On a Sunday in September, Hong Kong Plaza played host to Shanghai’s first Fashion’s Night Out. The event, sponsored and organized by Vogue, began in New York City three years ago as a remembrance of 9/11 and to promote the retail industry. This annual event keeps shops (generally luxury brands) open late. In Shanghai, participating shops included Longchamp, MCM, Coach, Tiffany’s, Ugg, and more.

In New York City, Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) takes over the Soho district in Manhattan. Stores, from Kate Spade to Gap to Nine West, host their own events and promotions throughout the evening. Celebrity appearances, cosmetic make-overs, live music, and free food draw queues of eager shoppers.

Shanghai’s first attempt did not have the pizzazz (crowds or events) that we have witnessed in NYC but we are keen to see more at the next event. Jia you Shanghai!

When Toni, a member of The Bergstrom Group, found a wallet outside our office, she was determined to help track down the owner. She asked around the neighborhood without any luck so the next step was to notify the police. But instead of looking up the phone number, Toni did what for her was the easiest course of action: she posted the find to her Sina Weibo account. Toni directed her message to police with Weibo accounts in the area confident that she would get quick response.

A few hours after the news had been posted and shared, policeman Wang (a post-80s who was specifically called out with an “@” in the post) noticed the appeal and sent a message to Toni via Weibo. The next day, accompanied by another enthusiastic senior policeman, officer Wang showed up at our offices to retrieve the wallet. As you can see from the image (that we took but officer Wang expertly doctored), the journey from online plea to offline encounter was pretty exciting.

Until the officers left and we realized that they had forgotten to take the wallet with them. Doh!

The story came to a happy ending however as officer Wang managed to find the rightful owner. A local newspaper and TV station were anxious to report the news and joined Toni and officer Wang at the police station when the owner picked up the wallet.

New ads have been launched to promote the Adidas Fitness Academy in Shanghai. Commuters are encouraged on the subway platform: “You spend 152 minutes a month waiting on the platform; why not run in place instead of wasting time”. (our translation)

We spotted these branded delivery vehicles outside a Family Mart in Shanghai.

Just a few weeks after hearing about the innovative shopping in Korea subway from BBC News, we are excited to discover the technology applied by the online grocer Yihaodian. Shanghai commuters can find it in metro stations now.

As BBC reported,

Mobile technology is far more advanced in Korea, where Tesco this week unveiled a trial aimed at commuter shopping. Instead of opening up outlets, they’ve placed electronic posters along the walls of subway stations for a ‘shopping wall’, made to look like brightly-lit supermarket displays.

Click on the barcode, place your order, and it will be delivered to you when you’re home from work in the evening.

Move over Japan, China seems to be making steady strides on the vending machine front. We have already reported on crab vending machines (check out our previous report on it ) and novelty machines carrying mementos, fresh fruit and tickets. Now we see a fresh fruit juice vending machine.

A few days after it screened, the movie “Beginning of the Great Revival” (aka 建党伟业) became famous – not for its nationalistic message but for its censored reviews. The movie, a celebration of the Communist Party’s 90th anniversary, has been called out by netizens for being the first movie they can’t rate, comment or recommend on Douban, a SNS based on creative communities sharing opinions and grouping around their interest in arts and culture.