From Al-Jazeera English:The Beijing Olympics are still 5 months away but they're attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. Human rights campaigners have been staging protests, demanding China be called to account for its human rights record in Tibet. Owen Fay reports on protests designed to place pressure on Beijing. Related stories: New York Times: Tibetan Marchers Arrested in India AHN: Tibetan Exiles Embark On Hunger Strike In India To Protest Against Arrests International Herald......

We want some of whatever this guy is smoking: "Haibao is a jolly, confident and cute kid," said Shao Longtu, 62, CEO of the Jiumuchuansheng advertising company and head of the mascot design team. "Using a human being as a mascot reflects the spirit of human-orientation, while the color blue stands for water, sea, the Earth, life, dreams, the future and technology," Shao said. ... "The mascot is a perfect match for the emblem. It......

Via our Contribute Page, we learn that ISpyShanghai.com is a glutton for punishment recently conducted a taste test of beers readily (and cheaply) available in Shanghai. The photo above shows the awful selection they had to choose between, although only seven brews were ranked (we're not sure why ... maybe they got sick?). REEB and Budweiser came in at the bottom and Harbin (owned by Budweiser) came out on top. If we had to choose......

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......

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......

See the Chicago Improv All-Stars!...

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......

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......

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......

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:......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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. Xinhua elucidates:For jobs in the "encouraged" category, the potential foreign employees will be issued permits. Employers will be charged fees for hiring foreigners for "restricted" positions. The employment of foreigners without permits will be illegal, said the spokesman, without indicating......

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). Who is Hu Jia and why are the powers-that-be watching over him? Perhaps the best summary of Hu's trouble-making activities is found in a report by Jonathan Watts of the......

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,......

As a past visitor to the Chinese consulate in New York for visa related headaches issues, we are quite familiar with the quaint corner where the consulate stands, 12th Avenue and 42nd Street. So, it was with great gusto and anticipation that we arrived at the Majestic Theater (one of the oldest theaters in the city) for the China premiere of 42nd Street. Unlike some of the previous musicals that have taken the stage in......

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. Any......

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. To add intrigue, the man was also found wearing "several layers of clothes" and appeared to have a few "obvious injuries".......

Part of Huaihai Lu to be shut for 20 months due to subway expansion A section of Huaihai Road W. between Xinhua Road and Huashan Road will be shut down for 20 months starting on Saturday due to construction on a new subway line, metro officials said yesterday. Use of transport card to be expanded Local residents will be able to use their transport cards to pay taxi, bus, and subway fares in Nanjing and......

Two bits of transportation news from random sources: The Xinmin Evening Post reports that the Shanghai Pudong Airport Authority and the Shanghai Mapping Institute will be making free maps of the city available in special racks at the Pudong Airport starting this week, with plans to expand to Hongqiao Airport and the Shanghai Railway Station. The map is the standard Chinese map of Shanghai that you can buy for RMB 6 at bookstores throughout the......

Worker beaten to death in strike for unpaid wages An unpaid migrant worker has been beaten to death at a building site in South China's Guangdong Province and hundreds of his workmates who were striking to get delayed salaries were bashed by thugs hired by the building owner. Beijing Olympic venue catches fire A fire broke out on Monday at the nearly completed table tennis venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but damage appeared limited......

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. Yi was selected the very next pick by the Milwaukee Bucks, a move that might not please the 7-footer from China too......

Looks like it will be a year of extreme weather ahead. China Daily reports that at least 48 people have been killed in rainstorms in southern and eastern China over the last five days-- "Fourteen rural residents were killed in a lightning strike on Sunday while they were working in fields in Jiangxi province... A 56-year-old woman and her 14-year-old grandson also died when they sought shelter under a corrugated iron roof, while two......

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......

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......

The NBA is coming to Shanghai again on October 17. This time the Cleveland Cavaliers, fresh off the worst NBA Finals performance we have ever seen, take on the Orlando Magic. If meaningless preseason hoops is your thing, start booking tickets to Minhang District now. The game is being played way the hell out there at the Shanghai Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center. And for those of you who remember the 2004 Shanghai clash......

Continuing the fine Shanghaiist tradition of plagiarizing and plundering regurgitating Shanghai Daily stories, we bring you this article:SHANGHAI named 83 folk arts as its first batch of city-level intangible culture heritage today as part of the city's efforts to protect and promote these "traditional treasures." The popular "Huju Opera, Lion Dancing, Dough Modeling and the Longhua Temple Fair" can be found on the list, which has 10 categories -- folk music, dances, operas, folk art,......