The Agenda takes a sweeping look at the next month in Shanghai and selects the big events in the respective categories of dining, music, art, and more, more, more. Here’s your socio-culture calendar for the next month in Shanghai.

Weather’s cooling down a bit but, oh good lord, things are heating up in Shanghai this fall… here’s some various crap on in November you might want to slot into your schedule. Lofty edification, lowly diversion, and everything in between …




By far, the biggest news this month is David Laris. The Aussie restaurateur known for such places as The Purple Onion, Yucca, and that now defunct eponymous restaurant at Three on The Bund is going local with his newest venture, Le Sheng. The focus will be Shanghainese cuisine with, of course, some "modern, artistic" reinterpretations. There are also plans to incorporate traditional tea service overseen by a bona fide Chinese tea master. Quite a bold move for a laowai. We look forward to seeing how this effort will pan out. Expect an opening late this month.

And also... Laris's former downstairs neighbor, Jean Georges, makes his annual visit to Shangers with a master class in cookery. 428rmb plus the obligatory 10% surcharge gets you a seat in the class and they'll throw in a three-course lunch with that as well. For more details, click right here. Date for that is November 19.

And finally... On November 21, Osteria celebrates it's third anniversary with Shuck 'n' Suck 2011. Patrick "Shucker Paddy" McMurray, the Guiness Book's fastest shucker in the world, will be on hand teaching oyster shucking classes. And then, the main event: a competition to see who can shuck and suck down the most oysters in three minutes. 255rmb gets you in and gets you free-flow oysters, wine, and beer. For more details, click right here.




Your big concert this month is Scottish post rock band Mogwai, playing for the first time in Shanghai on Monday, November 28 at Mao Livehouse. Just having them in to Shanghai is quite the special thing, given how influential the band is to Chinese indie music, and, apparently, they’re going all out, coming in with their own custom backline -- all their own stuff -- and an army of tech guys to pull it off. Expect big, cataclysmic things. Joining them on the bill is China’s most well-know and successful post rock band, Wang Wen -- a band that deservedly packs a Shanghai show when it’s just them playing, so this one is… totally huge, man.

Tickets: Swear to God SmartTicket is getting them soon. Today hopefully. Price is 260rmb pre-sale and 320rmb at the door. If you want to get psyched for this show, check out this promotional video for the show, from concert promoters, New Noise.

And also… There’s this shoe company called Con… Convert… Convort… Con-something… they’re sponsoring a big China tour for American noise rock/electronic band, HEALTH. Shanghai show for HEALTH is at Shanhai Livehouse on November 10. It’s free, but you have to apply to get your ticket online. Awesome.

And finally… Also don’t miss this one: Friend or Foe album release party on November 12 at Yuyintang. Rock on your face.




Steve Aoki -- most famously -- appears on Jessie Pinkman’s shirt for much of the awesome fourth season of Breaking Bad. That’s pretty much all you need to know, yo. That’s about as massive an endorsement as you can get, yo. Steve Aoki comes meth head-approved, yo.

The Dim Mak founder and electro banger purveyor is in town at Mao Livehouse on November 4 behind his new mix album, Wonderland, which has him collab’ing down with people like Rivers Cuomo, will.i.am, Travis Barker, and other such luminaries of the world of popular music and theme cruises. Aoki is hosted in Shanghai by The M, who previously hooked you up with Azari & III and Paul Kalkbrenner. Expect the crowds out for Steve, yawning to the heavens with euphoric abandon, begging him to pour some sort of alcohol into their willing and servile faces. Pre-sale tickets are available for a bit longer right here for 150rmb -- failing that it’s 200rmb at the door.

And also… Towards the end of the month, The Shelter is celebrating their anniversary by opening up their contact books and bringing back the most successful DJs and producers they’ve had over the years. December will see DJ Krush and Kode9 back in the basement, but it starts out with the return of Shackleton on November 24. Don’t miss that.

And also… Over across town on November 19 at Shanhai, “nu rave” band the Klaxons are turning in a DJ set, which could be interesting.

And finally… Last one: Soul II Soul Sound System at Mao Livehouse on November 24, performing at the launch of something they’re calling “Mao Club Nights”. Remember that song, “Back to life, back to reality”? Them. That’s a good song. As it was then, as it is now.




For the seventh iteration of their annual “ACT” theatre month, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center is adopting the theme, “Power of Innovation” and welcoming in productions from around the world -- USA, Canada, the UK, Spain, Hong Kong, and Israel for a full month of both conceptual and traditional theatre and performance. Split across three stages at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center – Arts Theatre, Drama Salon, and Studio D6 -- is a real mish mash of stuff, ranging from musical theatre to puppetry to gestural theatre. Click here to view the entire schedule.

Just from a brief perusal, we’re interested in that Canadian one-man show, adopting your man, Antonin as subject matter -- Artaud: A Portrait in Decomposition -- as well as the piece from the Shenzhen University actors, Evaporating Brains. Sounds balls-out.

ACT2011 runs from November 11 to December 11 at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center. Show entry fees are always 50rmb, but you should check ahead to verify what languages the pieces are being performed in. Most all of it has Chinese-language subs.

And also… Local theatre troupe, SRT, returns to Shanghai after traveling toe Edinburgh to perform at the Fringe Festival there. Their autumn season kicks off with another collaboration with the Irish Consulate for a two-day event of Irish theatre, including Flann O’Brien’s No Dialogue. Dates for that are November 25 and November 26. More details on SmartShanghai in the coming weeks. Check back for more on that.




100% Design is coming to town this week, setting up shop in the Shanghai Exhibition Center and promising a whole host of covetable furniture, fittings, and objects for the home. With Hong Kong-based designer Michael Young at the helm, the showcase is a great opportunity to see 140 odd brands from some 20 countries sharing their newest, nicest and most novel designware. Look out for the 100% Futures section, presenting young international designers and emerging talent across the industry -- the whole shebang opens this Thursday, November 3.

And also… Interiors not your thing? Then you might like to check out the ongoing Shanghai International Arts Festival, with events taking place across the city until mid-November. There's tons going on, from ballet, classical music and exhibitions -- check the full schedule here for details. We've got our collective eye on the Berliner Philharmoniker, and from Switzerland, the Tonhalle Orchestra, with tickets for both conveniently on sale right here and here, respectively... dates for those are November 12, 13 and November 3, respectively.

And finally… Part of the festival and currently on show at the China Pavilion is an exhibition of paintings, photographs and sculpture by father of Cubism, 20th century great and perhaps Spain's best-known cultural export, Pablo Picasso.

Sister site, CreativeHunt.com will be writing more on that one this week, but in a nutshell, it's a great chance to see some of the artist's most famed masterpieces during the Shanghai leg of their world tour, on loan from Paris' Musée National Picasso. A word to the wise, though: explanations are all in Chinese so if your hànzì aren't up to scratch, you may want to do a bit of reading up before parting with your kwai...

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