The WGC-HSBC Champions tournament is starting up tomorrow, and today, the big players were on the China publicity warpath by doing their mandatory "Look at us! We're taking part in Chinese culture!" bit. The part of Shanghaiist that's actually interested in this sport says this happens every time pro-golfers come into town: three years ago there was a ping pong match.
According to a tipster, something has caught fire on the Bund! Details aren't especially clear, but it looks like the fire is coming from the dock right across from the old Bank of China building on Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu (中山东一路). The tipster has now sent in some photos, snapped with his iPhone. Seems that the stuff that caught fire is scaffolding and support beams for the Bund's underground traffic tunnel (built to reroute ugly traffic away from the main thoroughfare).
Guess what? We're "hipper than Hong Kong and more alluring than Beijing," according to the Associated Press. The words appeared in an AP article on Shanghai pursuing luxury travelers in a strong effort to restore a "reputation for opulence and elegance that once made it the Paris of the Orient." Funnily enough, the article seemed to insinuate that this is something new for our city - a transformation we're rushing to finish in time for the Expo rather than, say, something we've been striving for since the late 1990s. Before this metamorphosing push, we were a "gritty industrial hub of crammed tenements." Huh. We guess the Jinmao and Xintiandi and all the Bund buildings that aren't the Peace Hotel can be considered really, really ahead of their time then?
The Peace Hotel, which has been under renovation since 2007, is on the road to being reopened in March 2010. According to Shanghai Daily, it'll be refashioned as the Fairmont Peace Hotel and will retain its original art deco style.
Sure, we already gave it a first visit last year, but this is a museum that virtually commands us to try it again.
Today we watched as the first half of the Waibaidu Bridge （外白渡桥）, or Garden Bridge, was returned to its original position on the north part of The Bund.
Dan Chung of The Guardian, who brought us that beautiful reel of the Longchang Apartments, has a new video documenting visitors on the banks of the Huangpu River.
Luckily for us here in Shanghai, U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration happens at around the midnight hour. That means, basically, that it's completely acceptable to drink to this historical event
Christopher St. Cavish reports that superstar chef Jereme Leung is out at Whampoa Club, the restaurant he helped found. Cavish also says David Laris is now acting as a consultant to the restaurant that bears his name. Meanwhile — and this should be classified as gossip for now — a source on the Bund recently told us that days could be numbered for several of the tenants of the former Union Building. Stay tuned.
These three fantastic jazz vocalists will do a unique performance this Saturday night at a venue we haven't been to yet, called Lounge 18 (18 on the bund, 4F, 18 Zhongshan Dong Lu, near Nanjing Lu). Coco says it's a fantastic space, which means it should be perfect for the magical evening the group has planned for Saturday. Joining the three singers will be Tinho Pereira, the extraordinary Brazilian bass player who joined Coco and Heidi for their recent show at the Oriental Arts Center, as well as Willow Neilson, an Australian saxophonist who is not playing sax at this show but instead playing Mbira, which is the Zimbabwean thumb piano. It's quite a unique set of sounds to mix together, and a fantastic set of musicians, so expect an amazing night.
Friday night was the first of five nights of racy burlesque performances by the Atomic Bombshells at the Glamour Bar. It was the perfect cure for those "boring Olympic opening ceremony blues", at least until China's own Olympic team paraded onto the screen--at which point nothing could draw the crowd's attention away from the big screen. Luckily that won't be an issue for the remaining 4 nights of shows.
Just because we’re on the other side of the world from Ireland doesn’t mean that there won’t be plenty going on for St Paddy’s Day over here in Shanghai. This year, March 17th — the date when all of us are a little bit Irish — inconveniently falls on a Monday but fear not, the Emerald Isle’s Shanghai contingent are celebrating early with a bunch of events this weekend.
The dire restaurant choices at Pudong Airport will get a boost when Terminal 2 opens on March 26.
ODDS AND ENDS:
Recently we stumbled across an interesting website that might have finally answered the age-old question: 'What should I do with my visiting friends and family while I'm at work?' ChinaTrackers.com is a company offering MP3-guided tours of Shanghai and we would assume, from the animation on their homepage, other cities will be soon to follow. The Shanghai destinations include plenty of the standard tourist fare (Old Town, People's Square, The Bund), but also has a couple of off-the-beaten-path stops (two Hongkou tours) as well.
Shanghaiist reader Christof Schmeisser was partying with his friends at Attica over the weekend and was surprised to meet Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson and his crew. They are apparently in town as part of a business delegation on UK prime minister Gordon Brown's Shanghai detour. His impression of the billionaire maverick was "very open minded and not snobbish at all". Schmeisser added:
I said I like the idea of using bio diesel on planes (he finances some project) and asked him how things are going. He showed me his fingers crossed ;-)Nice pics, Christof and thanks for sending them in to us. By the way, if you have his contact, please send them to us. Shanghaiist knows of at least two internet entrepreneurs with world changing ideas that could use some funding!
