Curated, Opinionated Shanghai Living

News, updates, everything we've got...
- Walking Through A Crystal Palace At This Baccarat Exhibition
  
  Baccarat, the Crystal of the King and the King of the Crystal. The French brand is celebrating its 250th anniversary by throwing a big exhibition at the Heng Fu Art Center with nearly 400 pieces from its heritage collection. First time they’ve been outside France! Read on
- Green Bank Art Festival Opens Today Near Lujiazui
  
  Here's something for the denizens of Lujiazui's steel forest. The annual Green Bank Art Festival starts today at the North Riverbank Corridor of Modern Art Museum, ending December 15. This year's festival theme Is "Lu Garden," inspired by the old garden residence of Lu Shen (陆深), an important Ming Dynasty scholar and, interesting fact, the man who gave Lujiazui its name. 20+ international artists are displaying artwork playing with natural elements and turning the 1km Riverbank Corridor into a curious city garden open to the public, free of charge. There's also an outdoor marketplace this weekend (December 6-8) from 11am-8pm. Next weekend (December 14-15) sees performances from Shanghai-based multimedia artists like *LLND, Yu Su from EATING MUSIC and Ban Lei (班磊) in the afternoon. The official schedule is a little hard to follow but there's a ton of stuff going on in case you need a break from the Christmas markets.
- Iron Mic: China's Original Rap Battle Is Happening Tonite
  
  The 18th annual Iron Mic is happening tonight. What’s the Iron Mic? Only China’s longest running Chinese rap battle, going on nearly two decades, back to when it was called Battle Grounds/Blazin' MCs. We wrote a long piece about it a few years ago. Back then, the founder said “Hip hop is very much a socialist movement.” In the intervening years, the TV show The Rap of China happened and completely changed the field for hip-hop in China, adding mainstream credibility (and money) to a very underground past time. Many stand-out contestants on the TV show were, in fact, Iron Mic veterans. If you are at all interested in hip-hop in China, you want to be there. Ticket info here.
- [Free Booze Alert]: Liquid Laundry's Two-Hour Free Flow For Santa
  
  Oh Liquid Laundry. Getting the holidays all drunk and stuff. To wit: Liquid Laundry is giving away the 198rmb two-hour free flow to anyone who shows up for brunch on December 21-25 dressed as Sanny Klaws, aka The Man in Red, aka Papa Noel. Santa. Santa! Dress up as Santa and drink for FREE. There's only one catch, you've got to actually buy something to eat; you can't just walk in there and drink. Which is probably just good advice anyway. Hail Santa!
- Tons Of Visiting Bartenders Are Doing Guest Shifts For The 2019 Drink Magazine Bar Awards
  
  Next Monday is the annual Drink Magazine Bar Awards (DMBA) aka the High-Functioning Alcoholics Olympics, and as a result, the city's flooded with even more world famous bartenders than usual. Like, way more. A lot of them are doing guest shifts this week and next. Details after the jump! Read on
- Blacklight Minigolf Opens In A Distant Mall, Finally Brings Minigolf Into The Space Age It Deserves
  
  Ah, minigolf. The sport of lower middle class royalty. How far it has come in its 500 year history. From leather pouches filled with feathers to plastic and rubber balls, from courses made in sand dunes to custom-built nature reserves, from wooden sticks to steel and synthetic polymer clubs. Then boom! Suddenly we're in the minigolf space age. Lilalicht 3D Blacklight Minigolf, which just recently opened in The Hub, finally brings blacklight minigolf to a mall (sort of) near you. But is it any good? Read on
- MYST Becomes BEEHIVE, Skrillex Presiding Over Its Baptism
  
  Shanghai's nightclub scene acts like it's reinventing itself after a messy divorce and custody battle. The storied fourth floor space in Hong Kong Plaza that the second MYST (relocated from MYST (Yan'an Xi Lu)) once occupied (and which M2 occupied before that (until it moved to Huaihai Zhong Lu) before rebranding to WANN all in the last two years––are you following? I feel like I may have lost you) has been renamed to BEEHIVE. No one tell Beyonce. Skrillex has been announced as its first big, big name performing on December 18. Brave, considering his well-documented phobia of bees. Read on
- Giant Street Culture Expo INNERSECT Happening This Weekend
  
  INNERSECT is back for the third time this coming weekend at SNIEC. What's INNERSECT, you ask? Don't ask around too much, lest you invite ridicule, derided as deeply, deeply unhip. Maybe brush up on your streetwear knowledge, grandpa. Founded by mighty streetwear icon Edison Chen in 2017, the INNERSECT expo has grown into a huge deal in China street fashion, worth visiting at least once even if you don’t know a damn thing about expensive sneakers or urban fashion trends. Info and ticket links after the jump. Read on
- The Farine Hullabaloo Finally Ends (Maybe?) As Pastry Chef Returns To France
  
