From 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM the next morning, the price is CNY 16.00 for the first three kilometers, an additional charge of CNY 3.10 for every succeeding kilometer within 10 kilometers and CNY 4.10 for every succeeding kilometer after 10 kilometers. You can bargain over prices when taking taxis at night.
CNY 2.10 (CNY 3.10 during midnight) will be added for every five minutes of stop time. You don’t have to pay tips in Shanghai.

Major Companies

Among 150 taxi companies there are 4 more popular companies, each has cars in their own colors:

* Dazhong Taxi (Sky Blue): 021-96822
* Qiangsheng Taxi (Orange): 021-62580000
* Jinjiang Taxi(White): 021-64648888
* Bashi Taxi(Green): 021-96840

Shanghai Fashion Week is here again! Riding the wave of its success last October, this twice a year fashion feast is celebrating its 15th anniversary and hoping to delivery a solid forecast for the 2009 Autumn / Winter fashion trends.

Apparently, Emma Pei has become Shanghai’s favorite model since she’s representing the city’s most important fashion celebration a second time in a row.

This spring’s Shanghai Fashion Week also claims bragging rights to an impressive roster of up-and-coming Chinese designers, most of whom were educated in top European fashion institutes and have already generated buzz within the European fashion industry.

Anyway, here is a full list of catwalk shows. Make sure you pop by to see the bold ones if you’re lucky enough to get an invite.

7:30pm, Thursday, April 23: LAVIE by reputable Shanghai-based designer Jenny Ji.

2:30pm, Friday, April 24: LISAA-graduated talent Elysee Yang

7:30pm, Friday, April 24: Beijng-born, Holland-educated designer Xander Zhou stages his latest menswear collection.

2:30pm, Saturday, April 25: Womenswear brand YL-L by Shanghai-based designer Ling Yali

7:30pm, Saturday, April 25: Taiwan designer Chris Chang impresses you with her women’s collection combining the best of eastern and western cuts. Click here to see the address of her shop

2:30pm, Sunday, April 26: BUNKA / TOKA studio, founded by three Shanghainese designers who studied at BUNKA Fashion College after graduating from Shanghai Donghua University

7:30pm, Sunday, April 26: Chi Zhang, the haute couture studio founded by the namesake Beijing designer who’s already garnered a following in Italy and Britain

2:30pm, Monday, April 27: Young female brand ?(wan) by University of the Arts London-nurtured designer Wan Mengyi

7:30pm, Monday, April 27: Collection “Migrate” by Helen Lee of Insh, Shanghai’s sought-after fashion icon

2:30pm, Tuesday, April 28: ENMOVIMIENTO presents three designers from Chile, Maria Paz Valdivieso Fernandez, Mirna Valeska Godoy Ravlic and Lupe Pareja Castaneda.

Click here to read more information about Shanghai Fashion Week. All the shows take place in 171 Huayuan Lu (near Zhongshan Bei Lu) this year.

The May Holiday is in full swing. Hope you’ve booked a short escape from the city’s humidity to sunny beaches.

Talking about May holiday, this week is the great time to find some swimwear bargains if you haven’t had time to bag a new swimsuit before you jet off. Quiksilver & Roxy is throwing out juicy discounts on their summerwear in Super Brand Mall . Find another bikini sale at City Plaza till May 17. Or check out some basic lingerie and T-shirts at Bench Body at their special prices.

CW Reader Exclusive Discount

• Enjoy a shop wide 30 percent off from now till the May 16 at Shokay. RSVP to sarah@shokay.com as a Cityweekend reader and submit your full name to enjoy the exclusive deal.

Children’s Items

• Drop off your children off at Ruby’s Party’s playroom for the day and receive a RMB5 rebate coupon to My Second Hand at their new venue.

