With the amount of construction work being done at breakneck pace before the Expo, it's maybe not surprising that worker accidents happen. But yesterday was especially tragic, with three dead and three injured at two separate work sites in Shanghai. In Xuhui District, a shaft platform on an office building site collapsed, sending five people into wet concrete below. Three are in stable condition, but two were pronounced dead soon after. Hours later, a crane truck fell into a 10-meter deep foundation ditch in Hongkou District. The driver died. Local safety bureaus are investigating the accidents. more ›

Bungee jumping is one of those things where we, perhaps out of some unfounded bias, prefer to stay away from in China. But if you're more of a thrill seeker (and maybe more open minded about the efficacy of safety laws here), you'll soon get your chance to pursue that sport in Shanghai. Two historic cranes in the Xuhui District are being restored to become Shanghai's first bungee jumping site, according to Shanghai Daily. The Beipao Wharf cranes were originally built in the 1960s to help load and unload freight, but have been idle for years. While the rest of the wharf was torn down last year to make way for a riverside green belt, the cranes and a 200-meter track have been preserved. more ›

If you're planning on going out to the Hengshan Lu, French Concession area tonight, be forewarned - it seems like the cops down there have been cracking down on excessively drunk people, inside of cars and out. A tipster told us that he's seen as many as ten cops on the corners of Wulumuqi Lu and Yongjia Lu every night and a few more hanging around by Zapata's. Not only are they doing random drunk driving checks, they've also become much less forgiving of public displays of drunkenness and loitering. The breathalyzer testing has also been confirmed on Baoqing and Huaihai Lu. Perhaps they're afraid foreigners coming for the Expo will be disgusted by the sites of their drunken compatriots? P.S. No disrespect to the drunken laowai pictured, who very charitably and heroically chugged beer after beer at our July 4 party near where the cops are now patrolling. more ›

• The BBC has a great picture slide show of the “spouse market” in Zhongshan People's Park, where worried parents put their kids' resumes up in hopes of finding them their significant others. [BBC]
• Being the good neighbors that we are, Shanghai has donated 50,000 face masks to our Japanese “sister city,” Osaka. Did anyone even know Osaka was our sister city? [Xinhua]
• The USA Pavilion just got their fourth sponsor - YUM Brands (the guys behind Taco Bell and KFC). That means they're probably only $50-some million away from their fund raising goals now! [LA Times]

Perhaps Spring fever's hit Shanghai. If you thought that shooting story was crazy, listen to this: Yesterday morning at 8am, a 20-year-old man was found hanging on a wire between the second and third floors of a building in Xuhui district - completely naked. We promise we aren't stringing you along. more ›

Anyone taking a stroll down Taojiang Lu towards Hengshan Lu is bound to spot the bright green shutters of 'The Cottage', a new coffee shop at number 25a. more ›

• Despite earlier protests, there will be a new maglev line between Shanghai and Hangzhou. This week, the local government announced that the construction of this line will start in 2010, three years later than planned. It is supposed to be finished in 2015, when we will be able to go to Hangzhou in just 30 minutes.
• Things are looking dark on the Shanghai stock market: This Monday the Shanghai Composite Index ended down 5.34 percent, at 2, 319.868 points. Over the last seven days, it dropped a whopping 14.95 percent.
• Safe sex is on the agenda, this week we read about free condoms in the office district of Jingan, now Shanghai's university and college campuses will get condom vending machines. According to Shanghai Daily, 85 percent of the students in a recent survey found it most convenient to buy condoms from machines, rather than in stores. We just think it's a little unfair that the students have to buy their condoms while office workers get them for free.

Number 3 Baoqing Rd, at the corner of Huaihai Rd near the Changshu Rd metro station, is an old colonial-style house with almost 4000 square meters of attached private gardens. For 55 years, award-winning and state-honored Shanghai painter Xu Yuanzhang and his family have lived in this house, upkeeping the house and gardens that his grandfather Zhou Zongliang purchased from a German owner seven years after it was built in Shanghai's booming 1930's. more ›

In a report just released an hour ago, Reuters tells us that Shanghai housing rights activist, Chen Xiaoming, who was one of seven Chinese activists awarded the 2006 Housing Rights Defender Award by the Geneva-based Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions, "has died hours after he was released on medical parole". more ›

Attendance falling at your local place of worship? Loyal herd looking elsewhere for spiritual direction? Have a carnival! That'll win 'em back. If only the Pope had thought of it ... like the Shanghai Xuhui District Tourist Bureau did. It's annual Longhua Temple Festival runs until May 7th, meaning you have one weekend left to catch all the fun. more ›

Editor's Note: Sorry, forgot to send these out last night in our rush to get to the Sonic Youth show.

