Curated, Opinionated Shanghai Living

News, updates, everything we've got...
- Got Skills? Work With Us! SmartShanghai and CreativeHunt Are Both Hiring
  
  Life at SmartShanghai is rosy. We have a cool, creative team of editors, photographers, designers and developers who spend all of their time figuring out how to bring you the best the city has to offer in the coolest way. And we are hiring. Not "expanding" -- no one is leaving. We are growing the company and want new, talented people to help us do that. What's it like to work for us? We strive to create a friendly, relaxed work environment, where everyone has flexible work hours (no clock-punching), standing desks (hey, it matters), up-to-date computers, and a say in how we run the business. The office is close to IAPM right in downtown and easy to get to from anywhere in the city. We have a lot of lunch options. Want to get in on this? Hit the jump to see what positions are available! Read on
- New Italian Restaurant SENSO Serves Horsemeat and Ciccheti
  
  There's a brand new Italian restaurant on the corner of Zhaohua Dong Lu called SENSO. It's by the same people behind SEVE, specializing in ciccheti (basically Venice's version of tapas) and, oh, the occasional horsemeat steak. Clearly labelled! Read on
  
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- Post-Punk Grandpas Gang of Four Make Good on Promise to Come Back, Playing Shanghai November 23
  
  A quick post-punk service announcement: Gang of Four are coming back to Shanghai, after cancelling on us earlier in the year. A date has been set: November 23. They'll be playing 1979's Entertainment album, live and in full, which is honey and marshmallows and angular guitars to a post-punk fan like me. Maybe you too? We have tickets. Get them here.
- Bubba’s Annual Barbecue Cook-Off is This Saturday
  
  Summertime is almost over but BBQ season never ends! Bubba’s 7th Annual Barbecue Cook Off happens this Saturday and will see Shanghai’s top BBQ bosses in attendance, from the former champion Bruce “Big Dog” Taylor to Cages Chef Jason Oakley battling it out for the title of Grand Master of the 2019 Cook-Off. For 100rmb at the door, visitors get two free beers and sample some of the best ‘cue in the city. There will be plenty of vendors serving a good deal of sausages, chicken, pork ribs, beef as well as cold beverages, and live music. Weather forecast shows mostly sunny with a high of 23 degrees. Beautiful day, then. The location is a bit far-off this year, held at Sam’s Club in Qingpu, but they’ll have buses running from Cages at 11am to get you out there. More details here.
- Club Updates: M2 Becomes WANN. Make A Note.
  
  Heads-up, club kids. M2, one of the older baller clubs in Shanghai, riding the ups and downs of Shanghai's nightlife, finally closed back in September because of aah... let's say an environment that made certain names in the nightlife scene unwelcome. All you need to know is that M2 is dead, long live WANN Club. It's in the same space, on the sixth floor of a building on Huaihai Zhong Lu. Same ownership, same table packages, same formulae for revelry, described by our man on the ground as #nightlife plus #lasers. Wannsui.
- (Basically) Free Booze Alert: 3NTRY's Student Party Has An Open Bar Tonight
  
  Mansion lives on in spirit! In rivers of cheap spirits! 3NTRY, the coworking space slash club slash "culture hub" slash... hippie commune (?) is throwing a Student Party tonight, kicking off at 9pm with a 100rmb open bar. Don't even need to be a student! One red note gets you as much ethanol as you can inhale until 5am-ish. Comes to 12rmb per hour. What sort of booze can you get for that sort of money? You figure it out. Providing the soundtrack to the carnage are BOGUTA O2, Fane and Leftfield Avenue. They're selling tickets here. Good luck, animals.
- Studio Ghibli (And Others) Exhibition On at M50 Gallery Right Now
  
  Godsend for anime and manga lovers; Polar Bear Gallery in M50 is hosting its annual Japanese animation and Studio Ghibli manuscript exhibition, gathering around 350 hand-drawn manuscripts from over 20 classic Japanese anime series from the 1970s and 80s: Doraemon, Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, Pokémon, Crayon Shin-chan, and beloved Studio Ghibli films such as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, and Nausicaä of The Valley of the Wind. We went to check it out. In summary? A lot of animation cels! Read on
- Taito Station Is A Claw Machine Utopia
  
  Taito Station, the biggest arcade games chain store in Japan, the creator behind all-time favorites like Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble, has opened its first spot in Shanghai. Not nearly as big as its world famous six-floor game center in Akihabara, it still promises plenty of gaudy, fluffy fun for fans of claw games. We went to pluck victory from the fluffy jaws of defeat with the robotic hand of God. The Claw! The Claw is our master! It decides who will go and who will stay! Read on
- Big Music Instrument Expo Kicks Off, 170k Visitors Expected
  
