Shanghai's resident monster Shangzilla has awoken from his slumber! You can keep up with his latest updates via @shangzilla on Twitter.

Google have released their year-end Zeitgeist showing what the world has been searching for. Shangzilla casts his eye over what Chinese netizens have been looking for - that is when they weren't hunting down wrongdoers.

1. 陈冠希 (Chén Guànxī, Edison Chen)
The contents of Edison Chen's hard-drive were the most popular search term. Shangzilla editor Dan Wasburnt refused to cash in on Edison-mania.


2. 奥运会开幕式 (Àoyùnhuì kāimùshì, Olympic opening ceremony)
Shangzilla thought that nothing of importance happened today, but we guess people were looking for this.

3. 四川地震 (Sìchuān dìzhèn, Sichuan earthquake)
A tragic day for the country. After several weeks of bad news, Shangzilla was hoping something funny would happen.


4. 不合格奶粉名单 (bù hégé nǎifěn míngdān, powdered milk scandal)
Now here was something genuinely to get upset about (unlike Edison Chen, where we just pretended to be outraged and forwarded each other sex pictures). Shangzilla concluded that breast was best


5. 艳照门 (yànzhàomén, "Sexy Photo-Gate")
Yes, its that enormous tool again. Shangzilla likes the Watergate-esque use of "门". At heart, he's a very cultured monster.


6. 画皮 (huàpí, Painted Skin)
The film didn't contain as much skin as promised, much to the disappointment of Dan Wasburnt.


7. 赤裸特工f.b.i (chìluǒ tègōng FBI, Naked Weapon FBI)
This female MySpace.cn blogger combined computer games and sex appeal to wow fans - but we think she's not as cute as JingJing carrying a gun.


8. 国足欢迎你 (guózú huānyíng nǐ, China football welcomes you)
This song and video spoofed the Olympic Song "Beijing Welcomes You" while making fun of the perennially useless Chinese football team. Chinese lyrics are here, sample "场上梦游是惯例,　场下才牛B" "on the field we are sleepwalking, off the field we are (unpleasant individuals)"


9. 刘翔退赛 (Liú Xiáng tuì sài, Liu Xiang withraws from competition)
Despite many shouts of JIAYOU!, local golden boy Liu Xiang dropped out of the Olympics.


10. 神七 (shénqī, Shenzhou 7)
One small step for China, one giant leap for mankind.


We hope you've enjoyed reading Shangzilla this year. We'll be back!

Following on from the People's Bank of China's decision to deposit 50 billion yuan (US$7.3 billion) of government funds in commercial banks, 300m tall monster Shangzilla also made a large deposit in Shanghai banks on Monday morning.

A teller at the Huaihai Road branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) described discovering an enormous deposit in the lobby of the bank. "It was brown, about five meters high and smelled faintly of xiaolongbao. I knew Shangzilla was behind it."

After a heavy night on Tongren Lu, Shangzilla had to relieve himself at several financial institutions, including the HSBC in Pudong. Mr Zhang, the branch manager said his staff members reported discovering a big turd in the VIP Banking area. "I was going to ask Edison Chen to leave, but then I realised what they meant".

The effects on the market are as yet unknown, however the lonely Shangzilla is hoping to receive a stimulus package on Tongren Lu.

Thirty-seven men and women all dressed as Sarah Palin were involved in a fracas outside outside Shanghai Studio on Huaihai Zhong Lu on Friday night. There were scenes of sash-pulling, stilletto stomping and hair tossing.

Also in briefs, twelve people dressed as Superman and Kenneth Tangent.

In what some are calling the "the most brilliant business maneuver since financial firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy", DVD and video game retail chain Blockbuster has announced that over 1,000 retail outlets will be opened across Shanghai by fourth quarter 2009.

A recent interview with Blockbuster Inc. Director Carl Icahn reveals the motivation behind the expansion into China:

"The recent crash of worldwide banks has had a massive effect on the global economy. While the world is on the cusp of an economic recession, we feel that consumers will be conserving both money and financial resources, which will eventually lead to a rise in rental-based entertainment. We believe that this is the perfect opportunity for Blockbuster to penetrate the Asian sector of the market."

Icahn also supported his claims to provide rental-based entertainment services in China, by noting first-hand the success of current rental-based industries, such as by-the-hour massage parlors and KTV establishments.

In order to ensure customer acceptance, Blockbuster will contract local designers to mimic the store layout and decor with that of current competition. "Outdated posters, mismatched window curtains, secret compartments, kitchens, and back-alley entrances - our goal is to give the customer an authentic Blockbuster experience, without losing touch with the roots of Chinese retail media outlets." says one designer.

Blockbuster Inc's HR Director for China, Kandi Chao, has announced that the company is currently in the hiring process for various positions across all locations. "I'm currently scouting for overzealous customer service employees who are fluent in English idioms", she tells Shangzilla. Chao also mentioned that all employees must have experience in what she described as "locking customers in". Chao declined to further elaborate.

In order to battle current and future competition, Blockbuster will be opening two alternative outlets - "Blockbuster Express" DVD stands as well as wood-and-mortar stores under the name "EVEN BETTER THEN BLOCKBUSTER". The layout and inventory of these storefronts will parallel those of Blockbuster. An anonymous tipster recommended to Shangzilla that all "EVEN BETTER THEN BLOCKBUSTER" customers ask for a V.I.P. membership card, in order to receive a 1 kuai discount on all purchases.

Construction of the world's largest bottle opener was completed in Shanghai's Pudong district last month, but so far it has found little use. The device rises 492 metres above the Huangpu River, and was described by Shanghai Mayor Chen Liaoyun as "the biggest tool in Shanghai since Edison Chen came to visit".

