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October 28, 2005

AliBaba / Yahoo China Announce Completion of Strategic Partnership

"Together, Yahoo! and Alibaba have created one of the largest Internet companies in the fastest-growing Internet market," said Terry Semel, chairman and chief executive officer of Yahoo!. "Through this strategic partnership, we will combine the best of commerce, search, communications and online advertising capabilities in new ways for Chinese consumers and businesses, under the management of a strong local team."

Xinhuanet Article
Press Release

Posted by shak at 6:50 AM

October 27, 2005

Quote of the Day

"There are more VCs in China right now, then there are Entrepreneurs"

Posted by shak at 5:36 PM

Shanghai Webloggers Meetup

I'm off to the monthly Shanghai Bloggers Meetup, a laid back affair with some good folks chating about lots of stuff relevant to China, Shanghai, The Web, RSS etc etc.

Should be fun.

Shanghai Webloggers Meetup

Posted by shak at 5:32 PM

Baidu Financial Results for 3rd Quarter of 2005

Highlights of Third Quarter 2005

Total revenues increased to RMB88.9 million ($11.0 million),
representing a 27.6% increase from the previous quarter and a 174.4%
increase from the corresponding period in 2004. Net income for the
quarter was RMB8.5 million ($1.1 million).

Number of active online marketing customers during the third quarter
increased to over 53,000, an increase of 28.9% from the previous quarter and a 148.2% increase from the corresponding period in 2004.

Baidu Press Release
Google news search for "Baidu"

Posted by shak at 9:34 AM

October 26, 2005

Learning Mandarin part II (update)

My new mandarin teacher is good and we are making progress, even though I have cut lessons to 90 minutes a day rather than 2 hours, I found that my learning / concentration spam is out of the window by then.

With this new found knowledge I knew there would be hurdles to overcome, such as:

a, My maid now thinks I speak fluent chinese, because she sees me having lessons every morning.

b, Me asking for a cup of Tea with Milk resulted in 1 cup of tea, AND 1 cup of milk, teach me to run before I can walk I suppose.

Personally I am very happy with the progress being made, and I must say, even knowing a few basic words such as I, Want, Buy, No, Milk, Bread etc can make all the difference.

I'll give you another report in a few weeks methinks, keep reading.

Posted by shak at 9:38 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2005

Google gears up in China

Looks like the fun is starting in China, with Google stepping up a gear.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 2005--Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), developer of the award-winning search engine, today announced that it has hired respected business leader Johnny Chou to establish and lead Google's sales and business development operations in Greater China.

Johnny Chou will join Google as President, Sales and Business Development, Greater China. In this newly created role, Chou will be responsible for building Google's sales and channel businesses, and expanding the company's strategic partnerships in the region.

Talking to folks on the ground, Senior Chou is highly respected, and will be joining a number of other Old China Hands such as Dan Brody who seems to know just about everyone in China that I have talked to.

The business for Google or any other Search Engine in China is very different to most other places in the world, the reseller channel here is huge, and I am not referring to Ad/Media agencies, but more along the lines of Mass call centres reselling Google/Yahoo over the phone to end businesses.

Only time will tell, but I'd say this hiring is a very smart move.


Official Press Release
Interfax Article

Posted by shak at 8:58 PM

October 24, 2005

CPA = Cost Per Asia

My buddy Liz Lloyd has just written an article on Cost Per Action models in Asia.

With affiliate marketing being a top source of online customer acquisition methods in the U.S., one must wonder why this form of revenue and lead generation is not as popular in the Asian Pacific.

Personally I think the CPA model will be huge in Asia and China when the market explodes, there is a reason why I am meeting 1 person a week in the Affiliate/CPA business in China. and with Adtech Shanghai next month CJ and others will be arriving to scout whats taking place.

CPA = Cost per Asia

Posted by shak at 6:33 PM

China Blog List

A site you should bookmark in my opinion is the new China Blog List

This is the new revised version of the original which was at Sinosplice.

John and John have done a superb bit of work here, and am sure many people will be helped by this resource.

China Blog List

Posted by shak at 1:10 PM

"Are you sure you want to download illegal music"

Joel over at Danwei has a piece on Baidu and their new message in the form of a pop-up when users try and do a MP3 search.

Baidu and Piracy

Posted by shak at 12:44 PM

Search Engine Strategies to be held in China

Originally planned for Beijing and then cancelled, Search Engine Strategies aka SES have just announced their entry into the Chinese market with an event in Nanjing on 17th and 18th March 2006.

