It’s laid out kind of weird, one floor open to Huaihai Road/Longmen Road, then a balcony then another set of stairs to the THIRD floor where the men’s (or the less women-friendly) clothes were. Obviously everything is overpriced, and yet, I think the 50/50 and the tri-blend t-shirt are the world’s most comfortable articles of clothing. I bought a new Dov’s Hoody to replace the one that I left at Park Tavern after the US/England game. It really is awesomely comfortable, but the ironic mustache is not included.

Here’s what the store looks like

all the gold lame, polyester shorts and world’s most comfortable and overpriced plain t-shirts are coming soon to downtown shanghai!

138 Huaihai Zhong Lu
Shanghai China

hope this message finds you well. Many of you already know and many of you don’t, but I (Brian) have been working on putting together an event this summer here in Shanghai called Frexh (pronounced “fresh”) – a new showcase of emerging innovators in the fields of Fashion, Music, Art, and Food.

What is this, you ask?

Good question.

Allow me to direct you to the website where you can have all the questions (or many at least) about what it is answered:

www.frexh.com

We have a very exciting line-up of emerging and accomplished but always reinventing themselves creators from these various fields for you. It’s a two-night festival-like format on Friday and Saturday nights August 6th and 7th in about 3 week’s time. Portions of the proceeds of this event will be donated to a not-for-profit organization called Wokai that I encourage all of you to learn about. They are a microfinance company that helps raise capital for rural entrepreneurs in China. They are doing truly innovative things!

I wanted to invite you guys to come out to the event and, of course, to encourage all your friends, family, and future spouses (or exes, if you so desire) to come as well. Please forward them the information! We hope to make this the Shanghai summer event! One night of exciting international and Chinese musicians, DJs, and fashion designers at Mao Livehouse (one hour of free beer will be available starting at 8pm). The next evening, some of the city’s finest restaurants serving you samples of their flavours in the midst of free flow alcohol at 5 on the Bund. Paired with this F&B extravaganza will be an exhibition of eye-catching art that I dare say some of you will want to purchase (proceeds of each sell also go towards Wokai) on display around the perimeter. Following the Aug 7th event, there will be an official after party at The Hamilton House 2 blocks away from the Bund 5, so hang onto the wristbands you’ll be getting for that night. You’ll want to keep those handy, trust me.

Ticketing for Frexh is now open and being handled by SmartShanghai:

Look for future articles/press on it soon. We are officially on countdown towards the fun, so I hope you all will circle the date and join the festivities! Keep revisiting our website as regular updates and fun things will be added.

See you all at FREXH!

linked within may have been china’s most ironic restuarant. or maybe it has to do with the chinese mao-era edict of “remembering the bitterness of the past to savor the sweetness of the present.

no. 9 factory restaurant – a sichaunese restaurant located in shanghai stadium, decorated to look like a 1970s era Factory.

decorated with factory machines, maoist propaganda posters, and household goods of the era (along with a mao statue in front, the restaurant succeeds on an imagery level. the waitstaff is smartly clad in shapeless overalls – although the hip haircuts, foreign beers and soft drinks as well as the touchscreen POS system computers do indicate the modern era.

the food? well, it was decent sichaunese. very spicy. nothing outstanding, and not the best nor the worst sichuan food in town – i mean its better than sichuan citizen, but its certainly not as good as . but the real attraction is the decor and atmosphere.

No. 9 Factory 666 Tianyaoqiao Lu ,
Xujiahui
In Shanghai Stadium near exit two, near Lingling Lu
About 60 rmb/person

two weekends ago, that meant going up to see shanghai shenhua take on bitter rivals (and regining csl champs) beijing guo’an in a game at hongkou stadium.

the game was sloppy (wet grass, everyone was sliding) but super exciting. 3 goals in the first 12 minutes as guo’an went up very early, but shenhua put in 3 in a row before the half and then in the 2nd half one of guo’an’s australian imports nailed this cracking goalazo off a left footed volley from 25 yards out, which made for a nervous final 12 minutes.

but the tickets were cheap (45 rmb from the scalpers), the evening was a fun time, and despite the cynicism of most of my chinese friends about the poor quality of play in the csl, along with the corruption – i would gladly go up again.

plus the fans. the shenhua ultras and the other supporter groups – vs. the traveling party of several hundred guo’an fans seated in the upper deck – it was fantastic. the flag waving, singing and, frankly speaking, vulgar anti-beijing chants really encapsulated what a fun fanbase in sports is all about.

here dwight howard and paul pierce fight tooth and nail for a rebound

spotted on wednesday on nanjing west road in shanghai – dwight howard and paul pierce feeling each other up.

so when i heard that the usa pavilion was inviting them to play a concert at the shanghai world expo, i jumped at the chance to go. heading down there with my college friend abbie, we got to expo gate #2 at 8:15pm intending to purchase an evening ticket. well, the ticket office was closed and the people there said there was no way to buy a ticket for the evening. “sold out” they said – the only way might be to buy through conveinence stores.

“so where are the cloest convienence stores?”

this was answered with a shrug. well, i had a wild-card and was able finagle two emergency tickets (thanks mla!) but there were at least 20-30 other visitors there specifically for the concert. expo organizers need to plan for this eventuality – and also, if you’re only going for an event, be sure to buy your ticket early! ticket offices close at 8pm!

well, after 20 minutes of arguing at the gate, we finally show up to see ozo. even with the rain, and the crappy sound (in the back it was fine, but when we made our way up front, the vocals were turned way down) – they were amazing. i’ve never seen a band connect with a crowd of non-fan chinese people so well. they played with so much energy, that guys in bad suits and aunties and young people were all up and dancing around. it was so fun. sure i’ve seen great crowd reactions from chinese crowds at shows like linkin park or any of the punk shows i’ve been to, but ozo completely won over an audience that i’m going to presume 95% had never heard them or of them before.

this from a show ozo did the following night (looks like mao shanghai to me) but you can feel the energy in the band.

PIRATE HAIBAO

because of the largesse of some friends working at the usa pavilion at the shanghai world expo, we were treated to 4th rows seats to see jazz legends dee dee bridgewater and HERBIE HANCOCK play at the expo performing arts stage last friday, not only that, but it was free. FREE!

suffice to say, sharing a small, intimate concert venue with such esteemed -jazz- musical legends is beyond my ability to translate onto a blog post, but it was truly a special evening.

See the rest of my photos here