• Leading Chinese Enviro Activist Detained
  "In the meantime,here, from today’s Wall Street Journal, is another thing all those green minded local officials are doing: locking up irksome environmental activists"
• China to keep 2008 Olympics 'dry'
  "Beijing will use aircraft, missiles and cannons in what could amount to a massive umbrella over the city to keep athletes dry during next year's Olympics, state media reported on Friday."
• U.S. knew about China's anti-satellite test, chose not to act, says N.Y. Times
  "U.S. intelligence knew about preparations for January's test in China of an anti-satellite weapon but the U.S. government chose not to intervene because of insufficient leverage with Beijing, The New York Times reported on its Web site Sunday."
• Speeding, Overloading Blamed for Road Tragedy
  "The guardrails on each side of the bridge were only ten centimeters in height, far lower than the minimum height of 46 cm required by law, Li Yizhong, Minister of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), said at the scene of the accident."
• Beijing to destroy its oldest Peking Opera house
  "The Guanghe Theatre, which sits in Beijing's historic Qianmen quarter, will meet the wrecking ball, making way for the capital's "remorseless" onslaught of modernisation, Xinhua news agency reported."
• Foreign banks offer tea,insurance to lure Chinese
  "For those Chinese rich enough to open an 80,000 yuan ($10,350) account, Citigroup Inc and Standard Chartered are now promising an alternative to the long queues at China's big state lenders."
• Doing business in China: Popular Shanghai restaurant falls prey to joint venture dispute
  "The lights at Renren Restaurant now are dim all the time. The once thriving cafe has fallen prey to a dispute between the Hong Kong company represented by Ho, a Canadian citizen, and its mainland Chinese partners, who want him out."
• Top 40 blogs according to Zhuaxia stats
  Chinese blogs. Keso is No. 1.
• China delays climate change plan indefinitely
  "China has delayed indefinitely its national 'action plan' on climate change, which was due to be released on Monday after exhaustive consultations among ministries in Beijing and provincial and local governments."
• Shanghai signboards call for Chinese
  "The all-English signboards are catering to a false admiration for anything Western. Some people tend to think it's a high-end shop if the name is written in a foreign language," said Huang Anjing, an editor of a local monthly journal, Yaowen Jiaozi.
• 9 Tough Tricks, and a Title for Shanghai
  "This year’s world bridge championships are in Shanghai beginning Sept. 29. And one week ago Shanghai won the Chinese Contract Bridge Association Open Teams championship, beating Qinggong in the 96-board final, 239 international match points to 211."
• Image damage
  "Xuhui District People's Court ... ordered the Shanghai Normal University to compensate 9,000 yuan (US$1,166) to Francesca Manganelli [who] said the institute used her photo without her agreement in an advertisement for student recruitment in June 2005."
• 非常真人's photo-comic blog
  "非常真人，非常娱乐 (Very Real People, Very Entertaining) is a blog that posts short, amusing photo-comics of every day life in Beijing."
• China Yields to Inquiry on Pet Food
  "China .. has given American regulators permission to enter the country to investigate whether Chinese suppliers exported contaminated pet food ingredients to the [US] earlier this year, leading to one of the largest pet food recalls in American history."
• China aims to further tame Web
  "Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday launched a campaign to rid the country's sprawling Internet of 'unhealthy' content and make it a springboard for Communist Party doctrine, state television reported." This happens every week, no?
• China molten steel tragedy highlights lax industry
  "Lax safety measures, unsuitable equipment and 'chaotic' conditions have been blamed for the deaths of 32 steel workers engulfed in molten metal, Chinese investigators announced, warning that such failings were common."
• Letter from Beijing: Enemy of the State
  "Jianguo was arrested and tried in the summer of 1999, and I remember with perfect clarity the moment I learned what had happened."

The Shanghai Daily reports that The Longhua Fashion and Gift Market is struggling to attract patrons. The Longhua market attracted the bulk of the vendors from the closure of Xiangyang market last June, however it appears that patrons have decided to give this location the big swerve. more ›

We never really noticed the villa at 39 Taojiang Lu, directly across from O'Malley's. Perhaps because it used to be home to the Xuhui District Taxation Bureau. But the place was hard to ignore on Sunday as we left O'Malley's (it was dog adoption day) — a fresh coat of paint, grand wooden gates, lots of lights and a big sign reading "Castle Oktober." Through the open gate we could see big copper beer kettles. Our interest piqued, we went to check it out last night. We discovered it's not open for business yet, but we got to walk around their big garden and take a couple photos. The old house is beautiful and the outdoor seating area looks like it could be a great place to down a few pints when the weather gets a little warmer. Given the location, we would have to think Castle Oktober won't be cheap, however, and while we're all for "brew restaurants" (that is what their business card says), we're not really sure if Shanghai was in desperate need of more German cuisine (which is what we assume will be on the menu) — Paulaner Brauhaus on Fenyang is just a short walk away. more ›

Photo by Peijin Chen taken from the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute 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 ›