I know we are about Shanghai’s entertainment industry. Though, there are those of you which would argue that sex should also be part of that category. I don’t know about you, but I consider it to be quite fun! Actually so do Chinese, so much in fact that it is sparking some sort of free love revolution.

It seems after the repressive rule of the communist party young Chinese are literally busting out of their clothes. Though, like many things in China, the surroundings are growing faster than people can cope and problems like unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and extramarital affairs abound.

While not quite entertinament, you should be aware of the countless LCD screens around the city blaring all sorts of advertisments and entertianing tidbits. It seems, the top company, Focus Media, will buy out their closest competitor Target Media. Not entirely a big story on its own, it is actually the first, in presumably a long line of Chinese companies strengthening themselves against competition from potentially, bigger more experienced foreign firms.

You can read more here.

Most of us simply watch our favorite shows on DVD. It may be a surprise, but Desperate Housewives recently launched… and bombed on Chinese TV.

Shanghaiist covered the story well: http://www.shanghaiist.com/archives/2006/01/09/raymond_zhou_on.php

新年快乐！
Marked by the first day of 2006, Planetkarl.com is officially launching!

I am sure many of you, such as me are just recovering from our New Years extravaganzas! There were countless parties all of them packed with bodies wanting to revel in the festivities! For those of us who were along the Bund, we got a spectacular view of the fireworks. This year, I have to say was very well planned by many event organizers, though the fireworks were not as spectacular as previous years.

We look forward to the new year with great passion. If you want to be a contributor for us, or you have some tip, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Apparently not wanting gamers to stop playing, Shanghai based Shanda has been developing health drinks and food. Shanda has introduced a new beverage entitled “World of Legend” (Not a legend anymore) as the first in it’s lineup.

In recent years, Shanda has been making effort to develop health and health care food that are suitable for online entertainment while consolidating development, operation and sales of interactive and entertainment products, said Wang Yong, Shanda PR manager.

Being an entertainment company, understandable they don’t seem to want to become a big player in the beverage industry. Instead they will focus on simply providing for the teeming masses of online players with more interest in playing then eating and drinking. Just like a casino, gotta keep ‘em playing, gotta keep ‘em hooked. Don’t let them leave the computer.

It seems a profitable strategy, but with WoW (World of Warcraft) now implying time limits on the amount of time one can play in sucession, due to government pressure, one wonders how Shanda will fare in their endeavour. This limit was of course brought up due to more recent gaming deaths.

They will continue their development into other quickie items such as gum and instant noodles.

I am waiting for them to come out with a “Level Up” drink; surely the recipie for a best seller. Now if they could only do something about this annoying bathroom trip thing, we could play non stop for days!

Welcome to Shanghai’s first Entertainment industry blog!It seems a lot of people do not regard the entertainment industry as one of the top money making industries in Shanghai. Especially foreigners are attracted to many other industries to really take advantage of the economic boom in Shanghai. Currently, Shanghai’s booming industries are trade, real-estate and finance, and nobody doubts their potential. One of the next sleeping dragons is the entertainment industry. Now is the time to get in the know, so here we have a blog for all of you that want to keep an eye on this potential.

I look forward to providing the lastest updates on what’s going on around these parts, and in the world.