According to the Xinmin Evening Post, on Sunday afternoon the southern half of the historic Waibaidu Bridge will be going to Pudong for repairs, followed by its northern half later this week. The former Garden Bridge was closed to all traffic on February 29th and workers have been hard at work preparing the bridge for tomorrow's trip. At approximately 9:30 in the morning when the tide is at its lowest point, a barge will be......

Jake Newby's recent post on Shanghaiist hinted at the erosion of Moganshan Lu's art district by new development. Following up, we bring you images from the area and can only hope that the 'development' is to put in riverside parkland around the then preserved heritage architecture, taking the arts district to the next level. And letting Island6 back in once the new gardens are done. We can dream, can't we?......

By Wm Patrick Cranley The 1907 Garden Bridge (in Chinese, the Waibaidu Qiao) is one of those rarest of historic treasures in Shanghai: an original structure that is still being used for the same purpose for which it was built. Imagine our shock, then, when we read recently that the Garden Bridge was to “vanish.” No need to panic. It turns out that the bridge will disappear for one year for repairs. In fact, this......

So the story goes: When Chairman Mao visited Shanghai he asked, 'I know there is a Shanghai (上海：on the sea), but is there a Xiahai (下海：under the sea)?' We assume that this was followed by uncomfortable forced laughter as none present (save possibly Zhou Enlai) had the heart (read: cojones) to tell him that the joke stunk. Little did he know that there is, in fact, an 'under the sea' (cue your 'Little Mermaid' soundtracks......

Normally the water itself here in China is enough to make your skin start to blister and peel and fall off, but in a shallow pool at Dianchi Chuntian, a wonderfully relaxing (and affordable) hot springs spa in Kunming, Yunnan Province, it's swarms of hungry fish that seek out your skin — the dead stuff, we were assured — and ingest it. It's meant to be healthy, for you and the fish. Wikipedia tells us......

Time to take advantage of the start of the new academic year to learn something new at several upcoming events taking place here in Shanghai. Kicking off the fall season on August 30 is Pecha Kucha, a night of creative talks guaranteed to pack a punch by sticking to a limit of "20 slides for 20 seconds each". This month's session takes place at the Shanghai Sculpture Space, with a pre-show by Spanish artist Angel......

If you’re like us and already feel slightly guilty at how much you will be drinking at this Friday’s Shanghaiist Happy Hour, maybe it’s time to start thinking about how to have an active summer? Whether you’re a cycling veteran or you’re just looking for something to do to these coming months, there are a number of bike trips available to see more of the beautiful countryside (or Suzhou Creek). The first option is from......

The JazzArt concert series got off to a fantastic start with a packed house enjoying two sets of Lawrence Ku's original music on this past Sunday. His group of seven musicians featured the cream of the crop on the Shanghai jazz scene, nearly all of whom are also faculty at the JZ school — including EJ Parker, Alec Haavik, Andy Hunter, Chris Trzcinski, the author of this post, Lawrence himself, as well as the amazing......

A round-up of BBS posts on the Shanghai metro: People's Square concrete drying... and drying... Poster SanNiu British Teacakes noticed yesterday that the yellow metal floor protectors place in front of the glass safety doors on the People's Square Line 1 platform have been moved around as the floor is repaired following the safety door installation process. Line 7 to perform "double crossing" of Suzhou CreekThe Metro Line 7 will perform a over-and-under double crossing......

After attending the massive NeoSpring Creative Festival on Suzhou Creek, Shanghaiist had high hopes for the so called Creative Box, or Ushigokoro. The concept behind this gallery is displaying art in tiny boxes; anyone can apply to display their works. They currently have an exhibition called "Lost and Found", in which participants bring in whatever they find on the street to add to the exhibition. The rest of the gallery is filled from floor to......

There are a lot of tempting events coming up this weekend. But please don't invite us, we're saving up for Kenny G. On Friday night, Beijing indie rock band Sound Fragment comes to 4Live, inheritor of the old Tang Hui bar, to promote their new album. Opening for them is Shanghai band Banana Monkey (don't ask, we don't know). 4Live is the place for rock these days, bringing both national and international acts on a......

Last week, we told you about the the big fire at Shanghai's historic 121-year-old Union Church. On Saturday, we went to the church to check on the damage. We were able to sneak onto the roof of an abandoned building next door to get some bird's eye views — and what we saw wasn't pretty. Workers are busy building scaffolding around the remains of the building, so it looks as though the church's renovation......

The Shanghai Daily ran just a caption with the attached photo. Here is what they wrote: Fire fighters battle a blaze early yesterday which broke out in an former church converted into offices in Shanghai. No one was injured in the fire, which started about 2:30am. Crew from 18 fire engines took about an hour to extinguish the flames. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, at the intersection of South Suzhouhe Road......

The digital lifestyle is upon us, and thanks to Web 2.0 the onus is on you to be a producer as well as a consumer. Two conferences in that spirit are coming up in the next month. This weekend Shanghai will be host to its first ever barCamp, the ad hoc tech lifestyle “un-conference” where every attendee is encouraged to participate either as a speaker, organizer, or active listener. The action kicks off at 6......

Yes, we know, we know. Pier One -- so last month. Shanghaiist admits it -- we never went when it was The Next Big Thing. The journey to get there just seemed Biblical in length. Why hike to Suzhou Creek, the Shanghai equivalent of outer Xinjiang, when the loving embraces of Glamour Bar, Time Passage and Mint were just around the corner? Pier One, by the way, is a complex of outrageously pretentious super-chic bars......

