Though it's almost 2012, there's still time for more brawls in 2011 right? On December 28th, around 10pm, a pretty nasty brawl broke out between chengguan and some vendors outside a Xujiahui mall here in Shanghai. more ›

Frustrated by repeated and frequent metro malfunctions around town? Angry and stressed because Shanghai isn't the happiest town in China? Well, via its new alternative advertising campaign, Adidas is now encouraging you to beat the crap out of the Shanghai subway system! Or a few well-padded columns in the Xujiahui Line 1 metro stop, at least. more ›

For our Roman Catholic readers, a special mass is to be held tonight at the St Ignatius Cathedral to mark the liturgical feast of Saints Peter and Paul. The announcement from the Italian Cultural Institute:

The IIC Shanghai is glad to announce the celebration of the Holy Mass in Chinese language with the Holy Lesson in Italian language, which will be held on Wednesday 29th June 2011, at 19:00 at St.Ignatius Cathedral, XuJiahui. more ›

More good news for Sino-Vatican ties following the ordination of Bishop Paul Liang Jiansen? more ›

We only learned of the murder in Xujiahui's Grand Gateway mall last night through a very short brief on Shanghai Daily. But we soon discovered some eyewitness accounts - not surprisingly, the Wagas there had quite a few English-speaking foreigners who know how to use the internet. more ›

Holy cow, this makes me think twice about enjoying beautiful weather outside. A Japanese-Canadian guy eating outside the Grand Gateway Wagas in Xujiahui was stabbed to death (seemingly randomly) at around 5pm yesterday. The victim, unnamed, had been enjoying his meal outside when a middle-aged man came up and stabbed him, according to witnesses. A suspect was arrested at the scene, but there are very few other details. Strangely enough, the story was pulled off Xinmin. Are foreigner deaths too sensitive for the Chinese public? more ›

Piss on the streets, of course. Like this woman did on Tianyaoqiao Road, near Xujiahui. Chinese internet users have already dubbed this incident the "Xujiahui pants-down-gate" (徐家汇“脱裤门”). Now we really regret not having a camera on us the other day when we had the good fortune of witnessing the Shanghai edition of "Better Shitty, Better Life". With a little luck, we won't have to wait too long for our next big scoop. more ›

A 24-year-old McDonalds employee was killed in Xujiahui this morning after trying to wake up a customer sleeping in the fast food joint. The employee was stabbed at around 4:40am and was pronounced dead later in a local hospital. Police are still investigating the case, according to Shanghai Daily. The McDonalds was located at Tianyaoqiao Lu and Zhaojiabang Lu, just a block from the Xujiahui Metro line. more ›

• BTW, there's another Asia Uncut tomorrow and the main guest? Well, his name starts with Jack and ends with EEchen. We hope they ask him about his Shanghai museum, what ever happened to that? Free entry plus free booze and food at reception as always. Contact tickets@asiauncut.com to RSVP.
• Okay, so there's this place in Pudong that has a two-kilo hamburger and since the butcher is now leaving, they're doubling the debauchery. Now you can go to Yasmine's and get a four-kg monster. If you manage to finish it, you'll not only have you 198RMB burger fee waived, but you'll also get a 200RMB certificate for the butchers shop. Can you put that towards your upcoming coronary? [SmartShanghai]
• Cityweekend takes a look at some of Shanghai's coziest bars, including some that have ANIMALS in them! ANIMALS! OMG OMG OMG! [Cityweekend]

• 56minus1 filmed the highlights of local fashion designer Helen Lee (of the brand insh) presenting her fall/winter collection as part of Fashion Week. [56minus1]
• Somebody dumped a load of ethanethiol (considered the world's smelliest substance) on Aidisheng Road in Zhangjiang hi-tech park last night, managing to scare the bejeezus out of everybody. [@shanghaidaily]
• Those 69 people quarantined in Shanghai for being aboard the same flight with the Mexican A/H1N1 patient are in “good living conditions” and have “a nutritious and delicious diet” offered to them every day, China would like you to know. [Xinhua]

For any one who (us included) who missed the eArts festival opening last weekend in Shanghai with free performances by Dead J and others, tonight is your chance at redemption. Screen Play, a mashup of film footage and computer animation, is performed to by Top Floor Circus, Elliott Sharp and fellow musicians. Taking place in Xujiahui Park, things kick off at 7:30pm and the best part....it is all free. more ›

Check out John Pasden's helpful tips here (and be jealous that your company doesn't subsidize the purchasing of cool smuggled gadgets). more ›

We finally sauntered our way down to Xujiahui to try out Bistrow, and we definitely liked what we saw. Located where a Chatea formerly leaned against the Grand Gateway mall, Bistrow is the first of two (so far) of these upscaled Wagas offshoots. We started off light with the mixed starter plate (58 RMB), finding the hummus a little too sharp but the chickpea salsa and beetroot tzatziki to be clever and tasty teasers. The chorizo in our penne dish had a nice kick (68 RMB), but the star was the chicken tikka wrap (58 RMB), crammed with tangy mango chutney and thin slices of cucumber. more ›

Shanghaiist received an anonymous tip earlier today on our Contribute page:

Don't know if anyone has confirmed whether this was an accident or not or generally what happened... but it appeared that Shanghai Stadium was on fire this morning.

Several photos have been circulating around on the Internet like wild fire over the last two days. They are supposedly of a couple who committed suicide together at the Grand Gateway (港汇广场) at Xujiahui on Wednesday, 7 May some time around 2.30 pm in the afternoon. The incident has set online forums abuzz (WARNING: THESE LINKS CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES), but we haven't found any reports in the news yet (let us know if you find any). more ›

A summary of some of the Shanghai public-transportation-related stories making the news lately:
• The longest ocean-crossing bridge in the world is set to open near Shanghai on May 1. According to the Shanghai Daily, "the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which starts in southern Shanghai and ends in Ningbo, will shorten the trip between the two cities by more than 120 kilometers". Construction on the bridge began in 2003.
• Nanjing will soon join Beijing in banning foldable bicycles from their subway system, leaving Shanghai and Guangzhou as the two major subway systems that don't explicitly forbid them.
• The 10 year-old Xujiahui subway station underground shopping street was closed for renovations on March 31st, and will reopen by the end of the year with a new set of tenants and new entertainment options. Exits 1-7 will be closed during renovations. Xujiahui is the site of the future Line 1/9/11 interchange.