Before the games started, buying Olympics tickets was thought to be impossible and/or vastly expensive- instead it seems to be easier than getting a table at Spicy Joint. Writing from Beijing 2008 with a fistful of used ticket stubs, and a pocketful of money left over to buy more, Ben Ross gives these tips on finding seats for the last few days: Pick an event and show up at the venue an hour early.Arrive at......

Group tickets for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo will go on sale on September 28th for RMB160. [Source]......

No, it's not the new dining craze in Shanghai. If you're tired of mainstream house and trance, try giving Infected Mushroom a listen. Shanghaiist guarantees their brand of psychedelic trance will put you in a different frame of mind. To help convince you, the Israeli-based duo performs live tonight at the Tanghui VIP Club. A live set means no pre-recorded songs on vinyl or CDs - this is strictly synths, drum machines, and other instruments,......

David Beckham was swarmed by fans and journalists when he arrived yesterday at the Pudong airport with the LA Galaxy on the second stop of their three-part Asian tour. The team has just arrived from Seoul, where they were defeated by FC Seoul despite Beckham's stellar performance. The team faces off China All-Star Union at the Shanghai Stadium this Wednesday, March 5 at 7:30 pm. For those of you hoping to catch some Beckham-mania, rumours......

We have never actually experienced or even witnessed a person's ears bleeding from a live show, but last night we were pretty damn close. Thursday, the Ex-Models put on an interesting show of sharp, sonic blasts for a small 4Live audience. If you happened to miss it, no worries, the band will be joined by Carsick Cars and Torturing Nurse on Saturday at Yuyintang. Carsick Cars has enjoyed a stellar year, opening for Sonic Youth......

We attended the Chicago Improv All-Stars show at Henry's last night ... and we enjoyed ourselves. It kind of had the feel of a theme party at a friend's house (assuming that friend was very popular, brewed their own beer, had a very large living room with poorly placed pillars, was bad at training their staff and charged guests RMB 280 at the door). If you have ever seen an episode of Whose Line......

See the Chicago Improv All-Stars!...

We seriously LOVE some of the things we hear about going on in our city. Yes, some of the people we meet here can be harsh and mean, but this story goes to show that humanity still exists in Shanghai. Two weeks ago, Rebekah Pothaar, an executive with Ctrip.com, found that her ayi's husband was in a serious motorbike collision. They went with her to the hospital and found that surgery was going to cost......

We got a last minute heads up on a electronica duo playing at Mao tonight that should get early evening blog readers off the computers and into the club. Hailing from Japan, and named Miami, they are bringing an interesting 8-bit electro/violin mix to Shanghai. Tickets are 50rmb and include a free drink....doors at 9pm. Mao - 46 Yueyang Lu, near Dongping Lu, 岳阳路46号，近东平路 Abe Deyo is Shanghaiist's Music Editor. Email tips, recommendations, news and......

If you have the 35-year-old Swede in your HSBC Champions office pool, you're sitting pretty. Fasth is 8-under after 17 holes and currently holds a 4-stroke lead on the opening day at Sheshan International Golf Club, in Shanghai suburbia. But don't gloat too much — it's only 12:30 pm Thursday and there are guys named Mickelson, Singh, Cabrera, Garcia, Goosen, Els, Choi and Harrington in the field. No Woods, though, for the first time since......

Singapore Season, a series of cultural diplomacy events that started in London in 2005, has been kickstarted in Shanghai with a sell-out concert by pop star JJ Lin at the Hongkou Stadium last Sunday. About the only show throughout the entire series of events that has a Shanghai connection is Little Toys, a remake of the Chinese classic silent film 小玩意 (ie., little toys), starring 1930s screen goddess Ruan Lingyu (阮玲玉). This production won standing......

When it rains, it pours. As if there were not enough fantastic live music acts coming to Shanghai over the holiday, we’ve discovered that there is one more to add to the list. 12-time Grammy Award winner Chick Corea will be playing a solo piano concert at the Oriental Arts Center to begin a number of solo concerts he is doing in China and Europe this month. He played the last three nights in Tokyo......

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......

... why not get a terracotta one instead? That statue on the right, ladies and gentlemen, is Roger Federer. French sculptor Laury Dizengremel has been commissioned by the Association of Tennis Professionals to create terracotta warriors of the world's best eight tennis players including Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, James Blake, and Richard Gasquet to be unveiled at the Tennis Masters Cup, the prestigious circuit ending championship that will be held in our city.......

In its second year, the first independent dance festival in China brings lust, desire, sensuality and sexuality to the stage. The Shanghai Dance Festival initiated by Jin Xing exhibits works of dance companies from China, Denmark, Israel, Sweden and Switzerland. It’s the show we saw from Switzerland, closing Wednesday night (tonight), by the Dutch actor and choreographer Arthur Kuggeleyn that got us hot under the collar. His composition, “Master of Complications” is a bold exploration......

According to recent rumors we've heard, tickets are on sale this week for the biggest show of the year (in our humble opinion), The Beyoncé Experience! Beyoncé (aka Beyoncé Knowles), the 27-year old singer, model, and actress, is currently one of the biggest superstars in America. She began her career with the ginormously successful all-girl group Destiny's Child and has been just as prosperous as a solo artist. She brings her world tour called The......

