Work began Tuesday on a high-speed rail line from Shanghai to neighboring Nanjing, creating an even stronger link between the two economic powerhouses. Authorities say travel time, currently two hours, will be cut in half and that the line will be open by July of 2010, just in time for the World Expo. Seem to good to be true? Marc van der Chijs certainly thinks so, pointing out that a vehicle with a maximum speed......

Related links: AP: China blames speeding for train crash that kill 70 people Xinhua: French nationals hurt in China train crash to be treated in Beijing Xinhua: Military withdraw after completing train accident relief work Xinhua: Third rail official dismissed over east China train crash China Daily: Survivors recount pre-dawn nightmare......

China's worst train crash in a decade happened yesterday somewhere between Qingdao and Beijing and killed at least 70 people. Fatalities did not include any foreigners, although a group of four French nationals travelling together were among the hundreds left injured. Terrorism was ruled out as a cause of the train collision and two railway officials (unnamed) have been sacked following the accident.Police in Guangdong province have busted a factory there for making Free Tibet......

Last night's Shanghai Evening Post contained several meaty public transportation related articles covering the following topics: Documents have been released suggesting that an extra Puxi-Pudong line could be added to the plans for Shanghai's metro system, turning Lujiazui into a two-line interchange station. With the completion and opening of Lines 6 and 8, plus the rapid development of the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, Line 2 has become more and more crowded at all hours. In addition......

Long story short, the place is a zoo, but what'd you expect. Of course, things are made worse by the weather. Here are some pics from the last few days. From what we've been hearing both in the news and in our apartment elevator, the dastardly weather gods have caused big time cancellations and problems. Despite the crowds of cold people and the massive B.O. from the people waiting inside the subway station, things......

From Boxun.com (you need a proxy) we discovered that there was a maglev-related protest on January 6th. It first started around 11am, around the Xinzhuang/Minhang area, and was dispersed, only to form again sometime around 3pm, this time in the busy Xujiahui CBD. It managed to, in some form, last until 11pm. Protesters carried signs saying "out for a walk" (散步), while other chanted slogans about protecting their homes. The proposed maglev was to link......

It may only be a spit away by plane, but for those of us too cheap environmentally concerned to fly, getting up to Beijing for the weekend is a bitch (despite our love of munching through a bottomless nosebag of sunflower seeds to looped pan-pipe renditions of Celine Dion songs). Which is why we don't go. So the proposed high-speed line between Shanghai and BJ, which will reportedly cane it along at 350km/h and take......

Photo taken by meckleychina at the Pudong International Station. Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos[at]shanghaiist.com.......

Honestly, when China threw a shitfit after German chancellor Merkel met the Dalai Lama, we really didn't give a hoot, in part because we've given up on seeing our dream of Tibetan secession realized in our lifetimes. But one thing you might not have known is that this diplomatic contretemps spilled over to affect our fair city. There was supposed to be a week long symposium sponsored by Der Spiegel at the Duolun Museum......

Well...after a day of bloating ourselves on turkey and pumpkin pie (sorry Shanghaiist is American and assumes that everyone else wants to be one) the perfect cure is a night of live music. Lucky for us Convenience Store, one of Beijing's longest lasting and most reputable Brit-pop bands, is going to be playing out at Live Bar tonight. Shanghaiist has waited along time to see this band, in the past we were busy or too......

Metro news from the local press: The case of the young man who was squeezed to death between the metro train and the glass security doors on the Shanghai Stadium Line 4 platform will begin pretrial procedures tomorrow. The People's Daily has published an overview of new developments in the Shanghai newspaper industry, including a paragraph highlighting the success of the free commuter paper I-Metro Express (I时代报), the only newspaper to be distributed for free......

You may have noticed the above special green signs appearing on new exit gates near subway station exit stiles. What do they mean? Starting on Oct 19, passengers over 70 years of age carrying a social security card with proof of age can ride Shanghai public transportation (bus and metro) for free during off-peak hours. By the end of the year, the Metro company plans to install automatic card readers to quicken the entry process......

The People's Square station signage will soon get a makeover to get up-to-date with Line 8's signs. The new Line 8 platform will open by year's end. Metro Line 13, which has 4 planned stops servicing the future World Expo site, will be branded as a World Expo line. This is part of a move to add culture to the Shanghai subway system. The mother of the young man who was trapped and killed......

Well, this should come as no surprise, but is still sad to hear. The 1234 Beach Rock Festival has been canceled due to (geez, this should be really hard to guess) issues with the government. Organizers are scrambling to try and put together a free concert at another venue for the out of town bands that won't be able to refund their plane/train tickets. Shanghaiist will keep you updated on what is happening as......

News tidbits from the public transportation world: Maglev hours are being extended to match the operating hours of the Metro Line 2, opening at 6:45am and closing at 9:30pm. In 2005 the high-speed train extended its hours in a bid to snag more passengers; this time the move comes as it rides a new wave of popularity. Shanghai's Dazhong Taxi is following the city of Beijing's footsteps and declaring all of its taxis to be......

Don't blame China for Myanmar [LA Times] These are supposed to be humbling times for foreign policy analysts -- chaos in Iraq having made it harder to cast the United States as omnipotent, omniscient and self-actualizing. But judging by the reactions to the recent protests in Myanmar, also known as Burma, the commentariat hasn't stopped ascribing otherworldly powers to ambitious governments. 'Made in India' rising to challenge China: report [AFP] "Made in India" could be......

