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Wong Kar-wai is celebrating the opening of his *** movie My Blueberry Nights in the US this Friday by selling some merchandise — most notably, $95 t-shirts, $50 posters, and $25 postcards. And if you want to thank him for ripping you off in person, you'll get your chance in New York at a fashion boutique store called Opening Ceremony, where Wong is going to be on Wednesday afternoon. We hope that someone tells him that the US is facing a recession and that the real incomes are not increasing for the average American. $25 for a postcard? You can get four lattes in Manhattan for that price! Sheesh!
We've read a couple of blogs that have mentioned the Hong Kong International Film Festival, but here is yet another one from a blog dedicated to Asian Cinema. There are several movies mentioned in this post that we're really looking forward to seeing, especially Old Fish, which was mentioned in several other blogs of HKIFF participants as well.
From Screen Daily we learned that Summer Palace director Lou Ye's new film, ***, was one of the films selected for the fourth Cannes Atelier. This year's Atelier features 15 projects from 14 countries and aims to help directors get financing so that they can bring their projects to completion.
Last but not least, some cinematic dessert from YouTube: the top 10 Jackie Chan stunts. Not to be missed.
Cross-posted at China Film Journal.
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 One of William Shakespeare's most famous plays comes to Shanghai tonight as TNT's production of Hamlet begins its run over at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre on Anfu Lu. Arguably among the most intriguing and complex of the tragedies penned by the Bard, Hamlet explores the themes of revenge, madness (both apparent and real), and, ultimately, death — all in the "rotten" state of Denmark. Featuring some of Shakespeare's most famous and revered moments (the 'to be or not to be' speech and the 'play within a play' scene, for example), the tale of Prince Hamlet's attempts to avenge his father's murder contains great drama throughout.
TNT have earned a reputation as one of the premier Shakespeare touring companies over the years, performing across the globe and picking up a host of awards along the way. Under the direction of Paul Stebbings, this production aims to remain faithful to the spirit and the style of Shakespeare's own time and theatrical resources, which should make for a raw and sincere performance of the playwright's classic.
The British touring troupe will be treading the boards until April 12th (taking a night off on the 7th), with ye olde English dialogue and Chinese subtitles. The show will start at 7:30pm and tickets will cost you between 150-280RMB, or 800RMB if you want to go VIP for the night.
Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre: No. 288 Anfu Road; 上海话剧艺术中心, 安福路288号
Ticket hotlines: 021-62172426; 021-62173055
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Perched high up in a pod between the two terminals of Pudong airport, the hotel bar for both Motel 168 and it's sibling Ease Hotel. The cool design and eighth floor view is worth a look for anyone waiting for a delays, alcoholic plane spotters or location scouts for 1970s Bond movies.
To get there, take the elevator to the airport hotel from outside the Maglev station / KFC. Walk past reception in either hotel and take the elevator up to the top floor. Yes, we realise it's not exactly convenient.
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 If you are tired of spending your Saturday and Sunday mornings lying around with a hangover — what better way to kick it then by running around outdoors and shooting people with paintballs while wearing a Darth Vader mask and army fatigues.
We went paintballing a couple weeks ago and, aside from the aftermath of welts and bruises, we enjoyed it immensely.
Weichang Paintball Shooting Sports Centre is a bit out of town, so share a taxi from downtown (100 RMB, takes 40 minutes). Entrance is 150 RMB per person including gear, 90 paintballs and one hour of field access.
Paintball Shooting Sports Centre
388 Chenhua Lu, Songjiang (Line 1)
English Service: 57690313 13818773979
Mobile: Tony 13818773979
E-MAIL: paintball_cato@sh-paintball.com
Shanghaiist's managing editor Dan Washburn wrote an interesting article entitled "'That sniper was all over me, man'" about his paintballing experiences ... in Georgia, but seeing as the the game is pretty much the same wherever you go, check it out. Our favorite line is "I love the smell of paintballs in the morning."
Photos by Denitza Vatchkova. More pictures after the jump
The guns
The masks
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Current TV's Sherif Soliman travels along the Three Gorges Dam Reservoir and does a commendable job of describing how life has changed for the 1.5 million people that were displaced by the project, which some experts have described as an environmental disaster in the making. We find in Soliman's observation that "nothing will get in the way of China's one-way ticket to modernisation" an eery echo of some of the statements that were made in that The Onion clip we showed you earlier.
