Over the weekend, China National Radio hosted their annual awards ceremony, which seeks to recognize Chinese-language singers. more ›

• B.C. model's killer sentenced to die in China [CTV British Columbia] "He has two years to show good behaviour and if he proves this his sentence could be lowered to a life sentence to be served in jail or even lighter depending on his performance," CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Steve Chao reported Friday.
• China's last eunuch spills sex secrets [Reuters] "Only two memories brought tears to Sun Yaoting's eyes in old age -- the day his father cut off his genitals, and the day his family threw away the pickled remains that should have made him a whole man again at death...This turbulent life has been recorded in the "The Last Eunuch of China" by amateur historian Jia Yinghua, who over years of friendship drew out of Sun the secrets that were too painful or intimate to spill to prying journalists or state archivists."
• Lonely Boys and Losers: Are we overstating the fenqing phenomenon? [Jottings from the Granite Studio] "I don’t think that fenqing can be defined by a particular perspective or viewpoint. Certainly adopting the CCP or Han nationalist worldview doesn’t make one a fenqing... For me, the defining characteristic of a fenqing is not strong belief in a particular view, but rather an inability to accept that other valid perspectives might exist."

Caijing has a spectacular article looking at some of the troubles still shrouding the CCTV fire from last month, and they don't all have to do with the destroyed building. The blaze that gutted the TVCC building on February 9 may have also uncovered questionable financial deals made by high-level CCTV executives. more ›

The second day of the JZ Festival went well, with another bout of perfect weather and slightly cooler temperatures. The afternoon crowd was about the same as the first day, nearly filling up the relatively small amount of space in between the buildings at the New Factories where the concerts are being held. The musical pattern set on day one seemed to hold through the second day as well, which was: begin the day with some solid, swinging straight-ahead jazz; from there move into an eclectic mix of Scandinavian groups for the rest of the afternoon; then start the evening set with a local blockbuster group and finish it with some popular Chinese pop-rock. more ›

The latest news from the former Fuxing Jazz Festival is that it is going to take place up in Jing'an district at the New Factories on Yuyao Lu (余姚路), and will be called the JZ Festival (爵士同乐 in Chinese). It will feature many of Shanghai's locally-based jazz groups including Coco and his band Possicobilities, Alec Haavik's Friction Five, and the JZ All-star big band. Also featured will be major Chinese rock stars Cui Jian and Xu Wei among others, as well as a number of Northern European groups (jazz and otherwise). The festival, put on by the JZ group, Jing'an government, the Jing'an tourism bureau, and the organizers of the NOTCH music festival, will take place over four full days, October 4-7. more ›

September is quickly sliding into history, which means for all us music fans that the orgy of music festivals Shanghai will experience in the first weeks of October is almost upon us. And of course Shanghaiist is here to bring you the latest in festival news..... more ›

Shanghai, typically a live music wasteland, is preparing for a gaggle (Shanghaiist has the hippest vocabulary) of music festivals, all scheduled for the normally dead October Golden weekend. Get ready for 4...yes, count'em....f-o-u-r....music festivals, with some pretty damn exciting bands. more ›