  It’s not the Sexpo but it’s still pretty hot. Music China 2019 opens today for the 18th time, showing off traditional Chinese and Western musical instruments and accessories, from accordions & harmonicas, pianos and keyboards, to woodwind and brass instruments, electronic and electric instruments. More than 170,000 people are expected to roll through the four-day trade show, which claims to have 600+ concerts/live music shows. There’s also something called The 2nd Original Electronic Dance Music Competition sponsored by the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy, and an International Electronic Music Competition, organized by the Shanghai Computer Music Association (October 12-13, Outdoor Stage S4). Who knew! See here for details.
- Run Up The Jing'An Shangri-La For Charity, You Lunatics
  
  Hey, running fans. Can't help but notice that you seem to have thrown stairs into the mix. Stairs. Who hurt you? Was it the Jing'an Shangri-La? No? Not yet, anyway. The Jing'an Shangri-La is hosting the 2019 Climb for Hope Vertical Charity Run. It's happening next Saturday, Oct 19, kicking off at 7.30am and ending 60 floors, 1,625 steps and a bad case of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome later, at the finish line on the highest floor. The record to beat is 11 minutes and 53 seconds. It's 298rmb per person, including a starter kit, a gift bag, and a breakfast buffet. Sign-up instructions on the event listing.
- ... Aaaaaand We're Back!
  
  Oh hi there Shanghai. Welcome back. Like you, we're back at work, if you can call it that. We're heating up the brand irons in the content mills and rounding up any listings that strayed from the herd while we slept the deep sleep of an old cow-poke under a starry sky. Expect events, photo galleries, housing, buy-and-sell, ticketing and some darn-tootin' content to come pouring out of the SmartShanghai pens in short order. Yeehaw.
- SmartShanghai Is On Vacation
  
  Happy Golden Week, everyone! We're out of the office until October 8. That means our ticketing platform, event listings, venue submissions and various other odds and ends are taking a break for a little while. Articles too! We've stopped the presses. We'll crank it back up in like a week. Check here for what's happening while we're gone.
- Retrospectum: Bob Dylan's Life And Times Through Paint And Sculpture
  
  Bob Dylan is arguably the most prolific artist alive. In 78 years, he has chalked up 38 studio albums, 91 singles, 40 music videos, 11 books, a Nobel Prize and the American Medal of Freedom from Barak Obama, thousands of live concerts. His second (second!) musical is set to hit Broadway in 2020. Somehow, he's managed to squeeze in five decades of drawing, painting, and sculpting, creating a body of work that often reflects his songs. The Modern Art Museum Shanghai is the first stop in the world tour of Bob Dylan’s Retrospectum, a brand new exhibition displaying nearly 300 pieces of Dylan's artwork. Read on
  
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- SmSh's Handy-Dandy Tips For Rolex Shanghai Masters
  
  Only seven days until Rolex Shanghai Masters returns to Shanghai. It's a big deal - being the eighth tournament of nine in the ATP world Tour Masters 1000 and the only tournament of its kind outside of North America and Europe. Who's on the court this year? The usual suspects: 20-time Grand Slam champ Roger Federer, 4 time Shanghai winner and current world number one Novak Djokovic and world number two Rafael Nadal, as well as freshly-minted world number 4 Daniil Medvedev. Andy Murray took a wildcard. Nick Kyrgios withdrew this year, and the umpire breathes a sigh of relief. It’s happening at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center, in Minhang District, about 35km away from the city center. Tickets are officially sold out (except for some tickets on our Buy&Sell section), but if you got them how're you supposed to get there? Read on
- Jay Chou's Bubble Tea Shop Opens on the Bund, Steals Spotlight, Life's Precious Minutes
  
  Jay Chou's favorite bubble tea shop Machi Machi opened its pop-up yesterday on the Bund and it’s a biiiig deal! How big? Wanghong big. Jay Chou big. People apparently started queueing at 5am yesterday, seven hours before it opened. Daigou were quoting 350rmb to stand in line for you, including 20rmb for the drink. We heard some saying that shop staff were making customers drink the drink at the counter, to prove they weren't scalpers buying it for someone else. 1 drink per person, 200 drinks sold per day. By 10am yesterday, there were 400 people in line, two hours ahead of opening. All because it featured in Jay's latest music video, and it’s reportedly his favorite bubble tea. So naturally we went this morning to try and get our hands on the hottest naicha in Shanghai! And failed miserably. Read on
  
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Stone Beer University: West Coast i...

It’s time for a West Coast vs. East Coast throwdown to uncover which American coast brews the tastiest beers. For the 10th edition of Stone Beer University, Stone will ...

Community | Stone Brewing

Afrobeat Night

Afrobeat is a music genre which involves the combination of elements of West African musical styles such as fuji music and highlife with American funk and jazz influences...

Nightlife | Cyclo (Found 158)

Klischée

The electro swing band Klischée from Switzerland will bring their sweat-inducing beats, electrifying melodies and ecstatic rhythms to Shanghai this October. 150rmb.

Nightlife | JZ Club (Found 158)
Faux Fighters

Formed in early 2018, Faux Fighters-A Tribute to the Foo Fighters is Asia’s answer to one of the most iconic, and one of most popular rock bands over the past twenty ye...