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 Fans of tight-fitting non-branded clothing rejoice! Following the much-heralded invasion of H&M and (the slightly less heralded) C&A, dedicated followers of fashion have the arrival of another Western brand to look forward to, after American Apparel announced that they will be hitting the streets of Shanghai in the next month or so. Location details have not yet been released but the chain is currently negotiating a lease for a downtown store in Shanghai, as well as planning to open in Beijing and Suzhou.
From the American Apparel site:
We're coming to China!
In the next few months American Apparel will be opening its first stores in China with locations already slated in Beijing and in Shanghai.
In a rare industry occurrence, we will be bringing Made in the USA clothing to China and we intend to pay employees there gross wages that exceed the US minimum.
Get those job applications in now then folks. According to fashion news site DNR, the brand could opt for a so-called 'soft opening' in China — with a relatively low-key advertising campaign and little fanfare surrounding their store openings — due to fears that some of their usual advertisements may ruffle feathers over at SARFT towers. As you'll probably recall, our good friends at the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television launched a crackdown on "social pollution" last year by banning a whole host of evil adverts that featured people in (gasp!) their underwear. For some reason then, American Apparel reckon that ads like the one pictured above might not go down too well in the Middle Kingdom.
They're expecting a warmer reaction from Chinese consumers to their line of no-nonsense clothing however, and, despite entering the Chinese market, will continue to manufacture their products in their factory in downtown LA. Bizarrely then, you'll soon be able to buy products in China with a 'Made in the USA' label on them, rather than vice-versa.
Thanks to Micah Sittig for the tip via our Contribute page.
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We passed by the Huxi Mosque on Changde Lu the other day, walked around and loved it. Here's some history of the mosque that we found on ChinaCulture.org: The Huxi Mosque is one of the famous mosques in Shanghai City. It was originally called Yaoshuinong Mosque and located at Xikang Road, and moved to Changde Road in April 1992. In 1914, Moslem paupers from Hubei, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui provinces lived together in the area near Xikang Road. For their religious needs, they rented a small room as the temporary worship place. In 1921, with the efforts of some religious people, they raised money and began the construction of the mosque. The construction was completed in 1922. There were three worship halls, three wing halls and one wing room. After the repair in 1935, the worship halls could accommodate 200 people. The mosque resumed religious activities in 1979.
In 1990, the construction on a new mosque at Changde Road started, and was completed in April 1992. The main body of the new mosque is a two-storeyed worship hall with double-heart-shaped arches and fan-shaped vaults. The minaret is over 25 meters high. The main worship hall has two floors, including men's and women's bathrooms, pulpits, the imam's room, and reception rooms, etc. There are colorful fountains both in the front courtyard and the back courtyard. The courtyards are covered by six domes, three of which are decorated with a crescent sign each.
The Huxi Mosque is the first mosque that is rebuilt in Shanghai City after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Shanghai Huxi Mosque
1328 Changde Lu (常德路1328弄)
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Fluent passing, solid defending and a winning performance were the unexpected hallmarks of Shanghai Shenhua's 2-0 victory over Shenzhen in their first CSL fixture of the season at Hong Kou stadium last night.
Shenhua normally make somewhat sluggish starts to their championship campaigns but if last night's showing was anything to go by, 2008 might just be their year.
Most impressive of all were the performances of new foreign signings Erick Scott and Emil Martinez. The central american pair looked much fitter, livlier and competant than the usual standard of foreign player Shenhua bring in (Carsten Jancker anyone?). Their flicks, tricks and crisp passing gave the home side the edge in this clash between the 2003 and 2004 league champions.
Even better for Shenhua however was the fact that it was Chinese players who got their names on the scoresheet - Chinese international defender Du Wei with a header from close range after 20 minutes, and midfielder Yu Tao with a low drive from the right hand side of the box seven minutes after half time.
It wasn't all plain sailing however and young keeper Wang Dalei almost had to pick the ball out of his own net following a wayward backpass which rolled past the post with a Shenzhen attacker in hot persuit. Not long after a looping header towards the Shenhua goal bounced ontop of the bar and came back into play before being cleared for a corner.
Mao Jianqing, Shenhua's rising star and a player Shanghaiist continues to tip to go onto greater things, had a lovely swerving shot saved by the Shenzhen keeper mid way through the second half, and Erick Scott squandered a great chance when he connected with a clever lay off but screwed his shot wide. Shenhua were comfortable winners however in a moderately entertaining game which could have seen a few more goals for either side.
