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......

China releases 1,157 involved in Tibet unrest [Channel NewsAsia] “BEIJING - China has released a total of 1,157 people who were involved in riots in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March, the official Xinhua news agency reported Friday, quoting a senior Tibetan official.”Opening the flood gates: airlines allowed to fly between China and Taiwan [flightglobal.com] “In a long-awaited political breakthrough, Chinese and Taiwanese carriers will receive a much needed boost with the launch early next......

Shanghai travelers en route to Europe have never had it cheaper, but the real winners may be Hong Kong commuters. Newcomer Hong Kong Express Airways (which launched its first SH-HK flight only three days ago) announced Thursday that it will offer a monthly package for unlimited trips between the two cities, all for around 6,000 RMB. The deal is currently available in Hong Kong for HK$6,888 (6,086 RMB) a month, and the company reported that......

If you've been looking to fly to Europe for that much-needed break, ladies and gentlemen, that time is now. Air fares to Europe are at all-time lows and have never been cheaper in the six years that we've been here. Lufthansa leads the pack with the eye-popping offer of a return flight to Germany from Beijing at RMB3,760 and from Shanghai at RMB4,880. Air France has the very special web deal of a return tic......

Another great production from Daedalum Films, this one directed by Arnaud Kamphuis:There are over 45,000 taxi drivers in Shanghai. Zhou Senlin is one of them. Following him around the city, we learn more about a difficult profession many take for granted. Over his long shifts, Zhou tells us about his life as he observes and adapts to the metamorphosis of an entire city, bringing better opportunities for him and his family.......

Sorry this bears no relation to the Sichuan earthquake, but has any of you seen this in your hood yet? We don't have any time to translate this right now (maybe one of you can help), but apparently they're looking for the suspect in the explosion of Bus 942 in Yangpu District which happened earlier this month. The (dead) suspect is said to be around 40 years of age, 1.64m tall, and sports about 9......

The world's longest sea-bridge from Shanghai to Ningbo opened on schedule (May 1st), cutting travel time to the port city from 4 hours to 150 minutes. However not everything is going according to plan. Photo by NZJY Reuters reports that the view from the 36km behemoth is so arresting that drivers have been stopping their cars to take a look, causing regular accidents and over 300 arrests. Since it will be another two years (two......

Everyone's favourite superhero probably read on this blog that Shanghai's buses aren't too safe lately, so he decided to take the subway instead. More pics after the jump [h/t to ChinaTravel.net]......

Various reports on yesterday's bus explosion in Yangpu District have attributed the cause of the fire to flammable material that one passenger brought onto the bus, but Hong Kong's Apple Daily《苹果日报》has suggested a "suicide-style bombing" (自杀式炸巴士) by Xinjiang terrorist groups. Here's part of the report, as translated by ESWN:... Even more frightening to the citizens than the casualties at the scene is the vague reporting by the media. The description covered 'self-ignition,' 'ignited explosion (that......

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......

News from the subway in the past couple weeks:"Can't the city give some street performers some space?" - Street performers in Shanghai are often lumped together with beggars as public nuisances, but often they are just free spirits chasing a musical dream. One cited example are Tuotuo and A-qing, a couple of guys who play the guitar and sing every evening at the City Plaza Mall in Jing'an, often attracting a crowd of mostly young......

Frequent travellers such as grade B Shanghainese men should be painfully aware that airports the world over (LAX, we're looking at you) love to gouge their guests with prices inflated above those in the city. News that the Shanghai Airport is clamping down on this practice should then come as a relief. Shadowing a promise by the Beijing's airport to keep prices low at the new Capital Airport's new Terminal 3, the Pudong Airport Authority......

By Benjamin Cohen Construction on Metro Line 12 is set to begin this year. (see map)Police have detained a woman who allegedly dismembered her husband's body with axes and knives, then scattered the body parts around Pudong and Jiangsu Province.Luggage Security checkpoints have been added to Metro stations so police may search bags to prevent the entry of hazardous materials.Two university graduates secretly filmed people having sex and then blackmailed them were sentenced to prison.Pudong......

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......

