Last Sunday night, 150 rock fans shook off their umbrellas and entered the smoky, dark and cavernous Yuyintang with a look of anticipation in their eyes. Purple and red lighting exposed the porthole windows and the splattered paint along the walls. Framed black and white photographs of musicians and two large colorful paintings resembling a god chicken adorned the venue...

With so many options to celebrate one of the biggest party nights of the year, ShanghaiExpat asked a few of our socially tuned-in members to share their experiences on New Year's Eve. You know, so you can compare notes and figure out if you hit or missed the party of the year. Here is what went down with four expats in Shanghai on NYE 2012. Masked Pétillante ...

One of the cool things about China is that there is valuable history in almost every corner of its vast territory. Even in some of the most ordinary places around this country, you can find a story worth telling. You might find a piece of land where a major battle was fought, where a famous person once stood, or even stumble across the location of mythological legend....

T’was the night before Christmas, and all throughout Shanghai, Not a creature was stirring, except for a few restless Laowai. Tattered clothes were hung outside balconies with care, As they dried and soaked up the smog-infested air. Little Emperors were nestled all snug in their beds, All dreaming of cash-filled envelopes colored red. So I sat down ...

Fairytales have long been used to sooth children as they fall fast asleep in their mother’s arms. The happy endings and pleasantries in these stories are a perfect way to end a long, hard day in the real world. Escape for a moment, as it happens, into a fantasy land that always ends with the phrase, “Happily Ever After.” The story of Little Red Riding Hood, for exampl...

A bespectacled 17 year-old hunched over a textbook, thick rimmed steel glasses, dim light on a cramped desk, crunched ball of used tissue on the desk, so focused and with seemingly no time to blow the nose properly, nor throw the used tissue in the wastepaper basket.