Clothing & Accessories

• D.I.S. fans get ready as their Gubei chain offers a 40-60 percent discount on 08 collection and an up to 80 percent discount on older stocks.
• Quiksilver & Roxy is putting their 08 summer collections on a storewide sale of up to 80 percent. Grab some colorful bikinis (around RMB250) and choose from the large number of T-Shirt selections that are priced as low as RMB39. Deal expires on May 10.
• Take a sneak peek at Nest’s new arrivals and super-value gift packages on their Spring Revival on April 25. Also, enjoy their organic food and wine sampling.

Lingerie/Adult

• Look through Lingerie & Me’s titillating new collection and get even giddier knowing that you get a 15 percent off on many new arrivals. Pay special attention to the Rosary Collection, now 30 percent off. Deal expires on April 30.
• Get two T-shirts and pay RMB79 at Bench Body. Get a 30 percent off your bill after you spend RMB200. Their perfume selection is enjoying a 30 percent discount too.

Malls / Department Stores

• From today to April 26, No.1 Yaohan Department Store is holding a discount week to celebrate the upcoming May Holiday. Get RMB300 worth coupons if you spend over RMB1,000 on beddings and RMB100 refund after you spend over RMB200 on female footwear. Head over to find out more.
• City Plaza is throwing out various discounts on swimwear from GLORIA, PEAK&PINE, Riglam and San-ai. Hit the third floor before May 17 to find out.

Jian was charged with contract fraud, but prosecutors declined to say how much money was allegedly involved. Earlier police reports said investors claimed they lost more than 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) in dealings with Jian.

Among his promotional exploits, Jian spent US$50,000 to have dinner with Jim Rogers in 2007 when the well-known stock investor and financial professor came to Shanghai for a visit.

Jian, 35, formed Shanghai Xinglue Investment Co Ltd in 2006. He claimed the firm was associated with “an international investment company that had long been engaged in stock investment in the United States,” and “the operation group members came from the Wall Street.”

The company said it had long-term strategic cooperation with Rogers.

Jian gave frequent lectures to tout his claims of successful stock picks, and he published regular weekly columns on investment in a local newspaper.

He later began recruiting clients for his stock investment services, with middle-aged and elderly people the major targets, the Shanghai Law Journal reported.

Jian also conducted training classes, charging from 5,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan a month, and offered stock investment service to his students.

He encouraged investors to send money to his accounts for investment in stock index futures and gold futures, according to the newspaper.

When the nation’s stock markets plummeted, investors who entrusted their investments to Jian reportedly suffered major losses and were unable to retrieve their capital.

More than 200 people complained to police. Jian was apprehended on March 12.

The exact amount of money involved in the case remains under investigation by prosecutors.

The special forces and other improved military equipment will be dispatched by the city’s frontier police.

The agency announced the Expo defense plan on Thursday as it conducted training in Luchao Harbor on the coast of the East China Sea along with some 30 naval vessels from other parts of China.

Two top specialists have been selected for the frogmen detachment, which will be responsible for dangerous tasks including covert investigations and underwater assault and capture.

The divers are now being trained by naval police, officials said.

Six members of the helicopter detachment are receiving special training so they can descend on attacking ships, said Wei Jing, media coordinator for the Shanghai frontier police.

The underwater and air detachments are part of a bigger specialist defense force whose members are skilled in swimming, diving, shooting and moving quickly from one vessel to another.

The frontier police will also deploy four ships to watch the waters around Jinshan District, the Donghai Bridge, Pudong International Airport and the Yangtze Bridge-Tunnel during the World Expo, police officials said.

Security equipment has also been improved since early this year. Maritime police will use water guns and cannons that can shoot up to 100 meters. Weapons that fire large fishing nets will also be deployed to snarl propellers and stop attacking vessels.

Fishermen discovered the remains yesterday morning near the muddy banks of Changxing Island. Officers found identification on the body that belonged to the missing chopper crewman, 56-year-old Yang Yongchang. Final confirmation will come after a tissue sample is analyzed for a DNA match.

