Curated, Opinionated Shanghai Living

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- Design Shanghai 2019 Has Six Entire Sections Of Magnificent Design Stuff
  
  On March 6-9, the annual Design Shanghai will be taking over the Shanghai Exhibition Center for its sixth iteration, packing the aging monument to Sino-Soviet companionship to the creaking rafters with bleeding-edge, fashion-conscious, inexplicable whacky things you can look at, sit on, sit in or wear on your body. Last year, our sincerest editor complained that it was too damn big, and well, bad news is that it's even bigger now. Six halls. In addition to "Contemporary," "Classic & Luxury," "Collectibles," "Kitchen & Bathroom" and "Workplace," they've added "New Materials and Applications," dedicated to... that. More details on their website. This is the marquee event of the year for the design-aware. We're selling Friday and Saturday passes to design nirvana over on SmartTicket. You can't buy good taste but you can pay to take pictures with it.
- Swedish Starbucks Wayne's Coffee Opens First Shop in China
  
  Founded in 1994, with a logo graphic that doesn't seem to have changed since then, Wayne's Coffee has just opened its first China store on Nanjing Xi Lu. The Swedish chain is slinging coffee, sandwiches and Swedish pastry, with a special opening "Swedish Fika" deal: a låttë and a cinnämön bun for 38rmb. So how is it? Or in Swedish, hüür äääär dëëëtt? Read on
- The First Official Tintin Shop Has Opened in Shanghai, And It's Adorable
  
  The first official Tintin store in China has opened — in Shanghai! Finding the Tintin Shop is an adventure itself to a quiet part of Jing'an district. Opened two days ago, its already gone viral on Douban, and fans from all over town have been flocking to the store. How is it? Read on
- Super Trouper Musical "Mamma Mia" Is Back Entirely In Chinese
  
  You already know all the songs by heart in English and you've seen the movie like a hundred times. Language exchange opportunity of a lifetime. It's like a musical Rosetta Stone. Mamma Mia, the musical based on the music of Best Band Ever™, ABBA, follows a young lady on the eve of her wedding on a Greek island, trying to figure out which of three separate one-night stands her mom had in the 70s is her dad. It's back at the Shanghai Grand Theater this July, with an all-Chinese cast, all in Mandarin, with Chinese subtitles. Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance! Having recently been to Santorini, I can confidently say an all-Chinese wedding and associated family drama on a Greek island is one hundred percent historical. Tickets start at 200rmb over on SmartTicket.
- Book Ends: M's Literary Festival Schedule Is Out, and We Have It
  
  M Group's annual Shanghai Literary Festival 2019, the lit-est of fests, is on again. Three-ish weeks of talks, performances, events and schmoozing with bookish scholarly/intelligentsia types at M on the Bund (and related venues). Personally, we don't truck with books unless they have pictures in them (good thing graphic novelist Rao Pingru is presenting), but highlights include nanotechnologist Michelle Dickinson, aka "Nanogirl," Hugo Award-winning macroeconomist Hao Jinfang, and published city-snoop Paul French. All in all, it's 37 talks and events running from March 14 to 27. Full schedule after the jump. Read on
- GOD Is Dead And We Killed Him
  
  The short-lived and possibly sarcastically-named gourmet hot dog shop "GOD" at 38 Donghu Lu has shuttered. Phone off, lights out. Deus did not vult its continued existence. Unsurprising. Allegedly from a first-time restaurateur, selling a gourmet food that has never caught on in its non-gourmet format, we checked it out when it opened back in October. The hot dogs were good, if you like boiled rather than grilled sausages and a lot of onion jam, but not 78rmb good. I'm going to go ahead and say there's no such thing as a 78rmb-good hot dog, and I don't care what Steven and Andrew think. Unlikely to make a comeback, says our apostolic correspondent Paul, adding "if GOD be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." Read on
- Green February: Climate Change, Plastic Ocean, Vegan Lantern Party
  
  February, so green! So many local grassroots communities bringing events about environmental topics into our headspace this month, from a vegan Lantern Festival party to talks from Arctic explorers. Hit the jump to see all the greenery. Read on
- Starbucks Opens Princi Bakery and Cafe, Expensive as Hell
  
  Starbucks, that gentle champion of the independent coffee shop, has opened a fancy new bakery in Xujiahui and god damn, is it expensive. The Starbucks Reserve Bakery Cafe has been squeezed out of the same mold the Green Giant used for its Reserve Roastery: a menu of special drinks that are twice the price of a regular Starbucks, and a bunch of baked goods from the Italian baker Rocco Princi. This new one in Grand Gateway also adds brunch, egg dishes, and booze. So I went down yesterday, its third day of operations, to see how it was going. Read on
- Public Burger Announcement: Shake Shack Delivery on Eleme Isn't Shake Shack
  
  Important news popped up late last week: Shake Shack was offering delivery on Eleme. But something wasn't quite right. The prices were double the store's prices. The text of the name was spelled SHAKESHACK, not Shake Shack. There was a 150rmb minimum. And now, after a phone call with both the sneaky user who created that account (a tout) and the actual Shake Shack, we can say, Shake Shack is definitely not offering delivery. (Until they do, which our tarot reader predicts will be in June.) So what happened? Read on
  
