I love reading Shanghai Daily. It’s full of news about Shanghai and China, but even better is that it’s full of off beat and weird news (like the article in the image).

Compared to other publications, it isn’t as tightly controlled by the government and is less biased.

That said, I still find it odd that their site displays a banner ad promoting users to follow them on Twitter, considering Twitter has been blocked in China for the last year!

Could this not be considered encouraging users to break the law?

The new Line 7 interchange station on Line 1 has some pretty powerful and mobilizing photos about building a better metro system.

But what the hell is up with the spikes lining the exterior of the tunnel?

I know China is growing, modernizing, looking to the future, blah blah but maybe Level 7 of Contra is not the best model.

Here’s another pic that has the trains positioned like they are Transformers or something:

In the last year or so, these Food Safety Inspection notices have been popping up in restaurants and cafes all over town. Very few places seem to have the green face, and I’m guessing it may have more to do with guanxi than clean noodles.

Oddly enough, it’s still somewhat reassuring to know that most places I eat at earn a bright yellow look of apathy.

I never watch TV, but I’ve been hooked on this nightly miniseries on the Chinese Travel Network lately.

It’s about a Chinese modern-day Romeo who decided to hitchhike from Beijing to Berlin to be with his girlfriend. He and his chain smoking friend set off from Beijing with a video camera, backpacks, and head west.

Most of the time they are picked up by truck drivers, with the occasional good samaritan in a luxury sedan giving them a lift. They travel all through China, eventually crossing the border in Xinjiang to Kyrgyzstan.

Shortly after, the chain smoking guy needs to go back to Beijing for some reason and Romeo is on his own. The road eventually leads through all the ‘stans to the middle east, where he passes through war-torn Afghanistan and Iraq. The last episode he was in Bulgaria, where he inadvertently ends up staying at a trucker’s brothel.

Traveler or backpacker shows are a dime a dozen in the west, but what’s really interesting about this show is seeing it from a Chinese perspective, where budget travel is just starting to catch on.

Last week I came across these knock off video game systems and games at a supermarket in the south of town.

I realize that the Mega Man series is notorious for having a silly number of (almost identical) sequels, but even this is pushing it.

If there’s one 80s song I can never get sick of, it’s John Parr’s St. Elmo’s Fire. This pic makes it even better!

“Properly Use the Elevator. the World Expo Concerns Everyone.”

Thanks for the advice, Haibo! Does the rule apply to this uh, escalator too?

Meant to post this a while ago. The aftermath of fireworks outside our apartment building.

I don’t know about you… but when it comes to choosing an anti-virus software for Windows, if it’s good enough for Jackie Chan, it’s good enough for me!

I almost wish I wasn’t using a Mac now!