AsiaPundit did not try to stalk Kim Jong-il when he allegedly was in Shanghai*, but Justin of Shenzhen Zen gave it his best in his city:

It was a bit like searching for Elvis, though probably more people in Shenzhen know of Elvis (aka ‘The Big Cat’ as he’s known to the Chinese) than The Great Leader, aka North Korean President Kim Jung Il.

After news reports that the sudden arrival of Kim (or one of his close relatives) had forced the eviction of several hundred guests at the Guangzhou White Swan hotel from January 12 through Monday morning, rumors flew that he would be spending Friday in Shenzhen touring the city’s two major telecom firms, ZTE and Huawei, and possibly taking a breather at the swank Kylin hotel and villa complex where presumably he could indulge himself in his passion for foreign DVDs.

The assignment was simple. Find Kim. How hard could it be in a city of 11 million, after all? There aren’t too many dictators in bushy bouffant hairdos sporting spiffy green jump suits and 12 centimeter platform shoes in an effort to boost their estimated 165cm height to something approximating Great Leader stature.

Official confirmation was nil, of course. According to wire reports, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said he had "no information to offer" on Kim’s whereabouts. Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted an unnamed in source in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, as saying: "The leader, as far as I know, is at present in North Korea" and added that the mystery visitor might be Kim kin.

(*AP’s day job is financial reporting. Although a Kim hunt could have been marginally justified due to the ‘super notes‘ - the Dear Leader would be very unlikely to  answer any questions, much less be in a scrum. So, being out of the office chasing Kim wouldn’t be very productive. Stalking someone like EU trade commissioner Peter Mandleson or US Treasury secretary John Snow is acceptable, although it often proves to be about as much of a waste of time as the experience Justin describes.)