After a week of eerily empty streets and nights of endless firecrackers, Spring Festival is finally over. The Year of the Dragon is gearing up to be a good one, with some great stage performances to look forward to, and an abundance of new restaurants and shops to check out. Here are our top picks for the weeks ahead.

New openings…

A new year has certainly brought plenty when it comes to restaurant openings. Some familiar names are opening new branches, such as David Laris who will extend his realm to the east side. His Funky Chicken is getting a branch on Weifang Lu, and new Fat Olive will open in Jinqiao where Slice deli used to be. Also on the move is Willy Trullas, who is finally moving his award winning restaurant El Willy from its Donghu Lu villa to new premises on the South Bund. The original will close on February 4th and reopen in its new location on February 13th. The Donghu villa will be converted into a pan-Mediterranean eatery called Elephante, set to open in May. Changes are afoot at the Eduardo Vargas empire too, with Azul moving to Ferguson Lane in the springtime.

Organic Kitchen has won itself an army of fans thanks to its healthy, simple delivery food, and they've recently opened a bricks and mortar venue on Fuxing Xi Lu where Boxha Café used to be. Expect the same hearty, tasty fare at very reasonable prices.

Russian food is experiencing a resurgence in Shanghai at the moment. As well as Matryoshka on Shaanxi Lu, there's now Red Square in the 1933 complex on Shajing Lu in Hongkou. Italian fare is eternally popular, evidenced by two new openings: Bocca at Bund 22, and Otto e Mezzo Bombano in the Rockbund Center – an outpost of Umberto Bombano's famous Hong Kong restaurant of the same name. There's nightlife news from the Bund too, with a bar called Cuvae set to occupy the space formerly taken by Lounge 18 in the Bund 18 building. As for French food, the guys behind La Creperie are soon to open an oyster bar called L'Ecailler, while Le Soleil de Provence on Wulumuqi Nan Lu is already proving popular.

In shopping news, a giant Adidas flagship store has opened on Huaihai Zhong Lu, taking up the entire building that Windows Scoreboard used to inhabit. For something slightly older and a little less trendy, try the new Antique City in the north of town (211 Jiaoji Lu, Putuo District). After six months in the pipeline, the 20,000-square-meter venue will open in five stages. There are currently 78 shops open, peddling jade, jewellery, paintings and other assorted knickknacks.

What's on…

The MAO Livehouse management has just announced that Shanghai's first Music Awards will take place on February 18th, celebrating the city's bands, musicians, singers and producers. There will be 12 awards up for grabs, including Best New Shanghai Band, Best Folk Musician, Best Performer, Best Overseas Band and Best Concert Planner. After the awards are presented, there will be a concert from some of China's most famous bands, like Su Yang (苏阳), Second Hand Rose (二手玫瑰), and Convenience Store (便利商店). More details here.

The two previous evenings will be slightly more sedate, as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra visits from Holland. Founded in 1888, it is one of the most famous orchestras in the world, playing all around the world. The two Shanghai concerts (February 16th and 17th) will be conducted by Myung Whun Chung with Janine Jansen as soloist and lead violin. The repertoire will include pieces by Weber, Bartok and Brahms, and tickets range from 180 – 1880 RMB.

In the news…

This year's Spring Festival was a great success for retailers in Shanghai, as consumers' spending made it the most prolific holiday shopping season since 1999.  Average daily sales stood at around 812 million RMB, according the Shanghai Commission of Commerce yesterday – a 14% increase on the same period last year. Eager shoppers parted with a total of 935 million RMB on New Year's Eve, with dragon-carved gold ingots proving especially popular. The food and drink industry saw a rise of 11% from last year's holiday season, with 134 million RMB blown on CNY dinners.

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Keywords: Shanghai watchdog shanghai news new restaurants Shanghai mao livehouse music awards