Daily Blog
Thursday, 02 September 2010 10:09
Written by Urbanatomy

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We’ve just received news that TRASNA and the Cork Music Collective will be arriving for a week-long visit in Shanghai on Monday. And as well as performing in the Irish Pavilion and the UK Pavilion (with Duke Special) the group will also participate in a unique collaborative performance with Erhu musician Xiaohui Ma - who performed on the soundtrack of the film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - in Shanghai City Centre, as well as a last blow-out in O'Malley's to cap it all off.

Part of Ireland’s Cultural program for EXPO 2010, there will be a community aspect to proceeding too, including a concert with traditional musicians from Shanghai University and four workshops with pupils of schools from the Luwan, Zhabei and Changing Districts; schools all twinned with schools in Cork. Members of the group will also perform at the opening of the John Roch Simons Exhibition at the Jing An District Cultural Center.

Daily Blog
Thursday, 02 September 2010 02:09
Written by Urbanatomy

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Worth a gander: WSJ posted a piece about MC Jin, a Chinese-American rapper who garnered himself seven consecutive freestyle awards on BET.

In the interview, Jin talks about rapping in English versus Cantonese. He says he has Cantonese-speaking fans who don't like his Cantonese rapping as much as his English, but then when he asks if they understand the English - they don't.

Interesting.

 

Daily Blog
Wednesday, 01 September 2010 08:09
Written by Urbanatomy

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The owners of New York Steak & Burger will be upping the ante in a few weeks with a new concept called Shanghai Slim's. We received a scantly informative Power Point presentation with a bunch of stock photos and a few bullet points. So at this point, all we can tell you is the following: It's up-market, it's steak, it's lobster, it's oysters, it's martinis, it's in the Sinan Mansions and it opens "in the coming weeks" - which, as we all know, could mean anywhere from the end of September to early next year. Nevertheless, it sounds like a cool concept. We'll keep you posted on any further developments.

Daily Blog
Thursday, 02 September 2010 06:09
Written by Urbanatomy

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An important distinction when you're moving somewhere new

When you’ve just moved into a new neighborhood and find a piece of paper taped to your door reading “Please come into our office and register as a resident,” that note is from the Jiedao (街道). When you’re waiting for the elevators in the hall of your building and a laminated card with a little cartoon figure standing on the top left corner tells you how to stay safe in the city: that’s from the Jiedao too.

Daily Blog
Wednesday, 01 September 2010 06:09
Written by Urbanatomy

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(Dabaitu Nai Tang)

The story of Shanghai’s most famous toffee – and China’s top-selling sweet – begins in 1943 when a merchant from Aipixi Candy Factory scoffed some British milk candy and thought it tasted bu cuo.

Six months later the factory had spawned Shanghai’s own version and, cheaper than foreign imports, it became an instant local hit.