The free admission that began this week was such a great success at the Shanghai Museum that officials have now limited the maximum number of visitors to 5,000 at any time. The other three museums included in the trial also reported a spike in visitor numbers.Xunlei, the Chinese P2P service that is currently being sued by the Hollywood-based Motion Picture Association for US$1 million has said that the Shanghai court was not the appropriate place......

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. It all started earlier this week when a man strapped with explosives boarded an Australian......

By Kenneth Tan and David Feng Not good news: Tudou may be in for a squashing by the Chinese mainland authorities, specifically, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television. A Sohu IT report claims that the presence of porn -- a big no-no on the Chinese Internet -- was all that it took for the potato (which is the Chinese translation of "tudou") to be squashed. The squashing is long-term and has no set......

Landscape lights switched on again in Shanghai [Xinhua] "Shanghai switches on its landscape lights on Friday night after a lapse of more than four weeks. "Shanghai Cancels Art Exhibition [NY Times] "An exhibition of works by the artist Zhang Huan, right, was canceled by Shanghai’s local government just before it was to open this week at the Shanghai Art Museum. The Shanghai Cultural Bureau, which oversees the museum, declined to comment on Friday, as did......

Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

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......

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. Citing China's tacit support of genocide in Darfur, the director claimed that his conscience no longer allowed him to continue business as usual, and that the hosts "should be......

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. The unexpected snowfall brings along its share of inconveniences - slippery roads, beware! by ?lifemage? Homebound crowds at Shanghai Railway Station trying to get hold of the......

People who made the news this week Kim Jong-Il, the President of North Korea, has met up with Wang Jiarui, the head of the international department at the Central Committee of China’s Communist Party, in Pyongyang on Wednesday. According to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo, when Wang voiced his explicit dissatisfaction with the DPRK's failure to meet its nuclear disarmament deadline, Kim said, “The present difficulties are temporary and can be conquered.” Kim also made a......

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......

Photos courtesy of Red Beat Bar We're in that terrible time of year when the weather is so bad that even this scribe opts for hibernating in his heated home, rather than exploring Shanghai's bars. There's also the annual hiatus between western New Year and Chinese New Year which puts many happenings on hold. Nevertheless, there are some interesting upcoming events that will draw us out from our cosy dwellings with much to lure......

Gay China seen through the eyes of three different media this week China Daily has an interview of two gay men and a lesbian that also features a big, bold picture of two young men kissing in Beijing. The first story of a 57 year old married man caught our attention:Tong Ge was married to a woman for more than 20 years, and has raised a son. But Tong is gay. "If I could turn......

• 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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Continue Reading "Week Around the -Ists"

UPDATE: Dan Bignold, Managing Editor of SH Magazine has posted his response below. One week ago, we were sent a press release promoting SH Magazine's new look by their Hong Kong headquarters. Apart from getting the spelling of their own magazine title and the name of their Shanghai managing editor all WRONG, the press release promised the following:In line with the design, SH is also revamping the editorial with new columns, campaigns, topical issues and......

By Derek Sandhaus In an interesting piece of news that slipped under the radar at the end of December, it was announced that the Yunnan government has officially put a cork in the Tiger Leaping Gorge dam project . We suspect that they were hoping this would go unnoticed by being announced on a Friday right before the holidays and, judging by the response, it almost did. For those of you unfamiliar with the Tiger......

By Derek Sandhaus Its hardly news to say that China has a bad record when it comes to animal cruelty. Less than ten days after China began working on raising the bar for treatment of slaughter animals it looks like more trouble is brewing for our furry friends, this time in Hubei province. Earlier this week authorities were shocked to discover that a Siberian tiger, a critically endangered species, was brutally dismembered and skinned at......

- Lance has left the British Bulldog to work in a pub next to the Intercontinental Hotel in Shenzhen. He was seen lugging 3 brand new suits to the airport on his day of departure. The new owners are supposedly a group of finance industry bods headed by an Australian bank GM. - Gerard and Kinsey, ex Blarney Stone, will open a pub on Hengshan Rd soon after Chinese New Year. Stephen Sands, ex O'Malleys,......

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. Whereas Dickens spent 500 odd pages flitting between London and Paris, SL pompously sees its "visionary mission" as to provide a cultural link between Shanghai and London (SL - geddit?) in......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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 2001There is one Chinese baby born with birth defects every 30 secondsIn Beijing, the incidence of breast cancer has increased 23 percent in 10 years, with about 45 women......

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 The bank......

Chinese property tycoon buys "Shanghai Island" in Dubai [IHT] Hu Bin, a Chinese property tycoon said Wednesday he has paid US$28 million (€20 million) to buy an artificial 40,000 square meter island in Dubai — which he plans to call "Shanghai Island" — is part of a development called "The World" that includes 300 islands made from reclaimed land in the shape of a world map. China Summons U.S. Envoy to Protest Dalai Lama Medal......

This painting is called Execution. Along the entire backdrop is a long, red wall which reminds one of the wall outside the Forbidden City. Yet Yue Minjun, the artist, who is based in Beijing, insists his painting should not be seen as depicting that unspeakable event of 1989. 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......

Bottom line is China's new party line [AP] Christopher Bodeen of AP looks at Li Keqiang's chances of becoming the heir to President Hu Jintao.China's Communists to Elect New Leadership at 17th Congress [Bloomberg] China's Communist Party delegates will gather at their 17th Party Congress this week to amend a party charter, discuss political reforms and elect a new leadership. China plans vast national park in north west [AFP] China plans to establish its......

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. ART LABOR GALLERY, from 5pm 10–36 Yongjia lu by Maoming Lu (永嘉路10-36号，近茂名路) Phone: 6431 7782, info@artlaborclub.com, www.artlaborgallery.com Art photographer Yuichi Hibi from New York City presents a selection of his works from his internationally acclaimed book imprint. Influenced by film noir and described by critics as “weirdly charged......

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. After......

China unleashes cautious giant onto world's financial markets [AFP] The low-key ceremony that marked the launch of China Investment Corp. this weekend could reflect the cautious manner in which Beijing intends to unleash the largest fund in history onto the world's financial markets. Irish charity calls for boycott of Beijing Olympics [Belfast Telegraph] Irish charity Trocaire has called for a boycott of next year's Olympics in Beijing, to highlight China's failure to act on the......