Nightlife | Yuyintang Park

Viva Las Vegas

Rule is it's aces high at Casino Candor, cocktails are on the rocks and there's always a handsome so-and-so ready to blow on your dice. Candor's going full Vegas, with sh...

Arts, Nightlife | Candor

Nobody Has To Know

Weekly party created by SOUND OF SHANGHAI, including DJs S.Kiv, Kadwell, Ton Kaya, CYR, and Djazz, playing everything from hip hop and urban electro to pop and funky hous...

Nightlife | Revolucion Cocktail
Grand Opening Party

MVP EVENTS invites you to the Grand Opening party of DON CLUB. Perched at the top floor of bustling number 17 Xiangyang Bei Lu, and created by the people behind L’ATELI...

Nightlife | Don Club

North by Jeremy Austin

Chef Jeremy Austin (former Oysterlicious Group chef) is back in town for a three-day pop-up at Plump Garden. Entitled “North”, Jeremy pays homage to his homeland Cana...

Dining | Plump Garden

Enjoy Music Club

Japanese funky, hip hop trio Enjoy Music Club started to get people's attention in 2012 with a few popular hits on their Soundcloud platform. In their live performance, a...

Nightlife | Yuyintang Park
Parachutes on Fire: Farewell Captai...

Parachutes on Fire will end their run of psychedelic-folk rock and roll with a night for the ages. Member and long time Shanghai muso Tom Mangione (previously of The Hord...

Nightlife | YYT

Jingan Wine Festival - Törggelen

Discover new wines at the Festival, find new favorites and pair it with a variety of fresh appetizers like artisan breads, cheeses, olive oils and so much more. 50rmb inc...

Community | Zeitgeist

SHCR X Picnic Art Festival: Wrack

Tokyo-based Wrack follows up an EP on NAAFI, with contemporary Afro-Latino rhythms and eerie sound design, with a gig at ALL. 60rmb pre-sale, 80rmb on the door.

Nightlife | ALL Club
Carly Rae Jepsen: The Dedicated Tou...

Carly Rae Jepsen, the face that launched a thousand memes. November 2018 saw the release "Dedicated," her latest album and the one that she's touring internationally in s...

Nightlife | Bandai Namco Dream Hall

Bohemian Betyars 2019 World Tour

Hungarian "gypsy carnival" band Bohemian Betyars tour China and make a single stop in Shanghai. 180rmb pre-sale or 240rmb on the door.

Nightlife | LOFAS

Stand Up Comedy Open Mic

Shanghai Comedy Bunker at CAGES Bar and Sports hosts a biweekly open night! All are welcome. Add ShanghaiComedy on WeChat or show up on the day and they'll arrange/provid...

Nightlife | Shanghai Comedy Bunker

ALL EVENTS

GALLERIES

- October 16, 2019
  
  Sinner Saturday
  
  @ UP Shanghai
- October 12, 2019
  
  Gregor Salto
  
  @ Bar Rouge
- October 5, 2019
  
  elrow Enchanted Forest
  
  @ TAXX
- October 5, 2019
  
  Rolex Shanghai Masters Players Party
  
  @ Bar Rouge
- September 20, 2019
  
  Revolucion 3rd Anniversary
  
  @ Revolucion Cocktail
- May 30, 2019
  
  SCIS Events
  
  @ Shanghai Community International School (SCIS) Hongqiao Campus
- May 30, 2019
  
  SCIS Campus
  
  @ Shanghai Community International School (SCIS) Hongqiao Campus
- May 28, 2019
  
  BISS
  
  @ British International School Shanghai (Puxi)
- March 22, 2019
  
  WISS DP Art Exhibition
  
  @ Western International School of Shanghai
- November 23, 2018
  
  Wellington Winter Christmas Bazaar
  
  @ Wellington College International Shanghai

SMARTREVIEWS

16 Oct 2019

Pretty flowers, stale cake

suzyd_ on F.DATE

F.Date is tucked away down a little lifestyle alley just out of exit 2 at Changping Lu station. It’s half flower shop, half coffee shop, but it didn’t seem to be selling much of either when I visited, despite its 5* Dianping rating. I’m not really surprised – everything, ... Read more
16 Oct 2019

Delicious Taiwanese beef noodle soup

Sally Hsiao on JYJ Noodle Bar (IAPM)

Food is a great way to reduce homesickness, and JYJ Noodle bar sure has a great selection of noodles! I usually go with the classic Taiwanese beef noodle soup. It’s savory and slightly spicy with long-simmered slices of tender beef and hearty broth. I also love that they add the bro... Read more
15 Oct 2019

Great brunch spot for kids to go crazy

jeffo on Little Huia (Hongmei Lu)

Have you seen the movie A Quiet Place , it’s the one with Jim from The Office and his wife in real life and they have to escape monsters who hunt by sound. Basically, they have to tip toe through life or risk being eaten. If that movie were real, you would want to get away from Little Hui... Read more