The craze for Chinese language learning The Economist: False Eastern Promise: The craze for teaching Chinese may be a misguided fad Ken Carroll: The Economist at its misguided worst The Peking Duck: Is the rush to study Chinese a time-wasting fad? The Pudong petrol station blast Shanghai Scrap: China National Petroleum to Dead Workers: Blame Yourselves. Wang Jianshuo: Diesel shortage caused traffic jam The lifestyles of the rich and famous Sydney Morning Herald: Britney......

Shanghai Shenhua slipped up in their quest for a third Chinese League title after throwing away two points against CSL new boys Henan last night, in their first home game for six weeks following the summer break. A healthy midweek crowd at Yuanshen stadium in Pudong saw the home side take an early lead on 17 minutes via an own goal from Henan defender Zhang. Shenhua then proceeded to completely dominate the first half, save......

Zhu Jun, the controversial owner of Shanghai Shenhua, made his club an international laughing stock last night after naming himself in the starting XI against Liverpool in the Port of Rotterdam tournament. The millionaire (who isn't exactly the fittest of athletes) let vanity get the better of him and forced Uruguayan team manager Osvaldo Gimenez to play him upfront from the start. Wearing the number 16 jersey, Zhu puffed his way around the Liverpool defence,......

Despite squandering a two-goal lead, China battled hard to put themselves within touching distance of a place in the second round of the Asian Cup after drawing 2-2 with regional footballing powerhouse Iran last night. China were 1-0 up after just six minutes thanks to a stunning 30-yard free kick from Energie Cottbus midfielder Shao Jiayi. Another well taken goal followed not long after the half hour mark, when Shanghai Shenhua's hot prospect Mao Jianqing......

China got off a a rip-roaring start in its 2007 Asian Cup campaign by pounding joint-hosts Malaysia 5-1 on their own turf last night. Despite a less than perfect build up to the games, including a downright miserable defeat to unfancied Thailand, China swept aside their opponents in a manner few Chinese fans would have dared to imagine before the Asian Cup kicked off. Shandong Luneng striker Han Peng netted a double, midfielder Shao Jiayi,......

Sh Shanghai: 200-yuan car horn fines "Shanghai is about to become a quieter city - from June 1, drivers of cars, mopeds and bikes will be banned from blaring horns within the Outer Ring Road." We don't see this being enforced. Two city spots crowned in China's list of top scenic sites "Shanghai's Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Wild Animal Park were crowned as two of China's top-grade scenic spot, according to a list......

Singapore's Lian He Zao Bao (联合早报) ran an article about "face projects" (面子工程), the highly expensive public buildings that ostensibly make their home cities seem cultured, prosperous, and advanced, but which in reality are often huge wastes of resources. Shanghai's got more than a couple of those, but the Lian He piece talks about two face projects in particular: the painted green mountain in Yunnan and Shanghai's own Oriental Arts Centre (东方艺术中心). First consider some......

Regarding yesterday's afternoon siesta taken by Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, one informed reader offered the following scenario: The Pudong Airport thing is the long running battle between PLA Air Force and airport authority about payments from airport to air force -- they've now stepped up the squeeze. We remembered reading something about this before, so we did a search of our Gmail archive and found the September 28 weekly update from the fine folks at......

The new silk road of weaponry: China to Iran to Hezbollah?China and the CIS countries are applying for heritage status for the actual Silk Road.the first Chinese-owned television station in the Middle East, Alibaba Business News, began broadcasting in the United Arab Emirates.Tomson Riviera finally sold its first apartment. The Pudong flat went for about $16 million US dollars.Manchester City 1, Shanghai Shenhua 0.Say it ain't so: China will eradicate Chinglish signs but luckily, this......

More than 30,000 fans crammed into Hongkou Stadium on Thursday night to witness the Shanghai football derby, but went home disappointed after a dull 0-0 draw. (So dull we didn't get around to writing about it until today.) Pre match shenanigans between the teams had piqued the public's interest in the clash between Shenhua FC and Shanghai Liancheng Zobon (or Shanghai United, according to their club badge). The Pudong side accused Shenhua of gamesmanship, according......

Shanghai's first football derby of the season has added spice tonight thanks to the rip-roaring start to the season by the city's second club, Shanghai Liancheng Zobon. The team, called Shanghai Zobon last season before a merger, shocked everyone including themselves last Sunday when they whipped title favourites Shandong 5-1 at Yuanshen Stadium. The Pudong outfit find themselves in the unlikely position of league leaders as they prepare for their clash against their more illustrious......