It looks like even our public transport can barely stand the heat. At approximately noon yesterday, a section of the number 825 bus spontaneously combusted near Zhongshan Park (中山公园) in the Changning district (长宁区) of Shanghai. The incident occurred at 999 Changning Road (长宁路) while the bus was stationary and parked by the roadside. No passengers were on board the bus when the fire broke out, according to eyewitnesses. The fire was extinguished by 12:45 pm. more ›

While there is much dim sum to be had in Shanghai, it's hard to find some place that's both easy on the wallet and still pretty enough to impress. While Yue 1525 (not to be confused with the multitude of other Yues out there) may have some service issues, it's come the closest of any Cantonese restaurant so far to having a perfect balance of good price and good atmosphere. more ›

We figure that it was time to do a post about our favorite Shanghai restaurant of them all. Assuming that the overarching criteria for "favorite" is how often one goes to eat at a certain restaurant, then Coco 壱番屋 (more lovingly known amongst its many fans as Coco Curry) towers above all the other establishments on our list (and apparently, we're not the only ones). more ›

It's easy to get excited about Dunkin' Donuts and the arrival of another Best Buy will at least offer us a more customer-friendly electronics shopping experience, but can Shanghai really handle the full frontal in-your-face Americana that is Dippin' Dots? For the uninitiated, Dippin Dots are little balls of liquid nitrogen-enhanced ice cream that look like smallpox, feel like Styrofoam, and taste like redneck. Fine, maybe they don't taste like a redneck (they taste like a cross between real ice cream and chalk), but the association is so deeply ingrained that you'll swear after one bite that 'Dueling Banjos' is playing faintly off in the distance. Available only at amusement parks, shopping malls, and NASCAR-esque sporting events, they exist somewhere in the seventh circle of the American nightmare. more ›

A few weeks ago it came to our attention that what appeared to be a large price tag-shaped sign was affixed to the front of a building under construction across the street from Zhongshan Park. The sign was under wraps, but the shape alone was enough to conjure up images of Best Buy and many high school hours spent searching in vain for movies and music that they don't keep in stock. Now despite the fact that Zhongshan Park already has a Gome, Yolo, Suning, and a host of other crappy electronics stores, we couldn't help but get a little nostalgic for the good old days, when buying a print cartridge just meant you had to pick up the box and take it to the register. No red stamps, no getting an attendant to take it out from behind bullet-proof glass, and no waiting around for someone to go find the 'real' product after you've paid and shown your stamp to the requisite three to ten people. more ›

This is just a rumor at this point. But it is a strong rumor. Not a weak rumor, or a flat out lie (like these). Basically, we think you can mark your calendars ... and use pen. more ›

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The soup pot arrived in good time and the rest of the food arrived promptly after. We recommend the split bowl with spicy soup on one side and regular on the other, the spicy side can be a bit much at times. The actual food was extremely fresh, in fact some of it was still taking their last breaths on the table (one of the perils of eating with locals we guess). Iced tofu (冻豆腐) is one of our favorites dishes, the lamb was likewise tasty, the winter melon and potatoes served as nice fresh vegetables for the night. We really could have done without the pig brains though, at least portions were large and varied. more ›

We finally made it out to Tian Jia, the superlative Japanese restaurant famous for serving only one kind of fish: toro, meat from the fatty belly of the bluefin tuna. Our first trip was right before we left for vacation three weeks ago, and our second was the first night we got back. Yes, we craved it the whole time we were gone. For those of you who were like us and never made a trip but heard all the accolades, now you can add Shanghaiist to the mix: this place is damn tasty. more ›

It is official...the golden week has finally hit Shanghai, and it is hitting us hard, with a multitude of music festivals. So for those of you who are taking the vacation serious and drinking so much you can't think straight, Shanghaiist is here to do the thinking for you. Feel free to print and paste the sample itinerary listed below to that one pair of underwear you plan on wearing for the entire week. 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 ›

This weekend is the next stop for Olympics hopefuls at the Gymnastics World Cup stop in Shanghai. The action begins tomorrow with the preliminary competition, which will determine the eight finalists that will compete on the four apparatuses for the women and six for the men. Since this is a World Cup event, there will be no all-around competition. Tomorrow's preliminary competition will be followed by the event finals on Saturday and Sunday. With the... more ›