I have been attending these events around the globe (UK and USA) for the last few years and can honestly say they are a MUST for anyone with a remote interest in the Search space of today.

Let's hope they manage to throw a good party or 6 as usually happens at these events, and I promise to try and not fall asleep on the bus and end up in the wrong city 100 km away as happened at the last event in San Jose in August.

Am very interested what sort of speakers they will manage to gather, as currently I am seeing a shortage of people involved in Search in China.

BTw, don't forget Adtech Shanghai next month, which in my opinion will be the tipping point for Digital Advertising exhibitions/conferences in China.

SES China

AdTech Shanghai

Posted by shak at 10:16 AM | Comments (1)

October 22, 2005

Site of the day ...

blog this.bmp

Weekend reading, well worth a read, thanks to Peter at SearchEngineBlog for the link.

I just spent an hour on there and still haven't fully grasped what it's about, but hey, since this is my blog and I can blog about what I want, I thought I'd do just that ;)

That crazy site about drawings on back of business cards.

Posted by shak at 3:18 PM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2005

One Billion Customers

I have just got home from the launch of "One Billion Customers: Lessons From the Front Lines of Doing Business in China" by James McGregor.

book pic.jpg

Very much look forward to start reading the book, which has been described as a MUST read for anyone even remotely thinking of doing business in China.

James has served as a key adviser to both the U.S. and Chinese governments. The Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief, the chief executive of Dow Jones' China business operations during much of the roaring 1990s, and a venture-capital investor during China's dotcom boom, McGregor has negotiated every avenue of the labyrinth that is business in China. He is also a former chairman and a decade-long governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. McGregor is currently a China business investor, adviser, and entrepreneur. He also serves as Senior China Advisor to Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.

James shared some great stories and answered some very interesting questions, if the event is anything to go by, then the book will be a very good read indeed.

One Billion Customers

Posted by shak at 12:10 AM

October 20, 2005

Shanghai Living Photo exhibition

I had the pleasure of attending Shanghai Art Gallery today to look at an amazing collection of pictures by Hu Yang.

A very educational and moving experience indeed, Hu Yang basically documented the lives of Shanghai residents, interviewing and photographing 500 families in their homes. From poor migrant workers to expats to billionaires, nearly all of Shanghai is represented.

pic 3.jpg

Sun Bingchang (Shanghainese, Retired Worker)

I didn’t have anything to do after my retirement, and therefore, I started this home hotel business and provide a place to stay for those people who come from other provinces and don’t have much money. I help the children in depressed areas with the money I earn. I miss the national leaders of the previous generation.

Some of the pictures are very moving and made me think about a lot more than my own reasons for being in China.

pic 1.jpg

He Minghua (Shanghainese, Retired Worker)
Life is ok except the housing. Our son is 25 years old but lives with us in this house of 16sq.m. How could he find a girldfriend and get married? We are both blind and have no expectations for our life. The house is in disrepair and we suffer from rainsorms, which always flood the furniture and friedge. We are both retired and our son doesn't have a stable job. The bak refused to provide us a loan for an apartment because of our low income.

Chen Longzhen (Shanghainese, Retired Worker)
I go sellling small articles at 6 o'clock every morning, trying to earn some money for late years, and come back at 10:30 to cook lunch. We feel helpless for our son. I always like to speak honestly, so the most we want is a larger apartment. Blind people can't live long because we can't see and have complaints inside.

================================================================

pic 2.jpg

LI You (Shanghainese, Corporate Staff)
I work in a foreign company and have a lot of pressure. The only thing I want to do after work is to have a bath for two hours and then watch a DVD. Besides, I'm an amateur writer on the Internet.

If you are in Shanghai you should try and visit the event, otherwise there is a full online gallery which I highly recommend viewing.

Picture Collection
Shanghai Art Gallery website

Posted by shak at 11:43 PM | Comments (2)

October 19, 2005

Financial Times - Special Report on China

The Financial Times "today" (19/10/05) has a special report on China in the Technology / Digital Business Supplement.

A number of very interesting articles indeed, along with a piece from the blogosphere called China on the net: they do things differently here written by some guy who fancies himself as a "Man on the Ground" chasing the "Chinese Dream"

I never imagined folks at FT read this blog, and would like to thank them for the opportunity given to me. Xie Xie.