Where to go, where to go: Shanghaiist is still trying to figure out where to carb up for our big dodgeball game tonight (that's right, patches, dodgeball). Pure, the fancy new Japanese restaurant that is part of The Collection at Xintiandi, has been offering their new sushi menu for 50% off since last Thursday. The special ends tomorrow night, however, so if we enjoy ourselves tonight we may find ourselves there tomorrow as well. On...
Or more specifically, Hilton, which was rendered as Hiton in a recent issue of The Bund (外滩画报). They ran some pictures and an interview with Paris Hilton when she was here, but unfortunately, it's only in Chinese. She has some interesting thoughts about dark matter in the universe, which she's been exploring for her upcoming novel. On the other hand, it seems that she won't discuss where her money comes from, or if she's saving...
Lots of news from the House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai: The latest band featured there wraps up their final few weeks at this revered and relatively long-lived jazz venue; also the club gets ready to move to its new digs over at the bund. Theo Croker and band The current band at the House of Blues and Jazz has been there already for many weeks, and they're doing great. It's a dynamic group...
Oops..we have been sitting on this a few days, all the beers and amazing shows made Shanghaiist a little loopy and unable to sit down and type. The entry below comes via Emily Moy who had a chance to sit down with Talib Kweli and Ozomatli at the Yue Festival press conference last Thursday........
Weekenders looking for a break from the usual club and pub offerings should consider these two interesting events this weekend.
Like half of the population of Shanghai, we attended the launch of the Bund Brewery last Friday. Free flow beer, bring it on. Consequently, like half of the population of Shanghai, we were sweating more than the scantily clad men in last Thursday's photo of the day. But, again, free flow beer, bring it on.
Ok, whatever people might say about the Bund – tacky, over-priced – most are still damn glad it's there rather than not. It is, after all, the most enduring reminder of Shanghai's decadent international past. Consequently, when the paradigm of this past, the Peace Hotel, recently closed for its US$65m makeover, a few questions were raised about the area's future.
The lovely Anna J's stint doing Wednesdays at the Glamour Bar was interrupted last month when she was injured and put in a big cast for a while. However, she is better now, and ready to rock the Bund once again every Wednesday starting from June 13. Her band is fab as before, consisting of EJ Parker on the upright bass and Steve Sweeting on the piano. The sound is great in the room, and the house is always packed by the second set so get there early to find a good seat. Or just call ahead and reserve one.
Summer is here and everything is heating up. Leading up to this weekend, this is what Shanghaiist thinks is going to be hot today and tomorrow.
Has the destruction of Wujiang Lu got you down? Need a quick picker-upper? If so, you might think about heading down to Henry's Brewery & Grill for a nice dose of comedy to turn that frown upside down. Does Henry's sound familiar to you, oh dearest reader? That's because it will also be the host of Shanghaiist next Happy Hour. Okay, that's enough self-promoting. This isn't the first time there's been some stand-up comedy on...
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 is still going to happen. But they've really got their work cut out for them.
It's the beginning of December in China and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" keeps playing in the grocery store (damn you, Lotus ... or should we say Blotus?) so that can mean only one thing: Christmas is quickly approaching! So here you are preparing for the holiday season. You've already purchased your real tree. And, you've been preparing your killer rum apple cider recipe, that turned your last holiday party into a sleepover (good times!). But wait, it seems that you forgot something ... the gifts! Look no further than to a recent addition to Shanghai — Toys 'R' Us!
On Saturday, November 11, New York Times Foreign Affairs Columnist Thomas L. Friedman spoke at Three On The Bund as part of the Three Talk Lecture Series which was co-hosted by the Penguin Group, publisher of Friedman's bestseller The World Is Flat (TWIF). When the globe-trotter, Friedman comes to Shanghai, it is clear how much he travels by the fact that he seems to be unsure of exactly where he is, as in one instance, he spoke of Three On The Bund "here in Beijing." In all, Friedman spoke on his book for about 52 minutes and then followed with a 36 minute Q&A session at the conclusion of which he was presented with a bizarre statuette of himself standing atop a flat world with the words "GEO GREEN" affixed to a pink base and surrounded by the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Go ahead, stare at my chest
Monitors remind classmates that love is publically unacceptable
One is the loneliest number: 11/11 is Singles' Day
Electrolist: Musical legends rule, jah
Interview: Beijing Queer Film Festival
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