If the only railway station waiting room you’re accustomed to in China is the grimy, smoky one with endless waves of humanity sitting on those red, white and blue striped bags of live produce, then you’re going to enjoy the South Shanghai Railway Station for a change. We were fortunate enough to pass through the gleaming, spotless and modern facility last night on our way back from Hangzhou (RMB 44 for soft seat; 1 hour......

Qian Yun, walker...

Joy of joys, Shanghaiist discovered a new beer last night. We were at an opening party for the new tudou.com (formerly toodou.com) office up on Suzhou Creek, and we found a slab or two of Blue Cowrie Beer sitting atop the bar. “Cowrie” as in the shell, which makes the cowboy motif on the label a little difficult to work out. At any rate, here are some of the beer’s vital statistics: Vessel: Can Size:......

Today is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. What does that mean to you? Well, probably nothing (unless you happen to be using a lunar calendar). But if you're keeping track, you'll know that it is Duan Wu Jie, also called the Dragon Boat Festival or the Dumpling Festival. As these names suggest, the two main symbols of this Chinese summer holiday are dragon boats and rice "dumplings", which you know as zongzi.......

Canadian born photographer Greg Girard has been shooting in Asia for quite a while and in Shanghai for the last six years. Some of the fruits of his labors were on display at the opening of his Studio Rouge show Downtown on Sunday. Much of Girard's work focuses on homes. Many of the pictures at the show were exteriors of run-down, slated-for-destruction buildings. Often shot at dusk or at night, the very studiously composed shots......

Shanghaiist, admittedly, isn't much of a museum goer. While we can spend hours wandering the galleries at 50 Moganshan Lu, we have yet to set foot in that big famous museum in People's Square. We blame our short attention span on MTV. But when we do find a museum we like, we'll tell you about it. And this weekend we were thoroughly impressed by the little-known Shanghai Post Museum, which opened on January 1. Inside......

Although this story was reported a month ago, Shanghai Daily is claiming that a couple of days ago, the Shanghai Airport Authority unveiled a blueprint for the future that will double the amount of uncomfortable places to try to sleep passenger and air cargo volume at Pudong International Airport in 2015. They state that "a second major terminal comprising 480,000 square meters is scheduled to be finished in 2007 to the east of the existing......

Some news snippets having to do with Shanghai landmarks and redevelopment: The former flower market came down yesterday. From the Sina News Center (Chinese): 2005年11月30日上午，地处上海市中心的文化广场进行了首幢建筑物爆破拆除，文化广场曾经是上海市的标志性建筑。先爆破拆除是一幢5层3400平方米17米的楼房，它的主体建筑是一个能容纳万余人的无柱剧场，该剧场爆破拆除施工将明年初进行。 One the morning of November 30, 2005, the first in what will be a series of demolition by dynamite was carried out at the Cultural Square in the heart of metropolitan Shanghai, a site that was of historical value for the city. The demolished building was a former theater......

As previous posts have suggested, there are hordes of people in Shanghai at the moment. Clearly, however, there aren’t too many Shanghaiist contributors around -- it's all quiet on the eastern front. Like many foreigners living in Shanghai, they’ve probably scarpered off for an extended break from work. And while we'd usually be green with envy to be stuck here, we actually don't envy them one little bit (particularly not the two who are currently......

This doesn't explain why Shanghaiist's taxi driver the other night had never heard of "Xintiandi" -- "I'm from Pudong" was his excuse -- but it might explain why so many behind the wheel in Shanghai drive like assholes. They're just angry, is all ... because their car's GPS navigation system uses a fake city map that is just plain wrong: The government is aware of the problem but is at loss over how to handle......

Shanghaiist is tired of living in a black hole of music. After our brother threatened to blackmail us if we asked him to send music AGAIN, we started thinking about alternatives. Most local shops have a selection that would suit a 13-year-old from the early 90s, but we have been able to find the Rolling Stones, Belle & Sebastian and PJ Harvey over the last three years. We got them at a stand inside the......

A stunt man playing the role of a man jumping to his death in the Huangpu River nailed the scene yesterday -- right down to the dying part. Police would not provide the man's name, only saying that the man was in his 50s ... and that he was dead. The accident occured near Huishan Dock on the north end of The Bund in Hongkou District shortly after 4 pm during filming of a new......

Here's a useful tourist map of Shanghai -- it labels 14 choice spots to go kill yourself. Adapted from a location map for the 2002 4As Creative Awards Roadshow, this image began circulating online last year but has only recently caught the attention of the traditional media. Experts have been trotted out to decry the harmful influence it will have on the youth, and the subway option has attracted quite a bit of attention, since......

That's refreshing news. Not that Shanghaiist has anything in particular against Xintiandi. It's OK, in an Epcot Center sort of way. Maybe in 10 years or so, once the novelty wears off and the prices come down a bit, it will be a decent place to sit outside and have a beer. But we don't understand why we see so many red-hatted tour groups barrelling their way through the place, snapping photos. We don't understand......

Most people climb the Great Wall. Some run up it. A few strange souls ride their unicycles on it. And 1000 saxophonists are planning to gather on it to play their instruments in unison (if you've scheduled an outing to Badaling that day, we strongly suggest a stroll around the Summer Palace instead). Then there's Danny Way. He's going to jump over the Great Wall on his skateboard. Tomorrow. 5pm. Now, we at Shanghaiist have......