Go take a read.

Digital Business Section

China on the net: they do things differently here

Making Matches but NO serious money
China's challenge changes the rule of the game
China Report
Locals enjoy many advantages in a market with special character
Role-playing in 3D starts to take off

Posted by shak at 7:48 AM | Comments (2)

October 18, 2005

Six Degrees of Separation "Chinese Style"

Sim6D is the first Six Degrees of Separation experiment in China. Data will be collected and aggregated. The results will be analzyed by a blue ribbon academic panel. The findings of the experiment will be published and particpants will receive a copy of the findings. The goal is to gather comprehensive data on social networks in China on which we can compare China and US key findings and conduct further analysis. We hope everyone can benefit from this experiment and continue to enhance your personal network

I am very excited about what these guys are going to do, considering it's nearly 40 years since Dr. Milgram conducted the experiment and concluded the Six Degrees of Separation theory.

I personally think I live in a 3 or 4 degrees of Separation world, and coming to China it has been quite helpful when trying to get connected with folks here.

In China it's all about GUANXI, so that combined with this trial should be very interesting.

I was actually invited to the trial, however I am a lazy sod at times and decided to pass and rather watch from the sidelines.

Look forward to seeing the results when they come out.

SIM6D - Small World Simulation
SIM6D - Media Coverage

(btw, if you want further information, feel free to drop me a line, I am happy to hook you up with the decision makers there)

Posted by shak at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)

China Builds Its Dreams, and Some Fear a Bubble

Just got pinged this article by the New York Times, good reading if you want to get a snapshot of whats going in China at the moment, especially in the Housing market:

"There's no doubt what is happening in parts of China is on a scale we've never seen before," said Richard Burdett, professor of architecture and urbanism at the London School of Economics. "But more importantly, it's the fastest pace of development in the past 50 or 100 years."

New York Times article


Posted by shak at 6:45 PM

October 17, 2005

Google in China

A great article by Perry Wu which talks about search, google, and baidu, and not forgetting microsoft.

The author talks a lot of sense and the article is well researched and thought out, however I am NOT sure how much of the paid search arena Perry understands, especially when it comes to where the big money in search will be in my opinion, this paragraph below is true but I would say this is NOT where the battle will be fought out, that will be the big global brands and agencies signing the $$$ cheques.

Google wants to grab the advertising dollars, and now in China the only direct way to enable a cash business like this is for Google is to build a business on Chinese turf. This being said, in China Google outsources much of their advertising-related services to intermediaries like Shanghai's Hotsales Company. So whether it actually needs to step foot in the Middle Kingdom is questionable. It needs to only have Hotsales send its converted currency checks to offshore accounts. This takes a little accounting voodoo, but it is possible.

ChineTechNews article

Posted by shak at 11:36 PM | Comments (2)

Learning Mandarin part II

My 2 week crash course long finished, in fact I only attended 5 out of the 10 days I think due to other things going on at that time.

My Mandarin is now what's known amongst the Laowai as "Taxi Mandarin"

I am your man should you need to get to a bar, left, right, straight ahead, crossroads or need the Taxi to STOP, I can do all of the above in a good accent which I am very proud of.

Anyway, that aside, Today I start my 1 on 1 lessons with my new private tutor named "Iris", Iris comes highly recommended by Matsume, my Canadian born Japanese hairdresser (btw guys and girls, if in Shanghai and in need of a fine haircut by a lovely girl, Matsume is what it's all about, she can be found at the Hair Salon on the 4th floor in the Hilton).

So starting today I am going to have 1 Two Hour lesson a day, every day for the next 5 days, and then we will decide whether our Teacher/Pupil relationship is set to blossom.

Lucklily Iris is a mature teacher so should have lots of experience and patience to put up with me, and as a bonus she can come to my apartment to teach so I dont have to sit in a traffic jam before lessons.

I shall keep you informed...

Posted by shak at 8:13 AM | Comments (2)

October 16, 2005

A day out at the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix

I'll start off by saying that attending my 1st ever Grand Prix was absolutely amazing, whether you are into Cars or not, it's a unique experience, and for me experiencing it in China was all the more exciting.

I managed to get some tickets and we headed off on 1 of the 000s of buses provided to get us to the track about 90 minutes from Shanghai city centre, shame the bus driver didn't know where we were going so he decided to stop on a 3 lane highway and ask the driver behind (don't worry, this is China, this kinda stuff happens all the time).

