iDEALShanghai

Shanghai's struggling cafés turning to innovation to survive, just like it's always been

Some operators are creating specials like "green code" coffee, others are dabbling in fashion, all harking back to the birth of our early coffee culture.

In Focus

Art & Culture

A cultural blend of literature and coffee - iDEALShanghai

A cultural blend of literature and coffee

Sun Ganlu came to literary stardom as an avant-garde writer in the 1980s. He was confident about launching a book club in 2014, when many said nobody reads books anymore.

Art & Culture

A cup of joe in the 'city's living room' - iDEALShanghai

A cup of joe in the 'city's living room'

Traveling, reading and writing are the way Chen Danyan understands the unique identity of Shanghai, as well as the other cities in the world.

Art & Culture

A rare study in normal – the prolific career of an author - iDEALShanghai

A rare study in normal – the prolific career of an author

With a focus on "family," Zhang Yiwei's stories are mostly set in Shanghai, often in a "worker's new village," a part of the city where she grew up.

Art & Culture

A concession to translated Chinese novels - iDEALShanghai

A concession to translated Chinese novels

Born in 1970s Shanghai, Xiao Bai started writing in 2009. His sharp, witty and fun style of writing quickly caught the attention of the literary circle.

Art & Culture

Foreign scribes weigh in on city's ubiquitous coffee - iDEALShanghai

Foreign scribes weigh in on city's ubiquitous coffee

When we put the responses of foreign and Chinese writers side by side, various insights about Shanghai clash or coincide through the lens of coffee.

Book

Sci-fi writer experiments with the effects of AI - iDEALShanghai

Sci-fi writer experiments with the effects of AI

Chen Qiufan discusses futuristic technology across a number of subjects, from coffee and tea to electronic waste to the effects of algorithms and AI.

Lifestyle

What is ideal dining? Meet the 'Steve Jobs in the kitchen' - iDEALShanghai

What is ideal dining? Meet the 'Steve Jobs in the kitchen'

David Laris, one of the first chefs to introduce the concept of fine dining to Chinese mainland, found himself inspired by a recent trip to suburban Shanghai.

Lifestyle

What is an ideal country life like in Shanghai? - iDEALShanghai

What is an ideal country life like in Shanghai?

Urban dwellers are growing increasingly weary of the hustle and bustle of city life and yearn for a more bucolic countryside environment.

Lifestyle

Sleepless in Shanghai: A listener to the lovelorn and the lonely - iDEALShanghai

Sleepless in Shanghai: A listener to the lovelorn and the lonely

Radio host Mengxiao has heard it all in her 30 years at the microphone in a city that never sleeps.

Lifestyle

It's never too old to dress up and have fun - iDEALShanghai

It's never too old to dress up and have fun

Enter a senior care home where residents don't think they are old at all. Instead they dress young, think young and enjoy every day.

Columns