  You remember the Farine scandal back in 2017? Read that article, as well as this one. All caught up! Following his suspended prison sentence in February, French media are reporting (in French, duh) that Laurent Fortin, the pastry chef consultant who had been at Farine for about four months when the scandal hit, has been allowed to leave China. That marks the end of nearly two and a half years on probation, including ten months in prison. He reportedly returned to France on November 29. Home in time for Christmas. Still no word on Franck Pecol, the owner of Farine who wasn't in China at the time of the arrests.
- The Great Hot Chocolate Delivery Wire: Where To Order Liquid Chocolate
  
  The air's getting nippy, wool caps are starting to come out of the wardrobe and I'm starting to be able to see my own breath. That means just one thing. Hot. Chocolate. Delivery. Motherhubarrrrrrrrrrrrrrd. I drank enough of it last year to send me into withdrawal for a week and I've been waiting all year to do it again, except more. So this week, I had Ele.Me deliver me nine hot chocolates in the space of one hour. (Obviously we don't advocate ordering a single cup of hot chocolate and being a wasteful suck on the environment: ORDER FOR EVERYONE.) Which one reigns supreme?! Read on
  
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- Travel Alert: Train Stations Now Scan Passports, No More Paper Tickets Allowed
  
  Big changes for those who ride China’s trains: starting last week, train stations in eastern China no longer accept paper tickets. Instead, every gate for every train in 48 cities (mostly in Zhejiang) now have a passport scanner at what’s called the “Manual Channel (人工通道)”, which links your ticket info with your passport number. This is not new for Chinese citizens, who have been able to scan their ID cards for at least a couple of years. But for those of us without a Chinese ID, it’s a major change. How does it work? Read on
  
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- The Markets Open: We're Finally Allowed To Celebrate Christmas
  
  It's not official until the markets start. Today is that day! Tonglefang popped the seal, let Christmas cheer flow forth! Occupying the triangular space behind Zeitgeist, the Christkindlmarkt (no matter how many times I write it, it still feels like it's missing a couple vowels) does all three things you need for a traditional German Christmas market: little wooden huts, handicrafts on sale, and spiked mulled wine. For a full 17 days! November 29 to December 15. You could, and no doctor in the world would encourage this, go every single day. Entrance during the week is free, on the weekends is 60rmb (or 50rmb if you order on SmartTicket), including a mulled wine. More upcoming Christmas Markets here.
- Back of the Queue: Waiting in Line for Frog Hot Pot
  
  Ge Lao Guan does one thing well: frog. The branch on Dingxi Lu, near the fake pandas crawling all over that exoskeleton cage, draws a huge line every day of the week. So we went. And waited, for 90 minutes on a Tuesday night, for their boiled amphibians. How was it? Read on
- Turkish Guys Open Texas BBQ Joint With Massive Smoker, Paint Texas Flag Backwards
  
  What happens when you throw a couple Turkish guys, two massive wood-fired smokers, hundreds of kilos of meat and a hip location together? Weird stuff. That's what's happening right now down at Zhongshan Huanyuhui, the open-air mall south of Xintiandi on Madang Lu. The people behind Garlic, the Turkish restaurant, paired up with some Turkish friends, went to Texas, took some classes, came back and installed two giant steel submarines in the middle of their restaurant. Things haven't exactly come out as planned. Read on
- Wagas Now Serves OmniPork: We Tried All Four Dishes At All Four Brands
  
  The Wagas empire is dabbling in mock meat. They recently began serving OmniPork at their restaurants, one dish each at Wagas, Baker & Spice , Funk & Kale and Lokal . Hong Kong's OmniPork, “pork” made from shiitake mushrooms, peas, soy, and rice, is probably just the beginning of a meatless meat wave in mainland China. In addition to the country’s own rich heritage of mock meats, western brands Impossible and Beyond Meat are also trying to get into China. Justegg is already here . So is vegan sushi . Anyway, I went to all four stores to try all four dishes. Do you need them in your life? Read on
  
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Roald Dahl's Matilda: The Musical

The Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning musical based on the classic children's book by Roald Dahl is coming to Shanghai! It tells the story of young Matilda, a bri...

Arts | Shanghai Culture Square

INNERSECT 2019: Explore The Infinit...

INNERSECT is a street fashion project founded by Edison Chen in 2017. With the idea of building a platform where culture happens, the brand grew into a collection of man...

Arts, Community | SNIEC

Revo Deep

Leo Chiodaroli and guests play funky house and house with a Latin twist. BOGO on Moscow Mules until 11pm. Free entry.