Shanghai-based photographer Ken Yip recently found himself taking the train from Beijing to get back to Shanghai, because he decided he wouldn't pay more for the price of a Beijing-Shanghai air ticket which has gone up significantly since the introduction of the "express air services" by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. Well, apparently he was not the only one affected by the rise in air travel cost, and this was the......

On the left, you have an image submitted by the Yangzhou Evening News to the 17th Annual Chinese Journalism Awards, for which it won a Class I award in the Best News of Jiangsu province, as well as a Class III photojournalism award in the national round. Lots of inspiring pictures and smart captions that would befit any award-winning page (see details of pictures here on ESWN). Some smart chap then decided to do......

The free Metro Express commuter paper has a big front-page spread today on the People's Square metro interchange make-over. The headline announces that "People's Square Three Line Interchange Hall To Open By Year's End", which is old news to those who have been following the progress of the new metro Line 8. Instead, the reason for the story being published today is that the Shanghai Rail Transport Construction Headquarters just released a bunch of numbers......

Tokyo, Japan - China Airlines apologises for inferno horror [Channel News Asia] The head of China Airlines on Tuesday handed out apologies and cash to passengers who barely escaped a blaze that destroyed one of the Taiwanese carrier's planes on a runway in Okinawa, Japan. Amman, Jordan - Interpol issues arrest warrant for Saddam's daughter [BBC] Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for Raghad Hussein, the eldest daughter of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile,......

An increasing chorus of bloggers (including ourselves) have written extensively about the recent anti-competitive price-fixing moves by Chinese fast food chains, instant noodle manufacturers, milk producers and state-owned airlines. Now, even China Daily columnist Raymond Zhou has contributed his own tune to the cacaphony of voices in an article Thou shalt not collude on pricing. From the article: Thou shalt not collude on pricing, the regulatory god said unto the Moses of industries in most......

China jumps to top global financial tier [Sydney Morning Herald] Last Monday, despite bloodshed everywhere else and news that inflation had hit 5.6 per cent in China, the Shanghai Composite Index hit a new record high of 4840. It has risen nearly 500 per cent since July 2005, making every other big market look lifeless by comparison. The combined market capitalisation of Shanghai and its sister bourse in the southern city of Shenzhen has hit......

This photo was taken at the Changshu Lu subway station yesterday. See that new yellow sign? It says:When the alarm starts sounding and the platform screen door lights start to blink, please do not board or alight the train. We wonder if that sign has come up because of last month's death of the unlucky man who got caught between the subway and platform screen doors. Micah Sittig has a translation of a chilling eye-witness......

Not so long after its crackdown on foreign-language only signs in Xintiandi, the language police are now on to their next target -- the Shanghai Metro! They have objected to plans by the subway operator to train its staff to learn basic phrases in five major Chinese dialects -- a plan that is not without controversy -- so as to help domestic tourists and visitors when they ask for fares and directions. As can be......

Shanghaiist is somewhat of a frequent flyer to Beijing, and because he isn't employed by some big multinational but rather runs his own little business, he can only afford to put himself on cattle class and often has to scour the internet for the cheapest available deals. We especially love this nifty little function on eLong.com which shows you the cheapest available flight within a week of your selected departure date. That has worked to......

Chinese search engine Baidu just can't seem to stay out of the news. Pacific Epoch thinks that Baidu is finally living up to the formerly tongue-in-cheek moniker of "Google of China," while fool.com likens the growth of the company to a "runaway freight train." Certainly, there are plenty of reasons behind its phenomenal growth: for one, it copies most of the neat functions and applications that Google has—including a rumored instant messaging application. Called "Baidu......

"Train hard or go home". That's what we read on the Singaporean gymnasts' T-shirts yesterday at Shanghai's World Cup Gymnastics competition. They didn't rank well though, however, compared to the Chinese team, who won gold medals on every event except men's high bar. Newcomer Jiang Yuyuan finished first on the women's floor exercise with a dynamic routine, while her teammate Pang Panpan tied for second place with Kozich. In women's beam action, Pang Panpan,......

We learnt from Shanghai Daily today that a very unfortunate man in his early twenties trying to board a train at Shanghai Stadium metro station yesterday afternoon never made it to his destination. The unidentified man was trying to squeeze his way onto a crowded carriage (as many other Shanghai residents are wont to do), but didn't manage to get in. Subsequently: When the doors of the train closed, he was unable to step back......

It's been about three days since the BBC apologised to the Queen for misrepresenting a sequence in a program in which she appeared to have lost her temper with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz (the one who took the picture of John Lennon in the nude hugging Yoko Ono). But we find our dear China Daily still linking to the following story on its homepage about the BBC program, A Year with the Queen, which tells......

You know how people are always saying Shanghaii isn't representative of China? Here's an interesting juxtaposition of newspaper headlines: China Daily: 131 Killed in South China Floods, 99,000 houses collapsed, 1.2 million evacuated from Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing and Shaanxi. (Where on earth are all those people going? That's a pretty sizable chunk of China right there.) Shanghai Daily: City Waits as Floods Leave Ayis Stranded Immobility in Anhui and Jiangsu are......