Manufacturer China

Not even officially off his ambassadorship to China yet (which ends April 30), Jon Hunstman has already become a political target ahead of his expected bid for the Republican ticket in the upcoming US election. Two letters Huntsman penned to Obama and Clinton have been leaked in what could be an effort, by either side really, to disrupt his potential campaign. Take a look at his love letter to Obama, which is sure to twist the panties of Republicans, and turn the stomachs of pretty much everybody, everywhere: [ more › ]

At about 2pm today, the Shanghai Telecom Building on Wusheng Road near People’s Square caught fire and cased an explosion, killing four people. From Shanghai Daily: “Rescue efforts are continuing in the Shanghai Telecom Building at 333 Wusheng Road, according to the Shanghai TV breaking news. More then 10 fire engines have arrived at the scene. The area has been cordoned off to traffic. The fire reportly broke out around 2pm but smoke was trapped in the building and failed to cause alarm on the outside, witnesses said. The fire was put out by 3pm and its cause is immediately unknown.” [ more › ]

Our mothership Gothamist reports that on Sunday, “hundreds of people gathered by the Chinese Consulate on the West Side Highway to protest the arrest and detainment of artist Ai Weiwei as part of a worldwide protest against China. The protesters reenacted Ai’s Fairytale: 1,001 Qing Dynasty Wooden Chairs, an installation of 1,001 late Ming and Qing Dynasty wooden chairs at Documenta 12 in 2007 in Kassel, Germany.” See all the wonderful pictures here. [ more › ]

              

Hey look! Somebody finally got freed in China last week. On Friday, April 15, a truckload of 520 dogs was stopped and the animals were rescued by the coming together of activists online, with an outpouring of support from thousands! When word of the truck spread on Sina Weibo, hundreds arrived at the scene with mineral water and food, jamming traffic and refusing to let the truck leave.15 hours later, a pet company and an environmental organization gathered the necessary funds (115,000RMB!!) to buy the dogs. [ more › ]

                   

Spring is finally here and with it comes the urge to watch greenery grow. What better time than now to check out some of Shanghai’s best Bird & Flower markets? We’ve checked out several around Shanghai that are relatively easy to get to from city center – greenify your life today! [ more › ]

What a horrific story: two friends, one in China and the other in Canada, were chatting on webcam when suddenly a man knocked on her door and asked to use her phone. From CNN: “Toronto Police on Monday identified the student as Qian (Necole) Liu of Beijing. She was talking early Friday morning to a male friend from home when a man allegedly knocked on her door, asking to use her phone, police said in a news release. The online witness said he saw Liu and the unknown man struggle for a time before the attacker turned off her laptop, the news release said. The friend in China then started a desperate bid to find out what happened, CNN-affiliate CTV reported. Ten hours later, police arrived at the basement apartment to find Liu’s body, naked from the waist down. Her laptop was missing.” [ more › ]

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here). [ more › ]

Dear Journalists,

The National Office of Eliminating Pornography and Illegal Publications Working Committee will publicly destroy a large number of pirated and illegal publications on Friday, April 22, 2011. The main venue of the nationwide activity will be in Beijing. You are cordially invited to cover the event.

Time: 10am, April 22, 2011 [ more › ]

Ezzat Shahrour, chief correspondent for al-Jazeera Arabic in Beijing, has an excellent post on his Chinese blog entitled “The Arab People Have 100,000 Questions for Chinese Media”. [ more › ]

The 28th Weifang International Kite Festival opened Sunday in Weifang, Shandong Province, the world’s kite capital. The event drew some 100,000 tourists and competitors from 29 countries. [ more › ]