Perched high up in a pod between the two terminals of Pudong airport, the hotel bar for both Motel 168 and it's sibling Ease Hotel. The cool design and eighth floor view is worth a look for anyone waiting for a delays, alcoholic plane spotters or location scouts for 1970s Bond movies. To get there, take the elevator to the airport hotel from outside the Maglev station / KFC. Walk past reception in either hotel......

Two recent stories from the Shanghai subway system might be worth your notice:A score of news reports are heralding new measures to alleviate passenger load on Line 2 trains on the Pudong side, where Zhangjiang High-Tech Park station has become one of the metro system's highest trafficked stations due to what the Xinmin Evening Post calls “白领客流”, the "white-collar passenger flow". More trains are being added to both the morning and afternoon rush hours, and......

The trial of Chen Liangyu (陈良宇), Shanghai's former Communist Party chief and the highest party official to be ousted in more than a decade for corruption, has just begun in Tianjin.Vegetable prices in Shanghai have plummeted by as much as 20 percent as a vast amount of produce from neighboring provinces flows into the cityShanghai's Metro Line 2 will dispatch its first train at 5:55am from today, half an hour earlier than before, said Shanghai......

A former Immigration Minister of New Zealand, Tuariki John Delamere, has slammed the 76 percent state-owned Air New Zealand as a 'flying sweatshop' for paying its 30 Shanghai-based flight attendants a quarter of what its home-based crew was getting, and less than the legal minimum wage in New Zealand. Here's the mile-high wage gap as revealed by the New Zealand Herald:China-based flight attendants: Annual base pay NZ$6240 (RMB 35,200) Hourly rate (Herald calculation based on......

Photo by Mike Chen Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! 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.......

The Maglev station in Pudong has long been a breeding ground for taxi drivers eager to rip-off new arrivals. You step off the train, and into a den of thieves. Things are looking up for visitors however, as a ring of eight drivers have been arrested and held for systematically ripping-off passengers they picked up at the Longyang Road station. More details here. Tips for travellers:Always get a receipt for a taxi ride; if you......

Photo by El Had Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! 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.......

The dire restaurant choices at Pudong Airport will get a boost when Terminal 2 opens on March 26. Restaurants announced in the new terminal include:1930s style fine dining at "Peace @ The Bund" Cafe Ritazza Burger King Korean fast-food Heineken Baran Italian restaurantHK-style dumplings There are also the requisite Chinese options and a Teppanyaki place. No word yet as to whether the Teppanyaki will feature an all-you-can-drink option for any nervous flyers. More news here.......

Beijing Capital Airport's spanking new Terminal Three opens this Friday. The Norman Foster-designed building is being touted as the largest building in the world. And it is colossal. To give you an idea of just how big it is, the terminal is the size of 170 soccer fields put together, and that is 17 percent more floor space than all of London Heathrow's five terminals put together! The terminal is shaped like the character 人......

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......

For those of you that found that video of that Guangzhou train station stampede too gruesome to watch, then please, DO NOT click on this video (h/t to Global Voices). The clip contains images of dead bodies, and in fact it's so gory we're surprised that it hasn't been removed from Youku yet. On 29 January at 7.40am, a bus travelling from Chongqing flipped over a 40 metre cliff because of the frozen road conditions......

We've all been hearing reports about the nightmare caused by the snow, or what Xinhua calls "China's war on snow havoc", which isn't quite as felicitous a phrase as the "US War on Terror", but hey, at least it's more real! The New York Times, among other media outlets, talks about the sense of anger and resentment that people are feeling about what some consider as a lack of preparation on the government's part. From......

A new airport will be built in Beijing and scheduled to open by 2015. Even with a third terminal opening at Capital International Airport opening next month, Beijing will need a new airport to meet the rising demand for air travel as no further large-scale developments are being planned for Capital.Meanwhile, across China, a grand total of 97 new airports will be built by 2020.About 3,250 flights in all have been cancelled due to the......

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......

By James Creegan As part of the ongoing upgrade of Pudong airport, there is now a new branch of Motel 168 open in the transportation centre, right next to the entrance of the Maglev station. Double or Twin rooms are available, both at 348RMB per night. A little more than the chain usually charges for couples rutting like beasts between filthy sheets, but not too shabby for a hotel bed within walking distance from an......

By Mike Chen When: 2007-2008 Where: Shanghai Metro......