Despite the new Metro line 8 station outside the stadium making it easier than ever for fan's to get the game, the 35,000 seater stadium was only a third full. That may chance however should the home side keep up this level of performance.
Shenhua's next home match is on next Saturday against Tianjin, at 7.45pm
Youtude clip courtesy of Jake Newby
Also on Shanghaiist
Return to spiritual home as Shenhua kick off 2008 season
Shenhua bid reluctant farewell to Hongkou Stadium
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 Shanghaiist was at Yuyintang last night to see indie rockers Boys Climbing Ropes. The renovations are nearly done. The bar area has taken shape and given a bit more depth to the main hall. There is a CD shop just inside the front doors which saves us the trip to Yangpu when we want local music, although 2046 is still worth the visit.
小自然 (Xiao Ziran) opened with a tight pop-punk set and a good sound. The set was just the right length for an opening band too, let it be an example for future multi act shows. However, cynical muso types might wonder if a power ballard with the chorus "Happy Birthday to My Friends" is particularly punk. The show wasn't loaded with 'journos' and hipsters like the Hedgehog show but we did run into Dan Shapiro of the Rogue Transmission who is recently back in town.
Next up, the Dropkicks blasted into their rock set. Soon in, the frontman broke a guitar string and didn't have a replacement string or guitar to hand. This was the start of tech problems that would blight the whole show. Having borrowed a guitar, the sound never recovered. One song after Boys Climbing Ropes took the stage an amp went out completely. Boys Climbing Ropes have great songs and deserve better in the sound/tech department. Still, fans of the band still enjoyed the performance.
With the new Yuyintang venue shaping up into a finished product, why not have them back soon.
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A Saturday time-waster brought to you by The Onion
Especially quote-worthy: "The labour of the people has made the sky black with the smoke of progress."
"The sky over China is now a rainbow of grace reflecting all the shades of our prosperity."
"If pollution ruins a river, we will build a new river. If pollution destroys a mountain, we will build a new mountain. At long last, the world cannot ignore our growing prosperity."
Just don't ask us why the name of this supposed Chinese ambassador was spelt in Wade-Giles instead of Hanyu Pinyin!
And for those of you that aren't aware yet, The Onion is a satire website, ie., it is NOT meant to be taken seriously.
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 Well, as we reported a while back, the word on the street was that the live music was going to stop completely at the Blues Room (that is, until they told us it was only a temporary hiatus). Fortunately, that has proven untrue, with a new band playing three nights a week. The new group playing there, headed by Willow Neilson, features various musicians and vocalists on different nights. The core group, however, includes Erica Li on vocals, Steinar Nickelson or Sean Higgins on organ, and Nicholas McBride on drums. The trio's name is "Three point strike", possibly a reference to the burgeoning kung fu prowess of the band leader. They rock out with a mix of not only jazz but also funk, afro-beat, soul, and R&B flavors among other musical stylings.
Three point strike is playing three nights every week: Thursday (from 10pm to 1am), Friday and Saturday (11pm to 2am), and we understand they have ditched the Southern soul food menu and are serving the same food as the City Diner upstairs.
The Blues Room. 146 Tongren Lu. 铜仁路14弄
Live music now every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
Cross-posted at Shanghaijazzscene.com
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Yet another fake of everyone's favourite racist toothpaste.
Some background from Golden China Brands: Darlie, (黑人, hēi rén, or “black people”) is a toothpaste brand of the Hong Kong-based company Hawley&Hazel. Meanwhile it belongs to one of the US based multinationals. The original name when I started using it (about 25 years ago) was “Darkie”. Darky, or darkie, meanwhile is a racist term used primarily in America and the UK to refer to black people. The package featured an image of a wide-eyed, big-smiling, dark-skinned Black male wearing a top hat and tie. Because of the contrast with very dark skin, it was a common perception that the teeth of people of African descent were exceptionally white.
Due to changing sensibilities regarding race and racism, over time the brand has gone through several re-naming and re-packaging activities. However, the Chinese name of the brand, “黑人牙膏” (in English, “Black Man Toothpaste”), has not changed; a Chinese-language advertising campaign reassured customers that “Black Man Toothpaste is still Black Man Toothpaste”. This is because the term “黑人” does not have any negative meaning in Chinese. The phrase 黑人(hēi rén) in Chinese is a general term for persons of African descent.
