emblazoned mug. With this Monday being particularly harrowing, we were looking forward to a dose of sickly sweet cream-topped womb regression, only to have our fragile psyche strained to within an inch of another long, expensive course of...
Saturday Tidbits: Mont Blanc, one child policy and the ongoing Shi Tao saga
Photo of the Mont Blanc superstore on Nanjing Lu from All Roads Lead to China
Bananas on Halloween
Still looking for something to do for Halloween? Here are a few parties that should be worth checking out. If you are stuck hanging around People's Square head over to the MOCA where you will find (besides interesting art) a wicked Halloween party featuring lots of killer tunes from Bananas Soundsystem. For those who aren't keen on going downtown, head out to Xujiahui where Harley's Bar will host Banana Monkey and more Banana DJ music. At Logo bar 3 bands are going to dress up as the Misfits, Sex Pistols and Ramones and churn out some gnarly tunes. Billed Punks for Monks, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to a charity helping the monks in Burma.
Today's Links: Sex ads, Starbucks cups and the Tiananmen generation
Starbucks Corporation, the world’s biggest coffee shop chain, recalled 250,000 children’s plastic cups made in China after receiving reports of the cups breaking and posing a choking hazard.
This is what the former Starbucks outlet in the Forbidden City looks like now
CCTV-9 news anchor Rui Chenggang should be happy now. Finally, a store that serves not just coffee but traditional Chinese beverages like tea too! After all, Rui was the wonderful guy who sparked it all off with a post on his blog which said that having a Starbucks in the Forbidden City, "is not globalising, but trampling Chinese culture". The coffee chain is "a symbol of low-end US food culture presence" which "undermines the Forbidden City's solemnity' and is 'an insult to Chinese civilisation". His vitriol attracted half a million hits within two days, and eventually led to the ousting of Starbucks from the Forbidden City.
Fresh coffee: From Yunnan to your door
One of the great things about living in China is the relatively low cost of courier services which means you can get just about anything delivered at next to nothing at all. China Herald informs us that now, you can even get fresh Yunnan coffee delivered to your house, for FREE (if you live within the French Concession and the Jing'an area, that is, or if you order over 100RMB). Otherwise, you pay just RMB10 if you live in Puxi and RMB15 if you're in Pudong. Very reasonable!
Simply over the moon
If you thought mooncakes were only for the old-fashioned, think again. Hoteliers, restaurateurs and even tech companies (yes, you heard that right!) have all jumped onto the bandwagon, creating a bewildering array of mooncakes in the market with ever bolder and imaginative fillings, all in the hopes of capturing a bigger slice of the market. For the sweet-toothed, check out these multi-coloured ice-cream moon cakes from Häagen-Dazs, which you can get now at the Parkson supermarket (at Shanxi Nanlu subway), but if you do decide to go, brace yourself for the crazy queues!
Paul bakery at Xintiandi closed today: Where is my baguette?
As we got up this morning, we were already delighted at the idea that we would have lunch at Paul. We could already hear the sweet sound of the bread crust of their baguette sandwiches, taste the rich butter of their viennoiseries, and see the wooden shelves, behind the counter, full of different kinds of bread. Just like home.
Police Raid Scam-Artist Teahouse
With the amount of shame emanating from the pictured women's body language, you'd think the cop was busting a Shenzhen whorehouse. But no-- this is Nanjing Lu East, and the scam is overpriced tea.
Today's Links: McMuffins, banned horns and bad medicine
For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.
Photo by Slow Boat To China found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
Today's Links: 24, elevator ads and ghosts
For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.
Photo by meckleychina found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
Today's Links: Baidu, bullets and stabbed cops
For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.
Photo by Slow Boat to China found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
Today's Links: Prison Break, rats and robots
For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.
Photo by slow boat to china found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
Our new favorite blogger: ?uestlove
This is a little old, but we have a feeling many of you haven't seen it yet. From what we have read and seen (front row last month at Yunfeng Theater) of ?uestlove, drummer for The Roots, we always thought the man also known as Ahmir-Khalib Thompson would be a pretty cool guy to hang out with. And then someone told us to check out his blog on MySpace and now our new goal in life is get invited to one of ?uestlove's cookouts should we ever leave Shanghai and move back to rockin' Conshohocken. His blog is an entertaining and honest glimpse into the life of a celebrity, although it seems as though he's not really sure if he feels like a celebrity yet.
Today's Links: Graveyard tourism, Flickr and free coffee
For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.
Photo by mmonk found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
Today's Links: Bibles, free coffee and property rights
For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.
Photo by Mike Chen found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
WiFi revisited
A quick follow-up to last Friday's post, "Whisk whacks free Internet — a trend?." Sunday's New York Times ran a story that might be of interest to those of you who have interest in the topic of WiFi and its freeness. The piece, entitled "What Starbucks Can Learn From the Movie Palace," discusses how some American eateries are handling the WiFi issue — FYI, it ain't free at Starbucks or McDonald's (yes, McDonald's has WiFi) — thus, it is not 100 percent relatable to our Shanghai situation ... but what is?

