Photo from Sypro more ›

As a country that has largely distanced itself from the clusterf*ck we call 'The International War on Terror' back in America, China has generally been considered one of the safer places in the world in terms of not getting blown up. While we hope that this doesn't change any time soon, recent developments have given us some cause for concern. more ›

By Kenneth Tan and David Feng more ›

"China's giant centre Yao Ming will undergo surgery Monday to fix a stress fracture in his left foot, the Houston Rockets announced on Saturday." more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/02/air_bound.php"> remove one man from Gatwick.

Earlier this week the heat in our bedroom pooped out. The weather on Friday hit a promising 18 degrees and we thought our prayers had been answered, but no such luck. Xinhua has put much of China back on a code red weather alert and it looks like we're head right back to highs in the single digits.

Anhui and Jiangsu in east China, Hubei and Henan in central China and Shanxi and Shaanxi in mid-west China will experience snow or sleet, while blizzards could hit the northwest part of Hubei, said the NMC. more ›

Steven Spielberg's decision to withdraw from arranging the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics caused press around the world (except for China) to rub their hands with glee this week at the prospect of China's dirty laundry being flown from the flagpoles of Beijing. more ›

As Shanghai welcomes Chinese New Year for the first time in decades with a dash of snow, we trawl Flickr for pictures that best capture the essence of this week-long (or to be precise, 15 days' worth of) festive cheer filled with red firecracker sprinklings and endless fireworks. more ›

People who made the news this week more ›

Have you got an opinion? Starting this week, we will publish an opinion piece from readers on selected weekends, so if you feel like you've got something to get off your chest, email it to us at info AT shanghaiist DOT com and if we like it, we will publish it under this column. This week, a reader takes on That's Shanghai's Erik Peterson's review of Beijing punk band Snapline's new CD. All views expressed by writers under this column are their own and do not indicate any official position taken by Shanghaiist. more ›

Living up to its name, the decor is predominantly red, including red lighting, red sofas, red walls, red backed chairs and even a red surfaced pool table. There's a corner lounge with its own small screen TV, a bar with seating for about eight amply-built foreigners, one nice sturdy table that seats about seven, then there is a lot of small tables for couples or small groups, with some tables on a split level higher than everyone else, apart from the band. The pool table is unfortunately positioned very close to the seats at the bar. Better hope the owners have insurance for flying pool ball-caused injuries — it's a matter of when, not if. There are also some screens for watching sports broadcasts and music videos, including a pull-down screen in front of the stage, another one near the bar and the small TV facing the corner lounge suite. Apparently, USD300,000 was spent on renovating the place and taking care of all the proper licensing fees. more ›

Gay China seen through the eyes of three different media this week more ›

• Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.
• Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper.
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UPDATE: Dan Bignold, Managing Editor of SH Magazine has posted his response below. more ›

By Derek Sandhaus more ›

By Derek Sandhaus more ›

HAPPY DRINKING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS! more ›

Above, dear reader, you will see an example par excellence of lazy journalism. The header to this post is about as hackneyed as they come, but then so is the approach of a new periodical we stumbled across this week, the rubbishly titled SLmagazine. more ›

Baidu has released its video search report, and Kaiser Kuo of the Ogilvy China Digital Watch translates and summarises some of the key findings. Interestingly, “adult-related” search terms account for 34.14% of daily search volume, followed by celebrity-related (14.74%), TV serial related (12.48%), and animation-related (12.21%) searches. Google is reportedly under investigation in China for tax evasion, says Paul Midler of The China Game.Chinese Skype users now exceed 25% of the global total.While venture capital... more ›

The propaganda department is definitely going into overdrive this week. First, if you still didn't know that China has political parties other than the CCP, the People's Daily has an interesting backgrounder of the eight parties, with short descriptions of the history of the parties and their membership size and make-up. These parties are namely: the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK), China Democratic League (CDL), China National Democratic Construction Association (CNDCA), China Association... more ›

Ladies (and guys with long hair), resist from buying those cheap hair bands you find at the mom and pop stores in your 'hood because the news is out that some of them are made from USED condoms. China Daily cites an unnamed dermatologist with the Guangzhou Hospital of Armed Police who says viruses and bacteria abound on these hair bands recycled from condoms and users could be infected with AIDS, genital warts and other... more ›

So both Myspace and Friendster have their own China versions. Now Kaiser Kuo of Ogilvy Digital China Watch points us to a report on China Business News (第一财经日报) which cites an “industry insider” who says that Facebook plans to release additional language interfaces and intends to enter the China market as early as December this year. The paper also claims that "Facebook has given up its initial plan to set up its own China-based site like MySpace has done with MySpace.cn, but will instead acquire an existing SNS in China." more ›

Shanghaiist has just touched down in Beijing. And just as we were wondering if it was just us, or if the air in the Jing was really that much worse *cough*cough*, this is what we read:
• Birth defects in Chinese infants have soared nearly 40 percent since 2001
• There is one Chinese baby born with birth defects every 30 seconds
• In Beijing, the incidence of breast cancer has increased 23 percent in 10 years, with about 45 women out of every 100,000 diagnosed with the disease, says the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In Shanghai, the figures are even worse, at 55 out of 100,000, up 31 percent in the past decade.

Earlier this week, we told you that a Chinese state owned bank is in talks to buy a stake in US investment bank, Bear Stearns. Apparently, we got some bad info, well actually Dow Jones Newswires got some bad info. See what happens when Rupert Murdoch gets involved? Anyway, today, we learned from a much more reputable publication, Shanghai Daily, that the deal is off, or something like that, here is the quote more ›

China will offer religious services for foreigners arriving for the 2008 Olympic Games, an official in charge of religious affairs said. more ›

Billed by Sotheby's as "among the most historically important paintings of the Chinese avant-garde ever to appear at auction", the painting had apparently been sold a decade ago "under condition that the painting not be shown in public because of its subject matter". more ›

China issued a sweeping denunciation of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian on Thursday, accusing him of stirring animosity between the sides to divert attention from his personal scandals. more ›

There isn't a live music update this week, but it's art shows galore TONIGHT. Three picks that aren't in your conventional Moganshan Lu / Taikang Lu destinations. more ›

It is official...the golden week has finally hit Shanghai, and it is hitting us hard, with a multitude of music festivals. So for those of you who are taking the vacation serious and drinking so much you can't think straight, Shanghaiist is here to do the thinking for you. Feel free to print and paste the sample itinerary listed below to that one pair of underwear you plan on wearing for the entire week. more ›

Burma's military junta has been showing its true colors this week, firing automatic weapons at peaceful demonstrators and raiding monasteries to beat and kill Buddhist monks. But the junta's criminal disdain for human rights has also cast a harsh light on China, the principal commercial partner, strategic ally, and diplomatic protector of the junta. more ›