I, like many bright-eyed foreigners who arrive in Shanghai, planned on spending my time here learning Mandarin Chinese. After all, there are more Mandarin speakers here than in any other city in the world. We either enroll in a Mandarin course or hire a tutor so we can communicate while we are here […]

Shanghai is good for a really weird story about once a week. This week, the “who” was a 40-year-old man with mental problems. The “what” was a hostage crisis. The “where” was a KFC on the corner of Yangliuqing Road and Wuning Road in downtown Shanghai. The “when” was between 3pm […]

Well, not exactly Spiderman. But an idiot laowai dressed as Spiderman. As the Shanghai Daily reported Thursday afternoon, a foreign man between the ages of 30 and 40 began climbing the Jinmao Tower, the world’s fourth tallest building. The man, wearing a blue and red Spiderman costume, began climbing the building at […]

Of all the scares China endured recently– Olympic boycott, a dip in the soaring stock market, contaminated pet food– those in the Middle Kingdom now have a new reason to fret. That pink, 30-yuan bottle of spring water you buy at one of Shanghai’s finer restaurants might be just as nasty as the stuff in […]

The People’s Daily reported Tuesday on a new regulation in Shanghai that would prohibit the city’s storefronts from displaying English-only signs. The proposed citywide regulation, not coincidentally, comes at a time when bars, restaurants and stores that once solely targeted foreign customers, are beginning to see an increase in local Chinese clientele. It […]

It was either China’s worst nightmare or the censorship officials just don’t care anymore. A “Legalize It” flag with a marijuana leaf was unfurled minutes before showtime and was waved by front-row fans from start until finish. Various types of smoke rose to the ceiling, visible to the crowd when it hit the spotlight beams. […]

“A synagogue in Shanghai?” Yep. Actually 2 synagogues in Shanghai. At one point there were seven. Today, however, there is not even one active house of worship for China’s largest Jewish expat community. But that is about to change. Shanghai has begun a five-month restoration project on Ohel Moishe […]

As long as this story gets better and better, I will continue to write about it. The London arm of the Hong Kong-based Chinese mafia group the “Triads” has made death threats to players of the Queens Park Rangers for their roles in a massive soccer brawl Wednesday with the Chinese national under-21 team. […]

While discussing with a friend the merits of another Shanghai-based blog that ends in “ist,” my friend mentioned that he read an interesting story over there about a famous Shanghai blogger called Chinabounder, who after five months of silence, reemerged Friday with arguably his most controversial post yet. Chinabounder’s “Sex and Shanghai” blog chronicles […]

According to a Shanghaiist post Thursday titled, “Holy Shit! The Roots Are Coming to Shanghai!, China West Entertainment announced in an email that Philadelphia-based hip-hop group The Roots will play an April 16th show at Shanghai’s Yun Feng Theater. I’m not sure if this warrants a “holy shit!” but I guess it’s pretty cool. […]