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- Club DASH Closed by Neighbor Noise Complaints, Relocating in Spring
  
  DASH, a new nightclub in United Valley that was popular with the hip-hop kids, has closed. The home base for Preme, a hip-hop promotion crew, DASH was a concrete cube waiting to be animated by events, installations, parties, whatever. It was in the stripped-back club genre that has become popular in the last year or two. They traded out the big name rapper bookings they did as Preme for a more low-key approach centered on both old school and new hip-hop, with some randoms thrown in: they pulled kids from both ALL and ASL, if that means anything to you. Promoters Daily Vinyl, SHFT and 88 Rising all did parties there. Alas, noise complaints from the neighbors have done them in. Founder Joe Tsao says they'll re-open in spring in a new location. DASH, wansui.
- The Pit: Bites x Brews Buys Mito Space in Found 158
  
  News from the pit: the businesspeople behind Bites x Brew and Barbarian have taken over the lease of the Italian restaurant Mito. The space was closed over the weekend on a little recon visit to Found. Word from the parties involved is that the handover has already happened but the Bites x Brews/Barbarian people haven't yet made a decision about what they are going to open. The Mito side, meanwhile, still has Xixi Bistro in Xintiandi. Cycle of restaurant life.
- CNY is Officially Over Tuesday: Here's What to Do
  
  CNY officially ends on Tuesday, February 19 with Spring Lantern Festival, when hoards of Shanghai'ers will push their way into Yu Gardens to gawk at the bright installations and stuff their faces with tangyuan. Looking to join in the traditional celebration, but without the overwhelming crowds? Then try joining a lion dance on roller skates, construct your own paper lantern at a traditional paper cutting class, or cook tangyuan from scratch. However you celebrate Tuesday night’s Lantern Festival, just know that it’s officially the end of saying ‘Xin nian kuai le’ to everyone you see. And if you haven’t already given hongbao to your housekeeper and your apartment building's bao an, then you are officially on their shit list for the rest of 2019.
- Do a Good Thing: Stepping Stones Seeking Volunteers
  
  Stepping Stones, a charity that teaches English to migrant and disadvantaged children in Shanghai, is seeking new volunteers. Saturday, February 16 at 8am will be their first volunteer recruitment and training session of the year, and there’s still time to sign-up. Can’t come Feb 16? Stepping Stones will hold multiple volunteer sessions over the next several weeks (on February 20, 23, 26, and March 2) and is seeking passionate English speakers who can commit to a minimum of eight teaching days from early March to mid-June. If you’re looking for a way to atone for your sins, then this volunteer opportunity just might help you sleep better at night. Sign up here.
- Lil' Yachty Keeping Arkham Cold Like Minnesota This March
  
  Hot booking off the STD presses. March 8th sees Arkham hosting mumble rapper/self-professed cartoon character Lil' Yachty. Here're the basics you need to get up to speed: One Night, Minnesota. Drippy, dopey, up-pitched vocals and Saturday morning cartoon references, Lil Yachty's been described as post-ironic, serious about not being serious. He's originally part of that Atlanta crop that includes Young Thug, Gucci Mane and 21Savage (or does it). Except via the suburbs of Mableton: his earliest musical obsession was Coldplay, he says he don't drink, he don't smoke, and he's the creative director for Nautica. He's just off the release of not one, but two albums last year (Nuthin 2 Prove and Lil Boat 2). Who says millennials have a bad work ethic. Tickets cost 380rmb on SmartTicket.
- Public Donut Announcement: Tim Hortons Opens on the 26th
  
  Canadian-mega-chain Tim Hortons is about to open in Shanghai. The first Tim Hortons in China, part of a 1,500-store-expansion plan, has been given a Chinese name: Tims Coffee House. It will open on Thursday, February 26th at 227 Huangpi Lu, in Central Plaza. The Chinese hype on Insta is high for Double-Doubles, Iced Capp and donuts. Sweet circles of life. If you prefer your North American junk food Canadian-tinged, and can't wait until there's one in every mall, airport and metro station, have at them.
  
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Kodaline: Live in Shanghai 2019

Formed in 2012 in the amazingly named town of Swords, north of Dublin, this four-piece Irish pop-rock band was catapulted to fame by their 2013 debut album, "Perfect Worl...

Nightlife | Bandai Namco Dream Hall

Craft Sake Pairing Dinner

Xime's third craft sake pairing dinner sees a four-course dinner inspired by Japanese New Year celebration food. Each course is paired with Kariho Shozo brand sake, hoste...

Dining | Xime

Candor pres. 'Black Mirror'

A brand new Cabaret show with Dark Circus Experience — 'Black Mirror" — a tantalizing stage show about the demons that devour us. Don't miss out on this exciting ne...

Arts, Nightlife | Candor
Candor pres. 'Black Mirror'

A brand new Cabaret show with Dark Circus Experience — 'Black Mirror" — a tantalizing stage show about the demons that devour us. Don't miss out on this exciting ne...