Anyway we got there in time and had a few hours of pure fun, the sound is amazing and seeing the cars so close really lets you get a feel for how quick they actually are.

The track was very close to a sell out (80% - 85% capacity I think)

Some snippets and basic facts about a Chinese grand prix:

Lots of folk selling goods galore outside (F1 hats, flags, T-shirts etc), all very cheaply, so I let you work that on out yourself :)

Inside official stands were selling similar items for 10 times the price, but here obviously IP laws were being observed and the correct parties get their share.

FOSTERS Australian beer had a big presence.

Chinese are quite passionate about F1 it seems and surprise surprise Ferrari and Schumacher are their favourites.

Even with strict security, the Rolex boys were out in full force, as can be seen in the pic below, and NO, I am NOT the guy offering the "Lolex, Too Much Cheap, Too Much Good"

Grand Prix.jpg

Overall it was a top day out, even if it took nearly 3 hours to get back to Shanghai in the most chaotic traffic jam I have seen so far in China.

Posted by shak at 10:37 PM

Baidu V Google

Joel Martinsen from Danwei has a fine piece taken from Keso's chinese blog ...

IT blogger Keso recently posted some comments concerning an issue of Baidu's internal glossy newsletter, Simple that he was able to get his hands on. He points out a bit of revisionist history, a large amount of Google-chasing, and serious problems with Baidu's paid search-placement services.

Danwei Article

Posted by shak at 9:39 PM

Hey Google, why your homepage look like Baidu ?

The funniest thing I heard from a friend yesterday, as said here by Chinese Internet users:

"Why Google copy Baidu homepage design"

I am sure you can understand why I find that funny.

Posted by shak at 9:35 PM

October 14, 2005

China and Korea beat US in terms of Spam

While the US retains the dubious title as the world's top spammer, its slice of the spam pie is getting thinner, says a report published on Wednesday by Sophos. Together, China and South Korea now account for more spam than the US.

According to Sophos, which scanned all the spam messages trapped by its filters and categorized them by originating county, the US was responsible for 26.4 percent of the globe's spam in the last six months, down from 41.5 percent during the same stretch last year.

CMPnet article

Posted by shak at 5:49 PM

Shanghai F1 this weekend

So I managed to blag/beg/bribe some tickets for the Grand Prix in Shanghai this weekend, the city is full of foreigners and bar staff are walking around wearing F1 colours.

Every club and bar has some form of F1 party on Saturday and Sunday, and VIP areas in most classy places have been booked solid for weeks.

However if you are in Shanghai over the weekend, do make contact and say HI, failing that Bar Rouge, 18 The Bund. on Saturday night will be the place to experience Shanghai nightlife in style if you have never been to China before.

Posted by shak at 1:48 PM

NO more online drug trading in China

Of pharmaceutical products traded online diet drugs and aphrodisiacs are among the most popular on C2C portals in China. A typical search for medicinal products listed on sites, such as on the Ebay China site, shows listings for various rare or wild medicinal materials such as sea horses, placentas, gin-seng, deer snails and spotted deer antlers, some of which are banned on the normal medical products market.

Interfax article

Posted by shak at 1:17 PM

Shanghai Drive Thru

The guys over at Shanghaiist have a piece on Shanghais 1st Drive thru restaurant, and Chinas second.

FYI, Pizza Hut and KFC kick AXX in China compared to McDonalds or Burger King. Pizza Hut is actually regarded as a luxury food establishment and has long lines waiting to go in, and it takes a long time to finish the meal, NOT fast food stuff.

And finally, most Chinese when asked "who invented Pizza" say "Pizza Hut"

Drive Thru Open

Posted by shak at 1:10 PM

It's The Peoples Car

99% of Taxi's in Shanghai are VW Santana sedan/saloon cars. This probably stems from the fact that Volkswagen were the first Car company to do a big JV with the state.

However here's something that may surprise you, as it does me.

Most Taxi drivers when asked which company VW comes from, say CHINA, one even went as far trying to be clever and say VW is the Peoples Car referring to the Peoples Republic.

New generation Chinese and the semi wealthy are NOT buying the VW, as they want to buy foreign cars from Germany such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

Just thought it's funny how things have shaped up for VW here as NO marketer in my opinion would have predicted this kinda consumer behaviour?

