Lots on for this weekend! Big hiphop parties at Shelter and Zeal, including one of France's most renowned hiphop DJs, Cut Killer. There are also plenty of opportunities to enrich your cultural side: check out two ballets, participate in some CNY activities, or try a tour through old Shanghai. And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more! more ›

Midweek Music Preview is our weekly rundown of everything happening on stages across the city. On the docket this week: we have Soul II Soul Soundsystem kicking off their November edition of Mao Livehouse's Club Night, then Rocksgiving, Laura Jansen's China tour, and the Shanghai debuts of Mogwai and Trail of Tears! And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. more ›

Looking for a quick watertown excursion that's not too far away from Shanghai's city centre? Zhujiajiao (朱家角) is the place. CNNGo throws the spotlight on the apo zongzi (阿婆粽子) or "grandma rice dumplings" that the watertown is famous for, and the women who make them.
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Oh no! Remember those lovely mash up shirts of ObaMao, the combination of everyone's favorite pseudo-socialists? Turns out that the government is making stores selling the shirts and swag in Beijing take them off the shelves while the US President is in town. What a shame: we've been dying to know what he would think of them! More importantly, where on earth (specifically in Shanghai) can we find these? more ›

Tonight could have been the night that changed your life. The (International) Noise Conspiracy, "one of the wildest and most uncompromising live acts out there" flying in from Sweden, were to take total charge over the Yuyintang stage, but thanks to certain National Day-flavored machinations, it was cancelled. more ›

We've been really looking forward to the Jeff Lang concert coming up tomorrow. Jeff Lang, an Australian folk, country and blues artist is a busy guy - besides playing innumerable instruments, he's somehow managed to release nearly one record each year since 1994. more ›

He graced our Happy Hour two weeks ago and liked it so much he's returned. Yes, Brian Seymour is performing during the Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Cotton's on Tuesday. more ›

Not content with the prospect of being the next world power in cheerleading, China has now set its sights on cricket. The quintessentially British sport that is played mostly in Commonwealth nations has had a surprisingly long history here though, with the first recorded match played in Shanghai in 1858, between a team of officers from the HMS Highflyer and a Shanghai XI. Now the Asian Cricket Council wants China to start playing the game in a big way, sending cricket experts and coaches from Australia, Britain, India and Sri Lanka to help develop the sport. Now, Bhutan isn't exactly the greatest sporting nation, but in this clip we find out that they do beat China in at least one sport: cricket. Golf, as it turns out, is doing much better here. Thanks to corporate sponsors, prize money for certain tournaments has been bumped up 100 times to about US$5 million, and set to rise further (although as far as we understand, most of that money is being won by foreign golfers so it remains debatable what good is being done for Chinese golf). Liang Wenchong (梁文冲), China's top golfer, is only 30 but has made waves last year by making it to the top of the Asian Tour's Order of Merit. He is now Asia's top player, 83rd worldwide and has a permanent place in the European Tour. For golf aficionados out there, here's a shameless plug: Watch out for Par for China, a book that is currently being written by Shanghaiist's managing editor. more ›

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

See the Chicago Improv All-Stars! more ›

For those of you wondering what Shanghaiist's founding editor Dan Washburn has been up to for the past half year or so (other than not posting very much on Shanghaiist) there was some evidence last week that he is alive and well and doing more than sitting on his couch counting his Shanghaiist money (really, that would only take around five minutes). Go to ESPN.com (here, here and here) for stories related to his book... more ›

Golf in China: All growing, all new, all raw [ESPN.com] In China, the sport of golf is younger than Tiger Woods himself. But the game has grown exponentially in recent years, leading to more courses and the development of some pros through the Omega China Tour. But as Dan Washburn reports, all is not without struggle.PM Manmohan Singh meets Chinese counterpart in Singapore [Times of India] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday met Chinese premier... more ›

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... more ›

A special event and great photos have bent the rules for our Photo of The Day feature. Flickrite Apan & Gringo On Tour snapped these amazing photos of Alain Robert's successful campaign to climb the Jin Mao Tower and the enthralled crowd far, far below. Enjoy! more ›

During the golden week, Shanghaiist published the rumor that world class diva Christina Aguilera (the artist formally known as X-tina) would be coming to Shanghai to belt out some of her latest hits. At the time of the announcement, Ms. Aguilera was awaiting approval from the Shanghai government censors, something Jay-Z is very familiar with. At the time, Shanghaiist was "praying on every dumpling" that the censors would approve the concert because we are big... more ›