“Mr. thumbs-up” was actually created by Qianbaimei Daily Chemicals Co. Ltd. , a famous toothpaste manufacturing company based in Guangzhou spilling out over 350 million toothpastes a year. More of their products under the Meiyijie-Label can be found here 美怡洁.
See how Darlie has evolved over the years here.
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From Slate V:
In Slate V's ongoing effort to bring you the worst in world cinema, our bad-movies curator, Mark Jordan Legan, has a sampling of good vs. evil epics from China, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
The China entry is actually from pre-handover Hong Kong, but wow — it sure is crappy. File these films (can we use that word here?) under the so-bad-they-are-good category. We think we might like the Filipino one the best, but we could be biased since we watch Filipino TV every day.
Yes, the guy dove in front of the giant papier-mâché boulder ... and he got what was coming to him.
Watch this video. It will have you tying cobras into knots in no time.
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 After a forgettable 2007 exiled in Pudong, Shanghai Shenhua return to their beloved Hongkou Football Stadium to kick off their 2008 Chinese Super League season against Shenzhen Shangqingyin tomorrow.
The two-time domestic champions of China spent an unhappy year at the unatmospheric athletics sports facility on the other side of town whilst their home was refurbished, somewhat needlessly for the women's world cup. A corresponding fall in attendances, a troublesome merger, a first-ever defeat at home to bitter rivals Beijing Guoan, and a miserable Asian Champions League campaign were just some of the lowlights that culminated in a mediocre 4th-placed finish.
But hopes are high that Shenhua's return to their spiritual home tomorrow will help them shake off their tag as Chinese football's perennial under-achievers. Indeed, all followers of Shenhua have much to look forward to this season. Crowd favourite Wu Jing Gui, who coached the side to their last title in 2003, is now back in the hotseat for the third time after leaving last year as part of the controversial merger with Shanghai United. In defence, Chinese international pair Li Wei Feng and Du Wei have signed new contracts. Columbian striker Hamilton Ricard will also stay for another year, whilst this year's new foreign players are Honduran midfielder Emil Martinez and Costa Rica striker Erick Scott. Developments unlikely to be viewed in the same light however are rumours that unpopular club owner Zhu Jun, who masterminded last year's merger, will step down from his post as CEO of The 9 gaming company to concentrate on the day-to-day running of Shenhua.
This year, the league will finally feature 16 teams at the third attempt. Last year only 15 clubs competed, after the two Shanghai teams merged, and the season before that Sichuan Guancheng folded to leave an odd-15. Further interest is added this year in the form of two newly-promoted teams. Chengdu Blades, owned by English Championship side Sheffiled United feature for the first time since adpoting their new moniker a few years back, and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical bring top-level domestic football back to China's third city after an absence of nearly a decade. Making way for these two to bring the CSL up to 16 teams was Xiamen who now find themselves in China's second division.
On a different but related note, talks are underway to bring a team from Hong Kong into the mainland league next season, and the League has a new sponsor in the shape of domestic wine brand Jinliufu.
All in all it looks like it will be an interesting season for the CSL as last year's surprise winners Changchun try to defend their title. After years of scandal, match-fixing and all manner of untoward shenanigans in Chinese football, crowds increased modestly last season and allegations of corruption were conspicuous by their absence. It will be interesting to see what influence the Olympics has on proceedings this year. All those with an interest in Chinese football will hope that, from an organizational perspective, Beijing 2008 will leave a fitting legacy for China's domestic sports competitions to benefit from. Frankly, there are few who doubt the desperate need for such lessons to be learned if Chinese football is to pull its way out of the malise which it has found itself in after the boom years of the 90s.
Season tickets priced at a mere 300rmb for 15 home games, are available and will get you into the crazy ultras section for the rest of the season. Call or text Frank Ding on 15800594141 if interested.
Shenhua kick off their match at Hong Kou Football Stadium tomorrow night at 7.45pm.
Also on Shanghaiist
Shenhua bid reluctant farewell to Hongkou Stadium
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It's the best that we have, though we have to admit this video doesn't do justice to the incredible spectacle that was made up of North and South Korean fan contingents at Hongkou Stadium for the two Koreas World Cup qualifier play-off on Wednesday. The action on the stands was just as, if not more, amazing to watch as the action on the field.
Here are other vids we found on Youtube:
General atmosphere:
North Korea thank their fans:
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