From Al-Jazeera English:

The Beijing Olympics are still 5 months away but they're attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. more ›

We want some of whatever this guy is smoking: more ›

Lads, next time we recommend splurging on a six pack from Sherpa's. Or Old Speckled Hen is only 11 kuai around corner from Shanghaiist headquarters. So bring over some "tucker" and we'll throw back a few. more ›

It may only be a spit away by plane, but for those of us too cheap environmentally concerned to fly, getting up to Beijing for the weekend is a bitch (despite our love of munching through a bottomless nosebag of sunflower seeds to looped pan-pipe renditions of Celine Dion songs). Which is why we don't go. So the proposed high-speed line between Shanghai and BJ, which will reportedly cane it along at 350km/h and take... more ›

We attended the Chicago Improv All-Stars show at Henry's last night ... and we enjoyed ourselves. It kind of had the feel of a theme party at a friend's house (assuming that friend was very popular, brewed their own beer, had a very large living room with poorly placed pillars, was bad at training their staff and charged guests RMB 280 at the door). If you have ever seen an episode of Whose Line... more ›

See the Chicago Improv All-Stars! more ›

Okay, okay, we promise we will STOP talking about Facebook right after this post for the next week, but seriously, people, it is such a great way to not just entertain ourselves, but also to find out about what's going on in our city [1] . Through Facebook, we've not only seen how people in our town are organising themselves for good, we find that it also can be a great source of GOSSIP. And... more ›

This World AIDS Day, we witnessed an extraordinarily well-coordinated effort by Chinese media to raise AIDS awareness among the populace and to communicate the resolve of the central government to win the battle against the disease. This small sampling of stories that appeared in state-run English-language media is enough to give you an idea of what went out on Chinese news: President Hu: HIV/AIDS not scary President Hu tells HIV carriers, communities not to be... more ›

Shanghaiist are unabashed meat-lovers. We are also big fans of all-you-can-eat places, since blogging is, how shall we say, not a paying gig the most lucrative of professions. So we were delighted to come across a Brazilian churrascaria that doesn't a) rip a new one for drinks and b) actually has a nice, relaxing ambiance to it. Samba Brazilian Steakhouse was one of the places in the New Factories that we peeked into on our... more ›

Hong Kongers snub Beijing Sydney Morning Herald: Hong Kong voters snub Beijing, strike blow for democracy TIME: One for the Democrats in Hong Kong Reuters: Pro-democracy Chan wins symbolic Hong Kong election Fake moon pictures? Fox: China: Our Moon Photo Is No Fake The Canadian Press: China rejects questions over allegedly generic lunar surface photo The Telegraph: China defends lunar probe pictures China business WSJ: China Railway Shares Surge On Shanghai Trading Debut WSJ:... more ›

Shanghaiist has a soft spot for John Cusack, and an even softer spot for Gong Li ( despite what those eejuts at CCTV might think), so we were mildly excited to read that the two are pairing up to film in Shanghai at some point next year. Okay, the odds of bumping into Ms Gong in our local Lian Hua may be slim, but as the movie is set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai just before Pearl... more ›

We’ve known since arriving in Shanghai that there are two types of waiguoren out there: the ones with the chauffeur-driven cars, portly bellies and a company villa in a hermetically-sealed Jinqiao gated community; and the rest of us. Not that Shanghaiist is bitter or anything, in fact, we quite like the directionless romantic bent of our life at present. Which is why we’re suspicious of labels, such as this one, dug up by John at... more ›

One of our favorite Chinese sites seems to have run afoul of the net nanny: vip.bokee.com has been on again off again, but perfectly viewable with a proxy. Using the proxy we saw an article about a list published in a Chengdu newspaper of the top-grossing authors in China, at least based on royalties from the sales of their books. At the top of the list was a Guo Jingming, a young author (born in... more ›