The Pet Paradise Asia 2007 expo opened in pavilion W5 of the New International Expo Center to commercial representatives early on Thursday, and to the public on Saturday for a second two-day run. When Shanghaiist dropped by yesterday afternoon, the place was hopping — booths retailing pet supplies and giving away samples, a dog show, and plenty of pet fans eager to pet anything furry and barking/meowing. Most of the exhibitors were targeting dog......

Well, it's been in the rumor mill for a long time, and it now looks like it's finally happening. Linkin Park, in the middle of a world tour, promoting their new (blahhh) album, will be playing at Hongkou Stadium on November 18th. Tickets are rumored to be selling fast and can be purchased here, but for shows like this there always seem to be an endless abundance of ticket scalpers selling tickets (beware the fakes)......

Here are some highlights to the match between China and Brazil yesterday at the FIFA Women's World Cup, currently happening in our backyard (and do lower down the volume because that Brazilian commentator sounds really annoying). The Brazilians have sunk China with a devastating 4-0 defeat. From the FIFA website:When Song Xiaoli beat Andreia only to see her shot come back off the bar in the 16th minute there was no hint of the dominance......

This weekend is the next stop for Olympics hopefuls at the Gymnastics World Cup stop in Shanghai. The action begins tomorrow with the preliminary competition, which will determine the eight finalists that will compete on the four apparatuses for the women and six for the men. Since this is a World Cup event, there will be no all-around competition. Tomorrow's preliminary competition will be followed by the event finals on Saturday and Sunday. With the......

Yeahhhhh, boyyyyyyy! They are playing the Beijing Pop Festival, September 8-9 in Chaoyang Park — this much appears to be confirmed. But there is a rumor (albeit a drunken one) going around that they might head down to Shanghai for a show, too. The rumor we heard has them playing at a club with a name that rhymes with "man down." This rumor should be taken very seriously. Because as you know all Shanghai music......

Because Shanghaiist knows you're all fans, we're sure readers aged 12-16 are excited to hear that Avril Lavigne will be playing Shanghai on August 15! Avril will be perform one night at the prestigious Shanghai Qi Zhong Tennis Center (where the NBA play-off between Cleveland and Orlando will be held in October). RMB 200 tickets already seem to be sold out, but for those of you who aren't part of the "penny-pinching-white-male-with-a-yellow-heart-pseudo intelligentsia" crowd, tickets......

Although Cirque du Soliel's Quidam opened a few weeks ago, Shanghaiist didn't get the chance to see the show until last night. Initially, we weren't exactly over the moon about seeing the Canadian troupe perform...to new age music...in tights...on one of our precious Friday nights. But, we were wrong. Insert foot into mouth here. Last night's show was a great display of entertainment, music, and dance that bridged that cultural divide. It was a welcome......

Tomorrow night, a possibly pregnant Christina Aguilera will perform at the Shanghai Grand Stage. Since May, Shanghaiist has been looking forward to this extravaganza and now that we bought our tickets (thanks Taobao!), we are as happy as a clam! Based on her previous stops in her Back to Basics tour, the setlist should look something like this: 1. Ain't No Other Man 2. Back in the Day 3. Understand 4. Come On Over Baby......

Newly crowded A3 cup winners Shanghai Shenhua get back down to domestic business tomorrow night in their first home fixture in five weeks when Tianjin come to town. Things on the Shenhua front have been rather busy of late. Not content with winning the A3 Championship for the first time (see You Tube clip), controversial new signings coming in and domestic stars going out have been the order of the day. Former Middlesbrough striker Hamilton......

As we get closer to July 7, the day of Al Gore’s Live Earth concert, more info has popped-up on the official artist line-up in Shanghai: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS KANYE WEST BON JOVI ARCTIC MONKEYS JACK JOHNSON DAVE MATTHEWS BAND BEASTIE BOYS …will not be playing at Shanghai's Pearl Tower. Instead, we get to rock out to the sounds of 12 Girls Band, Sarah Brightman, Eason Chan, Evonne Hsu, Anthony Wong Yiu Ming, Huang......

Although the Olympic Games are over a year away, a preview of what's to come next summer has arrived in Shanghai this week. Shanghai is the host for this year's Chinese National Gymnastics Championships, featuring some of China's best and brightest gymnasts. China's men's team AND women's team are the defending World Champions. The preliminary competitions finished up last weekend, with the team finals finishing today and tomorrow, and the individual competitions (all-around final and......

This year, the concert series "Piano aux Jacobins" is happening again, and the jazz pianist who they are bringing this time is Jacky Terrasson, who won the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in 1993. The competition, which is limited to participants under 30 years old, is among the most illustrious in the world, as winners and finalists often are offered record deals immediately which springboard their career. This was certainly the case with Terrasson, who was......

Shanghai. It is all happening. Here's the proof: Friday, June 1st The Millionaire Fair Tired of your staid millionaire lifestyle? Shanghaiist is. Well, you better join us as we swing by the Shanghai Exhibition Center this weekend to get some new ideas. No. 1000 Yanan Road, Shanghai. Big Beer Bonanza at Kommune American Beer Craft Partners have iced thirty different beers from ten different breweries. The rest is self explanatory. A beer-filled night wouldn't be......

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