Another Friday, another Weekendist. Here's a roundup of Shanghaiist's picks for events this weekend. For live music, check out our Midweek Music Preview. Happy weekend! more ›

Tonight is the opening game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup with South Africa and Mexico facing each other in Johannesburg at 10pm China time. To help you celebrate the competition the entire world is watching, Shanghaiist compiled places around town that are sure to be high on World Cup fever. Take your pick. more ›

Playboy is turning 50 this week! Who hoo! Time to break out the champagne at M1NT! If bunnies are not your scene, check out Books and Brushes which will benefit underprivileged Chinese kids or the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Celebrating bunnies or kids? Decisions, decisions, decisions. more ›

Liu Xiang unsuprisingly cruised to victory in the 100m hurdle at yesterday's at yesterday's Asian Athletic Championships. Despite the rain, Liu clocked in his win at 13.5 seconds, securing his position at next year's World Cup in Croatia. If he wins there, he'll have won the "grand slam" of sprinting, making him only the second sprinter to do so. Good job, Golden Boy! more ›

As the Euro Cup moves towards Sunday's championship match, China's own soccer team is watching from the sidelines after being ousted in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup, hoping for a more succesful performance in August's Olympic matches. The team's disappointing play has led to an outpouring of netizen analysis about how the world's most populous nation is seemingly unable to assemble a solid eleven-man line up. Some of the speculation is informative, some not so much. Here are our picks:

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Listening to the ever-excellent Football Weekly podcast from Guardian Unlimited the other day, we stumbled across the story of the Tibetan "national" team playing against Padania this week in Milan. If you're thinking "how can Tibet have a national team?" or "what the hell is a Padania?" then you've clearly never heard of the Viva World Cup. Frankly, you probably wouldn't be the only one. more ›

It's the best that we have, though we have to admit this video doesn't do justice to the incredible spectacle that was made up of North and South Korean fan contingents at Hongkou Stadium for the two Koreas World Cup qualifier play-off on Wednesday. The action on the stands was just as, if not more, amazing to watch as the action on the field. more ›

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Ok, we know that China are taking on Australia in a crucial World Cup qualifier this afternoon at 2pm, but that's all the way down in Kunming and, frankly, we're not too optimistic about China's chances in this latest 'Group of Death' match. Therefore, match of the day has to be this evening's fixture at Hongkou Stadium where North Korea will take on South Korea (kick-off is 7pm). more ›

Like all football connoisseurs, Shanghaiist loves nothing better than a good derby. Games like Feyenoord v Ajax where travelling supporters are banned. The sheer evil of Rangers v Celtic. The Latin heat of Real Madrid v Athletic Madrid. The Manchester United v Liverpool grudge match. The Superclásico of Boca Juniors v River Plate. And Shanghai Shenhua v Inter Shanghai lacked the history but not passion before one half upped sticks and moved to Xi'an. more ›

The match is part of the Galaxy’s pre-season tour of East Asia and will also serve as a prelude to the start of the new domestic season in China later this month. Pre-season showpiece games aren’t usually noted for being particularly exciting, but then, for a lot of people, this match isn’t really about the football – it’s about catching a glimpse of David Beckham. As reported yesterday however, it’s still unclear whether the former England captain, currently marooned on 99 caps for his country, will be risked for the match given his history of injury problems since moving to LA last year. more ›

Diving queen Guo Jingjing (郭晶晶) has been slammed left right and centre for her less than stellar behaviour at a press conference after taking home the silver for the women's 3m springboard final at the "Good Luck Beijing" FINA Diving World Cup where she was edged out by team mate Wu Minxia (吴敏霞). more ›

In a repeat of the utter ridiculousness of the Chinese gymnastics team being made to promise to be injury- and drug-free, the latest news is that the Chinese soccer team has been offered a million dollars as a reward and made to recite the following vow:

“I pledge to advance to the World Cup, which is the professional goal that we strive for… We swear by death to kill along the bloody road of defending the honour of the motherland and realise our youthful dreams.”

The Hong Kong chief executive, Donald Tsang, says that the Chinese government is committed to a plan for letting the country's mainland investors trade shares on the city's stock exchange. more ›

Perhaps you have noticed that Shanghai taxi drivers are wearing orange T-shirts these days. They are for the Special Olympics (which, we assume, local cabbies are more interested in than the Women's World Cup?) and on the back we're pretty sure it says "I Know I Can," which is the event's slogan. We asked one of our drivers today if he liked being able to wear a T-shirt instead of the usual cabbie outfit (some... more ›

Germany has become the first team to retain the FIFA Women's World Cup title after beating Brazil 2-0 yesterday at the Hongkou Stadium. more ›

Attracting celebrities, dignitaries, and mass media coverage, the Opening Ceremonies are a highlight of the Games, showcasing the spirit of Special Olympics and the athlete's achievements through the theme I know I can. more ›

Our Shanghai champions that went to the finals of the Cocktail World Cup held in Queenstown, New Zealand, have come back and done us proud! Unshaken by an itinerary that included some really extreme cocktail shaking via bungy-jumping, on top of a mountain and on a jet boat, Cross from Vault and Alex from Volar (together with Johnsen from Aria in Beijing) emerged fourth after Teams Vegas, New Zealand and England. Okay, so they weren't tops but it appears they did manage to wow some of the biggest mixologists around like New York cocktail king Dale DeGroff. more ›