City officials are yet to find a bottle large enough to use with the opener, although there are hopes Budweiser will sponsor a giant bottle. "After all, our beer is cheap piss so it wouldn't be too expensive to make", a (now ex-)spokesman for Anheuser Busch commented.

Monstrous Shangzilla thanked the city for their consideration in building a large enough bottle opener for him to use, but admitted that it was hard to operate with his claws. "If I need a bottle opened, I ask my ayi" he said, waving his tail and accidentally demolishing Pudong Airport's new Terminal 2.

The city plans to incorporate the bottle opener into the world's largest Swiss Army knife, set to open for the World Expo in 2010.

Confused about which milk is safe? Fed up of the weird taste of soy milk? Use our handy visual guide to find out how to get your milk:

Zhang Xiaoxia, 42, a resident of Minhang District, was glued to his TV screen during the recent Beijing and Paralympics. Neighbours were used to loud shouts of "JIAYOU ZHONGGUO!", "JIAYOU PING PANG DUI" or "JIAYOU LIU XIANG... aiyo..." from Mr Zhang at all hours of the day and night.

Since the Paralympics Closing Ceremony at the weekend, Zhang has been unable to break the habit. The Dazhong taxi company is considering banning Zhang from their vehicles: a spokesman explained "it is very distracting to our drivers when Zhang constantly shouts 'JIAOYOU SHIFU' on the gaojia, and 'JIAYOU HONGLUDENG' when waiting at a traffic light!

Zhang's wife is also becoming tired of the constant encouragement while she is cooking, applying her makeup, or on the toilet. 'JIAYOU ZHANG TAITAI!'

The bad news for his neigbours is that the noise may continue for two more years. Saturday saw Mr Zhang shouting 'JIAYOU HAIBAO' at a statue of the big blue 2012 World Expo mascot at the South Railway Station.

Do you hold strong views on topics you know little about? Have your friends suffered enough with your moaning? Starting this week, we will publish an opinion piece from readers when we feel like it, so if you feel like you've got something to get off your chest, email it to us at contact AT shangzilla DOT com and if its any good, we will change the name to our own and sell it to a proper magazine publish it under this column. This week, Shengnan Huang has a moan about Pecha Kucha:

Every so often, Creative, Artsy, Angsty, fashionable Shanghaiistas types get drawn out of their shelter and into a series of Tupperware Parties, also known as Pecha Kucha. What is heralded as 'creative chit chat' usually results in a shameless promotion of Chit Chatterers' website/business/design studio/flatulence. How avante garde!

Attendees attempt unsuccessfully to look more interested than they are whilst organisers muster their last shard of enthusiasm to introduce the next speaker. The unmistakable air of dismay hangs ominously as yet another Taikang Lu-esque shop keeper trots out photos of their wares while the audience thinks, I paid 40 kuai (+taxi to Home Depot) to listen to advertising?!

Going to Pecha Kucha is akin to going to Bar Rouge. Every time, you promise yourself it's the last time. But you find yourself there, hoping, nay yearning, to see something more. But alas, more often than not, vacuously leaves you wondering, what am I doing here?

Shanghai, with its multitude of interesting and colourful people, can surely amass a few passionate people to present more interesting topics, no? Perhaps commerce can be taken out of the equation and with more stringent vetting, it may indeed turn into the 'Salon' that was originally envisaged.

All views expressed by Opinionated writers are their own and do not indicate any official position taken by

As crowds gathered on Saturday to witness the opening of the long-awaited Shanghai World Finance Center (SWFC), one 5-year-old grabbed the attention of onlookers as he was the first visitor of the 100th floor viewing deck to say 'WOW'.

Wang Xiao Pang and his family may not have been the first people to arrive at the building site at 6:30am Saturday morning — that honor belonged to Chen Yin, always first in line for new attractions and inaugurations in Shanghai — but they were definitely the talk of town when Wang, the second person to reach the viewing deck, quickly ran to the window and shouted 'WOW'. The only words Chen Yin could muster, was a disappointing "aah".

"I thought about so many things I could say" answered Wang, when asked about his outstanding words, "but when I got up there all I could get out was 'WOW'". When asked by swarms of journalists what the other things were that he thought about saying, "wo de maya", "wo tiana" and "wo cao" were uttered by the brave little youngster. This was met with 'oohs' from the awe-inspired onlookers and and a slap around the head from Wang's stern mother, Mrs. Wang Hao Ma.

"He's a good boy, but he sometimes gets ahead of himself. We didn't think that we'd get so much attention, but it didn't surprise us really as Xiao Xiao was the first person to say 'grrrr' to a tiger in the zoo." The imitation of a tiger's growl lead to much uproar from society in 2006, when Wang was merely 3 years old, as it caused a giant stampede to the Tiger's Cave in Shanghai zoo when many visitors thought the child was either challenging the tiger to a fight or that he had been raised by tigers and was actually talking to the big cats in the cages.

Zhang Chang Lou, director of tourist attractions at the SWFC was almost in tears when asked to comment on the young one's words. "He is a true ambassador of the Chinese spirit, even better than Liu Xiang. We plan to put a copper plaque with his name and the word 'WOW' engraved onto it at the viewing deck for everyone to witness."

"I don't know what I will say next and where," Wang stated after he was asked where he plans to say something amazing again, "I don't plan these things ahead of time, they just happen." However, hordes of netizens have speculated that the little boy might say something cute during the 2010 World Expo or closer yet, during the opening ceremony of the Paralympics.