Question: “Who are three people who’ve never been in my kitchen?” Or lately: "Name three people hating on the once mighty US dollar." On Tuesday, Cheng Siwei, the vice chairman of China’s National People’s Congress suggested that China’s foreign exchange regulators ought to consider shifting the country’s massive USD $1.4 trillion reserve into “stronger” currencies. The greenback has been on a downward spiral since 2003. Little did Cheng know that his remarks would trigger a... more ›

As we speak (type?), RnB diva and superstar, Beyoncé is probably relaxing in her luxury suite somewhere in this city. We, on the other hand, are not relaxing. We are anxiously awaiting tomorrow night., when she will take the Shanghai Grand Stage to belt our some songs and shake that tailfeather of hers. In case you forgot (and how could you really?), we told you about the concert ages ago, so most of you probably... more ›

Guangdong Province is mulling a new law that will categorise all jobs into "encouraged", "restricted" and "forbidden" for foreigners in a bid to restrict the employment of foreigners and to ban them from certain jobs. more ›

Fresh off the press: A video of the secret police who watched over AIDS, environmental and democracy activist Hu Jia (胡嘉) day and night while they were under house arrest from July last year to March this year has just been released (h/t to CDT). more ›

It’s been a while since we had any Meizu M8 news, but shame on you for thinking those damn brilliant reverse engineers down in Shenzhen weren’t hard at work. Two months after iPhone’s US launch, Meizu revealed the user interface scheme for its upcoming touch screen phone. J. Wong, the company CEO posted the following pics on an internet BBS. Looks pretty slick, but also quite a bit like the UI of iPhone. Not surprisingly, Chinese fans of Meizu are pretty excited over the release, but folks over at Engadget aren’t nearly as thrilled, and understandably so. more ›

Unlike some of the previous musicals that have taken the stage in Shanghai, 42nd Street is a musical more in line with Broadway's roots and traditions, a true reflection of the Broadway of old...you know, before shows adapted from Hollywood movies took it over. Originally, the show debuted in 1980, based upon the 1933 movie of the same name. After it's Broadway debut and subsequent Tony award for Best Musical, 42nd Street went on to become one of the longest running musicals in Broadway history. more ›

Not long ago, we asked when our local DVD shop would have decent bootlegs of The Simpsons Movie. The answer: Now. And it was probably here a while ago (we were out of town). We haven't not watched the whole thing yet, but the quality of this camcorder version seems to be passable. Who is to thank blame for this intellectual property violation? Someone in Germany, it would seem. Screen shots to the right. more ›

Following a successful flight from Shanghai to San Francisco, a body was discovered in the nose wheel well of United Airlines flight 858. Mechanics discovered the body during a routine post-flight inspection after the plane landed at 7:42am, Thursday morning. According to investigators, the man was of Chinese Asian descent and in his 50s. more ›

Photo by Anton Berkovich. more ›

Two bits of transportation news from random sources: more ›

Picture of Chinese soldiers from tigeranger1971. more ›

Chinese basketball fans held their collective breath this morning as the NBA draft took place a full 12 time-zones away. 22-year old 19-year old Yi Jianlian slipped past his projected spot at the number 5 pick when the Boston Celtics signed a draft-and-trade agreement with the Seattle Supersonics involving 7-time all-star Ray Allen. more ›

Image from silvercord56. more ›

Remember that Chairman Mao bag that you...your "friend" bought the first time you came to China? These bags are found all over China and they are easy to spot. The bags are dark green with a red star or red portrait of Chairman Mao on the flap. Usually, the bags will contain some quote from Mao's The Little Red Book (the second best selling book in the world, by the way), written in red Chinese... more ›

Shanghaiist is not one to visit the many, various, countless, plentiful, and numerous gossip sites on the internet and saved in our bookmark folder. However, after an accidental click or two while innocently surfing the internet at work, we stumbled upon several interesting reports claiming that Christina might be performing at her upcoming Shanghai concert with a "noticeable bump". Could Christina have a bun in the oven? The speculation has the celebrity gossip blogs in... more ›