Results tagged “whileshanghaiist”

As Shanghai’s punishing winter falls upon us, few things counter the chill as effectively as a steaming, bubbling hotpot. While Shanghaiist has had a long-lasting love affair with spicy Sichuan hotpot, with its communal cauldron of numbing stock and gobs of pig innards, we realize that many of our loyal readers actually shy away from rubbery entrails and multiple chopstick dipping. It is to these dear readers, and to anyone else looking for a surprisingly...

While Shanghaiist’s mind is usually consumed with cocktails, food, and finding a costume for the AWESOME Shanghaiist Halloween Party, our mouth started watering immediately upon seeing this email from Ken Walker, the man behind Bubba’s Bar-B-Que & Saloon in Hongqiao:

So, how’s your Plum Rain season shaping up so far? While Shanghaiist had the good fortune of ducking most of it back home in the States, the word on the street (by "street" we mean our trusty MSN messenger) is that it’s been pretty brutal! Well, fret not, relief is on the way ... maybe. According to the always “no-so-reliable” Shanghai Meteorological Service, the deceptively sweet sounding, but “god do I f@$#ing hate it” Plum Rain belt is still straddling the Yangtze Delta and pushing southward, due to arrive in our lovely city’s airspace later tomorrow or the day after, with chances of scattered thunder storms and a possible drop in temperature (to a cool low 30ish range -- time to break out the turtle necks). This could all mark the end of this iteration of the dreaded Plum Rain season. Whew, about time! Unless of course the weatherman is wrong, in which case the wretched heat/humidity continue and we’ve just wasted a bunch of your time. But we do continue to appreciate your readership, as always.

Some call this next generation outsourcing. Some call it sad. While Shanghaiist agrees that some of these "farmers" are likely being taken advantage of, our many visits to internet bars around China have shown us that millions of Chinese boys and young men would spend most of their waking hours playing online games whether they were getting paid for it or not. At least this way they are getting something out of it.

With his best performance of the season, Chinese superstar Yao Ming led the injury-plagued Houston Rockets past the Indiana Pacers, 103-99 on Wednesday night. Yao had 38 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a gargantuan effort that rallied the Rockets from 17 points down for the victory.

Following the sensational success of Super Voice Girls (Chaoji Nu Sheng or 超级女声), Hunan Province Satellite Television Station planned to organize another American Idol-style TV program called -- surprise, surprise -- Super Voice Boys (Chaoji Nan Sheng or 超级男声), the TV station announced the news to media cheerfully in early September. However, Xinhua reports (in Chinese) the plan was called off by The Central Propaganda Department and The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. (Whew.) The official line is Super Voice Girls had a lot of "negative" inside stories involved with both the judges and the candidates when it started to become popular. Rumors of blackmail swirled while contestants were labeled concubines and, of course, lesbians (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Yu Hua (余华) the author of To Live, a novel that was adapted by Zhang Yimou into a film, released his newest work of fiction in a decade this past July. Entitled Brothers (兄弟), this novel tells the story of a pair of (step) brothers and the trials and tribulations of childhood and adolescence in the midst of the Cultural Revolution.

Shanghaiist has a hard time keeping quiet whenever our favorite American politician, Senator Charles Schumer, starts up with his unattractive whining about China, and how "US companies are affected by China's unwillingness to play fair." While Shanghaiist will be the first to admit that China has a serious problem when it comes to reining in rampant intellectual property rights violations across a number of industries, Shanghaiist has to cry foul when Schumer's rant begins to enter the realm of specific restrictions against US investors in China:

While Shanghaiist has been here long enough that the picture to the right didn't seem wrong at all, it's true that Shanghai traffic can be a little crazy sometimes. And while we have personally been hit by a taxi (and several bicycles) it may be getting worse, despite efforts to the contrary. A few weeks ago Shanghaiist noticed that the intersection of Jianguo Xi Lu and Ruijin Er Lu was becoming rather, well, fortified. The sidewalk corners had been fenced in, and there were so many traffic wardens and police that we took to avoiding the intersection whenever possible. After all, when in a rush, the last thing we want is to have to stop at a red light. We did notice, however, a large number of signs standing on one corner, and had to investigate. It turns out that the signs are part of the most recent city-wide initiative to promote traffic safety that began in June. How? Well, whenever the police stop someone riding or walking the wrong way, they politely escort them over to the corner, where a warden attempts to educate them about the specific law they've violated. With the aid of pictures. Pedestrians, she informed us, are the biggest problem here. Strange, considering the police car turning left through a red light as she spoke. "In China we don't talk about that," she responded.

Bikes get stolen in Shanghai. Sure, they go missing in New York, or Seattle, but Shanghai seems to have less respect for the lock than most metropoli. When our cute orange folding bike turned up missing last week, Shanghaiist went a bit crazy. While many bike theft victims purchase progressively cheaper bikes, following the theory that "this one's so garbage no one could possibly want it," we went the opposite direction. Walking past Speed Cat Bicycle (site in Chinese) every day might have been the reason. In a tiny little shop that would be comfortable in any US college town, Speed Cat is instantly recognizable by the pile of half-assembled frames outside.