VW honeymoon over

Posted by shak at 1:03 PM

October 13, 2005

China's Rich List

China's tycoons have been publicity shy since several were jailed when former Premier Zhu Rongji "unleashed the tax authorities" after noticing the 2001 rich list, according to Forbes Magazine, which formerly published Hoogewerf's study. China's Communist Party, concerned by a growing wave of unrest, made narrowing the gap between the rich and poor a key theme of its annual meeting this week.

Natasha Times Article
China Daily Article
Hurun

Posted by shak at 9:17 AM

Doing Business with the Pirates

Entertainment companies worldwide worry about a generation of consumers accustomed to free downloadable music, but they worry most about China a potential market of 1.3 billion people, many of them used to playing by Napster rules and selling bootleg copies to the rest of the world. Last year, 95 percent of the film discs sold in China were pirated copies, as were 85 percent of music recordings, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a coalition of U.S. industry groups

Ecommerce Times article

Posted by shak at 9:06 AM

SpeedDating Chinese stylee ...

I'll be busy on the 22nd then!

The five-hour marathon is open to singles between 20 and 45, with at least a high school education. Participants pay 100 yuan (US$12) to register. Their personal details and email addresses will be circulated to other participants. To date, more than 2,000 people have signed up, but only 40 percent are male.

Boy meets Girl article

Posted by shak at 3:42 AM

October 11, 2005

Blogspot / Blogger accessible from China

Many folks in the west probably don't know that ANY blog on the Blogger network and under the Yourname.Blogspot.com domain name has been banned in China for a long time.

Today I had word that this is no longer the case, not sure how permanent this is, but it's a welcome sign for sure, NOT being able to read 1000s of blogs was a bit painful. I wonder whether now they will only block specific sites such as Sitename.Blogspot.com rather than anything related to that domain.

Time will tell

Google search on the original issue

UPDATE:

Looks like it was short lived, and ALL 29 million pages on the blogspot.com domain name are NOT accessible again from China.

Posted by shak at 4:14 PM

Bloody Foreigners

Sitting outside a coffee shop having a cup of tea last night at 7pm, I heard the sound of smashing glass, after about 30 seconds we managed to see a man smashing bottles on the floor quite deliberately.

The Coffee shop manager went over and asked him what on earth was going on, to which he replied in Chinese

"Bloody Foreigners"

"Every night they stand in this corner outside of my Shop and either urinate against the wall or are sick outside the door, I have had enough, so am gonna smash glass bottles every night so the front of my shop is covered in Glass to stop them doing damage, and if they insist, well then they can go to the hospital to get sticthes for the cuts on their feet"

Part of me thinks "Crazy", whilst part of me does give the man credit and thinking "outside the box", a very rare thing in China.

Posted by shak at 3:21 AM

October 10, 2005

Laowai Collection

Looks like some foreigners in Shanghai have decided to make some money out of their experiences here.

If you happen to have been to any parts of China, you will agree with the wording.

Laowai Collection

Posted by shak at 11:32 PM

Back in Shanghai

I is back after 2 weeks in London.

No longer living in a cushy 5* serviced apartment, but sharing an apartment with a friend, try and get a bit more chinese culture in my blood.

The cost being $1000 US per month for a real nice 2 bedroom apartment in a secure complex complete with a Maid who comes in every day. guess who will be getting lessons on Ironing ...

Keep tuned, I'll start blogging daily I hope.

Posted by shak at 8:35 PM

October 6, 2005

3 of the top 5 tech IPOs were Chinese

The third quarter saw the most venture-backed IPOs of the entire year and the biggest winners were high-tech companies. Most notable? Three of the top five tech offerings were Chinese companies going public on U.S. exchanges.

Red Herring Article

Hat Tip: China Net Investor

Posted by shak at 7:52 AM

October 5, 2005

Web 2.0 starts today

Be interesting to see what is said about China, as I am sure that will be on the lips of many attendees and speakers. There are days I wish I lived in SF as it just seems to be THE place, but then again Shanghai may be the next SF.

It's a who's who of the Internet

Web 2.0
Sessions and Speakers

Posted by shak at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)

It's all in the NAME ...

So here's something I never fully understand until I went to China.

Chinese people choosing Western Names
Westerners choosing Chinese Names

It never ever crossed my mind until about a year ago that all the Chinese people named David, Bill, Lucy etc actually had Chinese names, but had chosen a Western name when arriving from the East or when being given a western name by their parents even though they ALL have Chinese names.