Arts, Nightlife | Candor

Attack of the B-Movies: Jason X

Attack of the B-Movies is a live interactive event where comedians Kade Moore, Kurt Dunsing, and Nate Johns toast and roast the best worst movies ever made. This month th...

Community, Nightlife | Cages (Jiangning Lu)

Faux Fighter w/ Dave Reffett

A tribute to the Foo Fighters celebrate the year of the pig with a big show at Mao Livehouse Shanghai. Well-known American heavy metal shredder Dave Reffett opens.

Nightlife | MAO Livehouse
Craig David | TS5 Tour Live in Shan...

Craig David! Yes, Grammy-nominated British R&B, garage and pop royalty Craig David, that Craig David, is bring the TS5 tour to Shanghai. He's fresh off the release of his...

Nightlife | Jing'An New Sports Center

Hologram Dreams 全息梦境

"A voyage from funk into the future…" DJs Heatwolves and Finascia take Dada's dancefloor on a hyperloop journey from City-Pop, Italo Disco, and Chicago House into New W...

Nightlife | Dada

Brian Aylward: Stand-Up Comedy

Multi award-winning Canadian stand-up comic Brian Aylward is coming to Shanghai. A relentless and engaging comedian, Brian has performed in excess of 2600 shows in more t...

Nightlife | Shanghai Comedy Bunker
ESSE

Chongqing-based Symphonic Goth Metal band ESSE are hitting Shanghai for their debut show in our fair town. People who've heard lead lady Tong Tong's powerful, symphonic v...

Nightlife | LOFAS

Fantasy Soiree: Cabaret Show

To follow up the Cabaret Soiree, the Moulin Rouge Soiree, and the Desire Soiree—the Pearl presents: the Fantasy Soiree. Back for a one-night show in February, this stea...

Arts, Nightlife | The Pearl

Huit Etoiles, Tokyo Disco Crew

I.D.W. Asia takes the discussion to the next level, while tracing a line of continuity through the years where the dance floor exploded (thanks to Moroder, Baldelli, Alex...

Nightlife | Dada
M Talks: Smashing the Patriarchy, A...

Host of the podcast, Unchained. Unbothered., Keturah Kendrick brings together artists and activists, Lilian Shen, Niesha Davis and Xu Fei to discuss their work to dismant...

Community | Glam

Mixed Martial Arts + Yoga

Mixed Martial Arts training led by AbsoluteMMA trainer + yoga led by Linwards founder Julie Costerg. Improve your flexibility, endurance and balance for a stronger core a...

Sports & Recreation | Absolute MMA Jiu-Jitsu

Walk: In the Shadow of the Bund

Join Historic Shanghai for a walk around the surprisingly untouched neighborhood that lies in the shadow of the Bund. Here, in the oldest part of the International Settle...

Community | The Peninsula Shanghai

ALL EVENTS

GALLERIES

- February 16, 2019
  
  Alter. x 44KW pres. Andy Hart
  
  @ 44KW
- February 4, 2019
  
  MVP Chinese New Year
  
  @ Park Hyatt Shanghai
- January 30, 2019
  
  Chromeo Show
  
  @ Arkham
- January 26, 2019
  
  Mvp First Class
  
  @ M1NT
- January 19, 2019
  
  MVP Secret Party
  
  @ The Pearl
- November 23, 2018
  
  Wellington Winter Christmas Bazaar
  
  @ Wellington College International Shanghai
- October 22, 2018
  
  Summer Camp
  
  @ Freesoul Montessori Kindergarten
- October 22, 2018
  
  Montessori Time
  
  @ Freesoul Montessori Kindergarten
- October 22, 2018
  
  Charity
  
  @ Freesoul Montessori Kindergarten
- October 18, 2018
  
  Graduation Ceremony
  
  @ Freesoul Montessori Kindergarten

SMARTREVIEWS

19 Feb 2019

Bowl Of Authentic Singaporean Soup

Sally Hsiao on Song Fa

SongFa is a pretty famous restaurant from Singapore. It’s famous for its Singaporean style bak kut teh, which means prok rib soup. I like bak kut teh in Cantonese style with medical herbs and strong flavored broth, but SonFa is very different from what I’m used to.

Their so... Read more
19 Feb 2019

Predictable in the Best Way

emmgant on Bread Etc (Nanjing Xi Lu)

I went for a solo brunch over the Chinese New Year holiday, so I’m sure it was much quieter than it usually would be at brunch time. Consistently ranked as one of the best brunch spots, Bread Etc. was always one of those places I passed on foot but never went inside. It turned out to be ... Read more
18 Feb 2019

Modern Japanese Izakaya –with some fusion and a top view.

delfinash on HIYA (The Shanghai EDITION)

The Shanghai Edition came to the city with several dining proposals, but the most surprising one -for me- was Hiya, a fancy Izakaya on the 27th floor with a stripped and amazing view to the Shanghai skyline.

Seated by the window we had a full experience. The place decor is minimalistic... Read more