SHANGHAI — China's biggest city and financial hub is known for designer boutiques and fine dining. Yet wallet-draining Shanghai also offers activities that cost nothing, from walking on the riverfront Bund to sculpture parks and historic sites. Here are five of them.

After a successful launch of Postino East, Upward Projects will open its second restaurant concept, Joyride Taco House, June 3 in the Heritage District in Gilbert.

After a successful launch of Postino East, Upward Projects will open its second restaurant concept, JoyRide Taco House, June 3 in the Heritage District in Gilbert.

A lone, painted white bicycle sits at the side of Usery Park Road near Bush Highway.

Work has started on a project to add a pedestrian bridge over Loop 101 (Price Freeway) in Chandler, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Charleston is awash in history and Southern charm and becoming widely known as a culinary town. Each year it hosts major events ranging from the Spoleto Festival USA to the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition and the Family Circle Cup Tennis Tournament. But there are a lot of free things to do for visitors drawn to the city founded in 1670. Here are some suggestions:

Once, the barren mesas and shrub-covered canyons that extend east of the Pacific Ocean held the most popular routes for illegal immigrants heading into the U.S. Dozens at a time sprinted to waiting cars or a trolley stop in San Diego, passing border agents who were too busy herding others to give pause.

In an effort to curb unwanted panhandling and aggressive solicitation in high-traffic areas – including, notably, Mill Avenue, near Arizona State University – the Tempe City Council approved amendments to two sections of its city code Thursday night.

Mesa leaders are asking residents to head online to lend their thoughts on the city’s transportation outlook — input Mayor Scott Smith says is invaluable to creating a plan for the future that suits changing philosophies.

It’s very rare that I’m motivated to write a follow up column, but the dangers generated by alcohol’s sacred position in our society demands more attention. Nothing is better to use as comparison than the uproar about the private ownership of guns and the dangers of both.

If it sometimes seems like no one is driving that car in front of you weaving in and out of traffic, you could soon be right.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas is getting ready for the year of the snake. The casino capital celebrates Chinese New Year — also known as lunar new year — in a big way, with feasts, exhibits, performances and other events at outdoor festivals and at casino-resorts like Bellagio and The Venetian.

TULUM, Mexico (AP) — The all-inclusive Cancun resorts are not known for topless women on the beach or Argentinians with scraggly beards playing Gypsy music. But that's the norm in Tulum, a Mexican seaside spot south of Cancun that attracts a mix of bohemians, well-pocketed New Age types and sun-seekers to its turquoise waters and white sandy beaches.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's internationally-acclaimed ski resorts are the main reason people visit Salt Lake City in the winter, but there are plenty of fun, free and interesting things to do in Salt Lake City while in the area and other times of year. Here's a sampling:

This is in response to Will Dursts’ “Guns, Guns and Guns” of Dec. 26, which I found interesting but curiously lacking solid objectivity. His conclusions could lead one to think that opinions and objective reasoning bear no intercorrelation. Despite his credentials, “God, Guns and Guts,” despite Will, did build America and enable us to maintain it.

Mesa’s Falcon Field is undergoing more than $3 million in ramp and lighting upgrades to increase safety and functionality.

An 70-year-old woman traveling on an electric, four-wheel scooter was killed Thursday morning when she was struck in a Mesa crosswalk.

LAS VEGAS — Tourists will soon have a new way to see the lights of Las Vegas: By being spit out of the mouth of an 11-story slot machine and zinged down a five-block zip line past some of the city's oldest casinos.