US vice president Joe Biden's "noodle diplomacy" act in August last year led to booming business at the Beijing eatery where he spent RMB79 for him and his group of five, as locals came in search of the ‘Vice President's Meal'. Apparently, Canadian premier Stephen Harper has also sparked off a similar food craze after his recent visit to the capital. more ›

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has ended his five-day visit to China with a one-hour meeting Saturday evening with Bo Xilai, the embattled Communist Party chief of Chongqing who is now facing a serious setback in his ascent to the Politburo with the disappearance of his erstwhile right-man, former police chief Wang Lijun. more ›

• We personally love our pajama-clad compatriots but, if like the Expo people, you really wanted to stop Shanghainese from wearing pajamas, do you know you what you should do? Have the Poors wear them, says Evan Osnos. [New Yorker]
• So did you know there was a competitive eating scene here in Shanghai? Super Diner offers a one-kilo burger challenge - if you finish it in ten minutes, it’s free. And Christopher St. Cavendish, bless him, decided to give it a go. [SmartShanghai]
• Xing Zhao talks to three generations of gay men who’ve lived and loved in Shanghai. [Cityweekend]

• 85 people suspected of being meth cookers with a nationwide drug distribution chain just got SHUT. DOWN. by the police in southwestern China. [AFP]
• Stephen Harper is in Beijing (with plans to come to Shanghai tomorrow) and the media here has warmly welcomed him with the headline, "Ties with Canada to thaw." [The Globe and Mail]
• ESWN has an interesting look at the other controversies surrounding the banned television series, Dwelling Narrowness, about two sisters who ruin their lives trying to live in high rent Shanghai. [ESWN]

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's meeting with the Dalai Lama [Reuters]:

"It's gross interference in China's internal affairs. The Chinese side expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition... This disgusting conduct has seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and undermined Sino-Canadian relations... The Chinese side demands the Canadian side ... correct its mistaken conduct, immediately adopt effective measures to eliminate adverse impact (from the meeting) and stop winking at or supporting anti-Chinese activities by Tibetan forces."