So here's some names which should make you think, a list of Western names chosen by Chinese people in Shanghai that I or a contact has come across:

Agent (works in real estate)
Pizza (liked Pizza)
Evian (was moving to France to study)
River
Ocean
Orange
Daisy
Lily
Flower
Handsome
Hangsome
Beauty

and the list goes on, I'll leave comments open as I am sure there are many that can be shared.

and on to point # 2,

to have a Chinese Business card or to get residence permit in China, 1 needs a Chinese name, so the challenge is what to Choose, I see 2 options:

a, ask some chinese friends to come up with a name for me.
b, use something such as Mandarin Tools

some interesting names coming up, go on, go take a look.

but try and and not come up with the Chinese equivelant of Agent :)


Posted by shak at 9:50 PM | Comments (3)

October 2, 2005

Viacom spreads it's wings to China

Bus advertising is very popular in China from what I have seen, especially for NEW brands/companies targeting China, in the UK I must have developed Bus Blindness but in China it sure stands out.

Buying Magic Media gives Viacom Outdoor a foothold in a city with 15 million residents that will host the 2008 Summer Olympics, the company said.

Viacom Outdoor will be tapping one of the fastest-growing advertising markets. Ad sales in China will surge 35 percent this year, compared with a 5.7 percent rise for the U.S.,

China Knowledge Article

Posted by shak at 4:14 PM

October 1, 2005

VCs Anti-portfolio

Just came across this piece at the BVP site.

This long and storied history has afforded our firm an unparalleled number of opportunities to completely screw up.

Be nice to see if in years to come we will see something like this on China.

Gotta give em credit for being honest about what they got wrong.

VC's anti-portfolio

Posted by shak at 6:03 PM

Adtech London

The 1st Adtech London since the late 90s is now over, so here is some info which I thought I'd share.

and apologies for not updating blog as often during the last week, conference combined with parties etc left very little time for blogging.

Adtech London was rocking, managed to attend many sessions and speak to lots of exhibitors and attendees, everyone seemed very impressed with the turn out and event as a whole.

The best session for me was where they discussed Pay Per Call, done rightly, this will HUGEEEE, however I think MIVA's limelight may be shortlived as soon as Yahoo/Google start doing this properly, just like PPC, it's all about REACH and thats where the big G and Y win every time.

Lots of interest in China by UK and US companies, so hopefully some work for me to do when I get back to China, the most common things I am being asked for are:

a, helping Western ad/search agencies find a suitable partner in China to handle their clients Chinese marketing needs (easier said then done)

b, research/data on the state of play in the Chinese Internet market.

Had some great nights out in some fabulous restuarants and also had a night at Tantra in Kingly Street, very cool club indeed, but I still say it's nowhere in the league of some of Shanghais clubs, and the bill was ehhhhmmmmm quite expensive at £1250 for 10 people (although the folks with me did have a party to remember), Mr CZ came an inch away from going topless again.

Must also say that I really felt how expensive London can be at times, something I have never noticed before, Icing on the cake was the hotel wanting to charge £15 for a continental breakfast which consisted of very little, the Cafe across the road was £2 for the same thing (and NO, it was not a 5* place, but rather a bad 3*)

all in all a good week indeed.

I even managed to gatecrash Pubcon London for a few hours.


Posted by shak at 9:46 AM

Connectivity ...

I am noticing too often, there is a BIG problem when it comes to connectivity, and this a double sided sword:

a, Western Sites aiming at a Chinese audience hosted outside China.
b, Chinese Sites aiming at a Western audience hosted in China.

So a word of advice for anyone looking either of the above ...

NO point having a site which can NOT be viewed by your potential audience.

I am amazed that companies will go to all the trouble of building the site but never bother checking for speed or hosting issues ...

I see a business opportunity for clever folks to allow Chinese sites mirror their sites outside the PRC, and vice versa for Western sites targeting China.

Any views folks ?

Posted by shak at 9:39 AM | Comments (4)

National Holiday Week

Just as well I decided to get out of Shanghai for the holiday season as upto 80 million people are due to pass through the city over the next week or so.

ABOUT 83.48 million people will visit Shanghai during the week-long National Day holiday, Youth Daily reported Tuesday, citing the Shanghai transport authority. The busiest day will be the National Day, October 1, when about 13.42 million people will hit the city's streets.

Shanghai Daily Article

Posted by shak at 9:29 AM