The ill-fated helicopter was carrying four men when it plunged into the sea only a minute after taking off from the ice breaker Snow Dragon, which was moored at the port near the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Pilots Yang Hua and Li Baohui and Tang Lijun, another mechanic, survived with minor injuries after being pulled out of the water by nearby ships. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

The Snow Dragon arrived in port two days earlier after completing a research mission to the Antarctic. Its management had rented the chopper from the Harbin-based China Flying Dragon General Aviation Co to support the polar exploration voyage.

The body was discovered lodged in the underwater structure of a dock owned by the Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co at 8:50am, 6 to 7 kilometers from the crash site, police told Shanghai Daily.

Police brought the body onshore about 10am, and investigators conducted a preliminary examination, which they said ruled out foul play.

Officers retrieved a mobile phone and business cards that belonged to Yang, and the height of the body and the clothing matched that of the missing mechanic, authorities said. Yang’s family has been informed and is scheduled to visit the funeral home where the man’s body was taken, police said.

Yang was a native of Harbin in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. He was also an official of the helicopter company, police said. He had served on the 173-day scientific expedition to Antarctica, the longest since China began exploring the South Pole.

The Panameras will be available with two engine options, a 400-horsepower, 4.8-liter V-8 and a 500-horsepower, twin-turbocharged version of the same block, according to an earlier CNET post, that goes from 0-60 in 4 seconds flat.

The Porsche is also standard-equipped with a PDK double-clutch transmission. In a nod to CAFE standards, the Panamera uses Start/Stop technology that turns the engine off when it’s not needed, such as at stoplights or idling in traffic, and automatically restarts when the car needs to accelerate.

The 2010 Porsche Panamera will go on sale this October in the U.S., starting at $89,000 and up to $132,000 for the turbo model.

Temperatures will rise today and tomorrow then drop again on Thursday and Friday as a weak cold front moves in.

Today is expected to be cloudy with temperatures ranging between 14 and 22 degrees Celsius today. Tomorrow the temperature will be between 15 and 25 degrees, dropping to 11 to 20 degrees on Thursday and 12 to 21 degrees on Friday.

The weekend is expected to be cloudy with temperatures back around 24 degrees.

The dense fog that has been affecting Shanghai ports rolled back in this morning leaving visibility less than 1,000 meters. The fog will disappear with the arrival of the cold front on Thursday.

Three maritime patrol boats and a rescue ship were cruising the crash site last night as they searched for 50-year-old Yang Yongchang.

“It’s been more than 24 hours since the crash, and the frigid waters are life threatening,” said Wang Zuyi, an official with the Shanghai-based Donghai Rescue Bureau.

The search range was extended above and below the crash site at Waigaoqiao Port. But intermittent fog that has disrupted shipping traffic on local waters since Friday prevented the launch of a rescue chopper to reinforce the search effort.

The helicopter plunged into the sea at 11:20am on Sunday, a minute after taking off from the Snow Dragon, or Xuelong, China’s only ice breaker, which had just returned from a scientific research trip from the Antarctic. The downed chopper was one of the two rented aircraft that had been used in the South Pole mission.

Leased from a Harbin-based firm, the helicopter was flying back to its base when it crashed about 70 meters from the ship.

Pilots Yang Hua and Li Baohui, and Tang Lijun, another mechanic, were pulled from the sea by maritime patrol boats and other ships that witnessed the crash at the port. The survivors were in stable condition yesterday at a Shanghai hospital.

Qin Gang, an official with the Civil Aviation Bureau of East China, said crash investigators would talk soon with the survivors to gather clues that might help them determine the cause of the mishap.

Witnesses said they heard strange engine noises from the chopper as it circled the Snow Dragon several times before plunging into the water.

Aviation investigators were examining the wreckage yesterday and were also trying to determine whether the copter was carrying an operating “black box.”

A sonar system detected the wreckage nearly four hours after the crash, said the rescue bureau’s Wang Zuyi.

A rescue ship equipped with a winch pulled the wreckage out of water Sunday night. It was spotted lying bottom-up on the sea bed nearly 1.7 kilometers from the crash site.