Although the Olympic Games are over a year away, a preview of what's to come next summer has arrived in Shanghai this week. Shanghai is the host for this year's Chinese National Gymnastics Championships, featuring some of China's best and brightest gymnasts. China's men's team AND women's team are the defending World Champions. The preliminary competitions finished up last weekend, with the team finals finishing today and tomorrow, and the individual competitions (all-around final and... more ›

Though only in its infancy, newly launched online portal NeoCha has already got its eyes on the big time. The web project purports to bring together Chinese creative clans and facilitate the discovery of original music, art, events and goods. more ›

Alert web surfers notice that the Shanghai Metro has redesigned their website. The English version is well done, and has some cool "inside" pictures of the subway car storage warehouse. more ›

Browsing the Ditiezu.com (Subway-ers) BBS, we came across some interesting tidbits: more ›

Lots of juicy news items in yesterday's Morning Post: more ›

Lucky for Shanghaiist, we won't be. But we certainly feel for people who will be stuck in the city for the holidays. So we've compiled an incomplete list of a few things to keep you occupied while your friends are back home drinking eggnog and getting wasted with family around the Christmas tree. more ›

Living for one and a half years in the Zhongshan Park area, we've observed constant and significant improvements. New shopping malls, many good fashion shops, and the Starbucks-factor went from zero to five. more ›

The wearing of jammies in public: amongst people who have been in the city for less than 15 minutes, no issue has better served as a focal point for passion and vitriol. But what of the people who have been here longer? The so-called “lifers” who have lived in Shanghai for 16, 17 and, in some cases, 18 minutes? These have been eerily silent on the issue, avoiding it in public conversation, referring to the phenomenon only furtively from behind closed doors and in darkened back rooms. more ›

After Shanghaiist learned from Shanghaiist that street names changes are in the works, we thought it appropriate to post about something we recently found at a Chinese bookstore: a series of maps of old Shanghai. more ›

Yesterday's Metro Express reports on a vote by 2470 internet users of real-estate website Sofun.com to decide which Shanghai metro station has the most romantic potential, ie where you would be most likely to meet your one true commuting love. more ›

Shanghai malls haven't been doing too hot lately. The Cloud Nine Shopping Mall in Zhongshan Park can claim to be "the city's biggest shopping center in terms of floor space," but suffers from a severe lack of tenants and had to cede their home-grown basement grocery store to Carrefour in in June due to lackluster sales. In July, the Los Angles Times exposed Shanghai's luxury malls as "ghost malls", spearing Plaza 66 and others for renting space to designer name brands at cut-rates in order to create a façade of prosperity and high fashion for the city. more ›

How’s that an “escape” from Shanghai you ask? Good question. And a “captivating jungle experience” in a freaking mall? Point taken. Alright, there is still the miniature golf part, which is the real/only reason why we’re telling you about this place. more ›

• .. .train tickets have changed every-so-slightly? In a move to make the process more friendly to visitors from abroad, train stations are now printing the departure and destination city names in English, just below the original Chinese. Since the departure time and car/seat numbers are written in the other international language (numbers), the only thing left to fully interpret a ticket is the bottom/middle/top character on sleeper train tickets. more ›

One Ms. Liu, a woman from Shenyang that holds a master's degree, has earned the dubious distinction of being the first jaywalker in Shanghai history to ever be arrested. According to this report, Liu was jaywalking with a friend around Huaihai Lu and Huangpi Lu, when they were stopped by a police officer. Liu refused to pay the fine and the situation became heated, in the ensuing moments Liu began pushing and shoving officer Lin and even scratched him with her nails. Finally, three female cops came over and stuffed her in a police van. When Ms. Liu had to face the press, she said this by way of apology: more ›

胡锦涛主席启程出访五国
Chairman Hu Jintao sets out to visit five countries, including 美利坚合众国 (the USA). Did you hear about the dinner at Bill Gates' house? more ›

When we read today that Shanghai's first organic foods store has "underperformed" our initial reaction was, Shanghai has an organic foods store? The answer is yes. OStore launched last summer -- about the same time Shanghaiist launched -- and we're not sure why we hadn't heard of it until now. Well, perhaps its location has something to do with it. OStore is on Zunyi Lu, which, being west of Zhongshan Park, is outside of Shanghaiist's "comfort zone." Pathetic, we know. (We also would have learned about OStore if we would have read Shanghai Talk cover to cover like we should each month. Sorry, Shamus.) more ›