Recently, Shanghai has had its fill of hip hop, indie rock, and classic rock artists come to perform for the expats locals. We'll now get a bit of the pop and R&B vocal genres with the recent announcement of Christina Aguilera's Asian tour dates, which includes a stop in Shanghai. It will be her only concert in China ... sorry, Beijing. The tour is part of Christina's Back to Basics tour, featuring songs from her... more ›

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... more ›

We wonder if anyone in Shanghai will have a similar, albeit much less visceral, reaction when they learn that Robin Gibb is playing a show in Shanghai ... again. Gibb played Shanghai in May as part of his Magnetic Tour. Now he's playing November 18 at Shanghai Grand Stage ... as part of his Magnetic Tour. Tickets will range from RMB 280 to 2,280. We're sure this will appease all those jilted Robbie Williams and Jay-Z fans out there. We wonder if the Robin Gibb party bus will cruise the streets of Shanghai like it did in May -- anyone else see that? more ›

The Telegraph, relying on reports out of Hong Kong, provides us with the latest news and gossip on the seemingly unstoppable Shanghai corruption scandal. Qiu Xiaohua, the implicated former head of China's National Bureau of Statistics who we told you about briefly last week, is said to have taken more than US$6.5 million out of Shanghai's pension fund and given it as a "gift" to his "secret mistress and their daughter." How did this generous offering come to light? It was "found recorded in a ledger kept by the head of the pension fund"! How's that for transparency? more ›

We were naughty last weekend and became that which we hate -- we went to absolutely no shows (lovely weekend in Xitang, though). So please fill in the blanks: more ›

Two days ago, we told you this would happen. Now it looks like the news is officially official. From Shanghai Daily: more ›

We admittedly don't know much about Robbie Williams' music -- we lived a sheltered existence in the United States from 1973 to 2002 -- but we do know the guy is huge (as in a huge megastar ... not in any other way ... as far as we know). We also know he is coming to Shanghai on November 4 -- and that show also will be huge. Some 26,000 people are expected to pack Hongkou Stadium. That's not too shabby. Earlier this year, we called the Black Eyed Peas playing Shanghai a "historic moment" because they were the first major contemporary foreign act at the height of their celebrity to stage a show in the city. Scratch that. This is the historic moment. more ›

You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. more ›

UPDATE: Show canceled? more ›

Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate on a Civic Building, Blank on a Blank, and Penguins on a Freeway (warning: sad). more ›

On the other end of the social/location/ticket-price spectrum, Cold Fairyland continued to remind us why they’re still one of the top shows to catch in town. Playing in a stifling AC-less YuYinTang for the better part of 2 hours, this Eastern-classic-meets-Western-rock cluster kicked off the first (and, erm, only, as far as we know) show of their Magic Blue Tour. more ›

If you made it as far as page 75 in the June issue of That's Shanghai, congratulations: You're almost halfway there. And if you've seen page 75, you've noticed that it was an ad for pop/hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas, who are bringing their Monkey Business Tour to Shanghai's Grand Stage on July 20. (Monkey Business the album came out almost exactly a year ago and received an average score of 45 out of 100 on Metacritic.) There is no ticket information on the ad, but there is a reference to the site of China West Entertainment, the Shanghai-based promoter of BEP's two Mainland gigs, Shanghai and July 18 at the Beijing Exhibition Center Theater. The China West site shows that tickets will range from RMB 280-880. They aren't on sale yet, but you can sign up to be notified when they are made available. BEP is also playing Hong Kong on July 16 at the AsiaWorld-Arena. Tickets start at HK$380 and go up to HK$780. (We weren't able to find any of these shows listed on BEP's offical website or other tour sites.) more ›

In the past few months, Shanghai has been visited by quite a few notable foreign musicians: a group of wily geriatric rockers, one-third of a has-been disco brotherhood and a spiritual singer with a love for Chinese orphans. There's also been a consistent lineup of bands playing Shanghai's underground rock scene. But what of all those poor souls in the city that yearn for some live Chinese pop music? Their prayers will be answered this summer, when a steady stream of Mando-pop talent make their way through town. more ›

Photo by idogu taken from the Shanghaiist photos page. To see your photos on our photos page, use Flickr and tag your photos "shanghaiist". Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site. more ›