Nightlife | Revolucion Cocktail
Woken Monday

DJ Airtem plays Latin, hip-hop, house and Top 40, with BOGO on Moscow Mules until 11pm. Free entrance.

Nightlife | Revolucion Cocktail

365°

The first China show for Spanish photographer Eugenio Recuenco blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Nearly half of his 366 works in this series, which took eight y...

Arts | Zhonghai Huanyuhui

Unlimited Bowling

Bund Bowl offers an all-you-can-play deal from 9pm to midnight every Monday and Tuesday, including bowling (shoe rental included), billiards & darts. 120rmb.

Sports & Recreation | Bund Bowl
Roald Dahl's Matilda: The Musical

The Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning musical based on the classic children's book by Roald Dahl is coming to Shanghai! It tells the story of young Matilda, a bri...

Arts | Shanghai Culture Square

POP SECRET

Six chefs and a team of performers put on a dinner to remember. 688rmb per person, limited to 60 people. Book in advance by scanning the QR code on the flyer.

Dining | UP Shanghai

The Last Tuesday Tunesday: Christma...

The last Tuesday Tunesday for the foreseeable future. After a year and a half, the Elevate crew need more time to focus on their other events, and fewer Wednesdays hungov...

Community, Nightlife | TY7
LÉON You And I Tour Part II

Swedish singer-songwriter LÉON is bringing her “You and I Tour Part II” to Shanghai for the very first time! Born to musician parents in Stockholm, Sweden, LÉON is ...

Nightlife | VAS Livehouse

Paellas Farewell Concert

PAELLAS are a 4-piece band based in Tokyo, Japan. Their sound, created by interpreting all kinds of genres through their own unique filter, could be best described as sex...

Nightlife | Yuyintang Park

Chef Theodor Falser

Chef Theodor Falser returns to La Scala and launches a 17-dish a la carte menu available from December 11-15 for lunch and dinner.

Dining | La Scala
Blue Man Group 2019

Blue Man Group is comedy, theater, rock concert and dance party all rolled into one. This wildly popular phenomenon delivers an unforgettable, multi-sensory experience. I...

Arts, Nightlife | MIFA 1862

Disco Heaven New Year's Eve Party

MVP Events is hosting a New Year’s Eve party at Park Hyatt Shanghai, farewell to year 2019. On Dec 31, from 8pm till 4am, on the 91st floor of Park Hyatt Shanghai, for ...

Nightlife | Park Hyatt

Gold NYE 2020

Bar Rouge Shanghai suits up in gold to usher in 2020 with upbeat vibes by resident DJs Keint, Antyflex & Doggy. Dress up in your finest attire with a touch of gold, glitt...

Nightlife | Bar Rouge

ALL EVENTS

GALLERIES

- November 30, 2019
  
  RDC x Alter. x Redbox Pres. Dixon
  
  @ FALLOUT
- December 3, 2019
  
  Girls Night Out
  
  @ Bar Rouge
- November 27, 2019
  
  6th Anniversary
  
  @ The Pearl
- November 23, 2019
  
  15th Anniversary
  
  @ Bar Rouge
- November 16, 2019
  
  15th Anniversary
  
  @ Bar Rouge
- October 23, 2019
  
  Shanghai United Family Hospital
  
  @ Shanghai United Family Hospital (Hongqiao)
- October 23, 2019
  
  Shanghai United Family Hospital- Babies & Children
  
  @ Shanghai United Family Hospital (Hongqiao)
- 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)

SMARTREVIEWS

06 Dec 2019

Authentic Dim Sum with Heart Warming Stew

susiebbpig on House of Lilies

Atmosphere: The House of Lilies is situated at the top floor of a big shopping compound on Century Avenue. It is one of my two favorite Dim Sum restaurants in Shanghai. This restaurant has a really high ceiling and a panoramic window facing the east to offer broad day light to the entire venue... Read more
05 Dec 2019

My not-so-well-kept secret: Under-the-radar pho

eatingglace on Yuenan Ma

Here’s the low-down on the latest action- The Beef: Raw to done in less than 20 seconds. I always order my pho with beef separately, so I can make sure my (very thinly sliced) beef doesn’t overcook in the broth. The rare beef pho is a must-have when I come here. The rice nood... Read more
05 Dec 2019

Simple, yet sophisticated.

half_sushi on Tomatito

Atmosphere: Tucked away on the third floor of the Infinitus Mall next to Gaden, Tomatito definitely lives up to the self-proclaimed notion of a "sexy tapas bar." With locations in Manila & Saigon as well, it is easy to see how the El Willy Group concept would fit in with the Xintiandi crow... Read more