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By SMG Research Team, May 27, 2010 11:42 pm

Reporting liiiive from the Shanghai World Expo…
Okay, not live – but close enough.  I was at the expo this past weekend (solely for research purposes, of course! Always thinking about you guys! :P ) and am happy to report the highs and lows, must-sees and should-avoids.

First I’ll reiterate the obvious – don’t go on a weekend if it can be helped nor when the temperature is sweltering.  There are many situations where you’ll feel like cattle, herded through gates and lines, and being pushed up so close to the people around you that you can feel the guy behind you breathing down your neck.  No exaggeration.

This cattle maze is in anticipation of the line-ups to get into the expo grounds. We breezed through, but I shudder to think of it filled with people during a busy day:

I managed to see the inside of the following pavilions:  Italy, Canada, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Australia, Belgium/EU, South Korea, Greece, Brazil, Switzerland.

In my very humble opinion, the ones out of that group worth waiting more than an hour for were:
Denmark: Probably my favourite pavilion out of the ones I saw.  It had the Little Mermaid statue from Denmark (yes, the real deal!)  and it achieved what the pavilions were set out to do – introduce the country and shine a positive light upon it, show its people and way of living, evoke desire to visit, and showcase the way it embraces sustainability and cares for the environment.  Denmark did all this, with a beautiful, clean-looking pavilion to boot.  I gained a good sense and feeling toward Denmark after seeing their pavilion.  Here are some pictures I took:

South Korea: High-tech inside and visually interesting too.  They’ve got a fun show featuring a story/video/music video type of short movie that mixes real-life and animation, ending with a dance performance.

Belgium (shared with EU): The outside of Belgium pavilion has stands selling Belgium fries, Belgium waffles and Belgium beer, so it’s a nice break.  Inside is a bit too information heavy (lots of boards with writing), though I did learn that the Smurfs had a Belgian creator, as did Tin Tin.  Apparently they also give out free Belgian chocolates, though we wasn’t lucky enough to be around when they were giving them out.  Worth going for the food outside (plus there’s no line-up to get into the food area), but may not be worth actually going in.

Tips:
- Get into the pavilion and get line bypass by going into the restaurants.  We did this for Greece.  There are select pavilions which have separate entrances for their restaurant.  Their restaurant is always linked to the rest of the pavilion.  So go in for a quick bite and then wander into the pavilion and save yourself 2+ hours waiting in line.
- Want to get out of the crowds?  The theme of the expo is “Better City, Better Life”, so do check out the sustainability and better living area – it’s away from the country pavilions and doesn’t have the high-profile draw of the country pavilions, so it’s quite quiet, but has some really neat buildings and designs that showcase green living.

The Pros:
-  The visual impact of the pavilion buildings do not disappoint.  Especially when they are lit up at night.

The Cons:
- All the culture and festivities are inside the pavilions.  Outside, while yes the pavilions look impressive, there is hardly any expo life (other than visitors) on the street.  Would it have been so hard to put some fun stuff outside the pavilions for all those who just aren’t quite in the mood to wait 3 hours in line?
- Massive line-ups!!!  I desperately wanted to get into Japan (heard it is awesome – it has a robot playing the violin!) but the line was a minimum of 4 hours.  So skipped that.
- Also really wanted to see China, but it’s probably next to impossible to get into it unless you’re willing to start lining up outside the expo gates at 4am.  Heard it’s worthwhile to see inside and that it’s actually quite interesting.  They hand out 40,000 tickets daily with an allotted time for visitation.  Some people scalp them, so you might be able to buy some if you’re lucky.
- There really aren’t as many performances as I had read that there would be.  In Canada’s pavilion, we asked when the next Cirque du Soleil would be and were told that they come out whenever they feel like it and there really isn’t a set schedule.  Right.  We tried hanging around for a bit and even tried killing time by ordering a poutine.  Alas, no Cirque. Thanks Canada.

My personal thought is that China has indeed been able to showcase to the world how advanced they are and how well their economy is doing.  They do massive events extremely well and have the money to back it up (e.g. Beijing Olympics). However, one thing I’ve noticed is that somehow they lack some of the spirit and fun one would expect from major events.  It’s almost like they’re too organized at times!  Nonetheless, the expo is definitely something to check out and be prepared to be blown away by the sheer scope and scale of it.  More on the expo later, as I’m still collecting my thoughts and sorting through pictures.

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By SMG Research Team, May 20, 2010 11:17 pm

We all know that Twitter is blocked in China.   As of July 2009, so were the existing Chinese versions of Twitter, including Fanfou, Jiwai and Digu – all due to government censorship.   It is clear that a Twitter clone won’t survive in China.  Recently, however, a new player has emerged.

Sina’s Weibo has risen and has seemingly taken China bloggers, micro-bloggers and anyone wishing to get in on the conversation, by storm.   Surprisingly enough, the government appears to be okay with it too.   So what is Weibo doing that the previous generation of micro-blogging sites failed to do?   They are playing by all the rules laid down and there is a strict word filtering operation in place.   As the largest news portal in China, Sina has had over a decade experience in content monitoring.   Bloggers also understand that they need to be careful of their words, as their posts can be deleted by Sina at any time, without notice.

The name Weibo (微博), translates to “micro-blog”, but the way it’s pronounced is the same as “scarf” (围脖).   This translation is what netizens are using as their meaning of “Weibo”.   Scarf, in the sense that they’re being wrapped up with information.

The censorship certainly has not appeared to have dampened the spirits of Chinese netizens.   They have embraced Weibo and according to Sina, the number of registered users of Weibo had reached 5 million as of early March.   Such numbers are a result of not only Sina’s large existing user base, but also their ability to up the cool quotient of Weibo through inviting celebrity bloggers, such as Jackie Chan and other popular stars.   This focus on verified accounts is one aspect that differentiates Weibo from Twitter, with Weibo placing a greater emphasis on them, and granting verified users a little “v” next to their name.   In a country that places such importance on celebrity culture, knowing that the feelings and opinions of Weiboer “Zhang Ziyi” is indeed THE Zhang Ziyi makes a world of a difference.

I signed up and took a look at what Weiboers are chatting about at the moment, and one of the top mentioned is, of course, the Shanghai Expo.  Even the name of the Expo volunteers is a hot topic.
In case you are wondering (and I know you are!) they are called “Little Cabagges” due to the colour of their uniform.

A new Valentine’s Day?

But one the hottest topics in China today (May 20th) is Internet Valentine’s Day.   Whaaat’s that?   You took the question right out of my mouth. Upon further micro-blogging, reading and digging, I found out that May 20 translates to 520 … and in Chinese, saying “520″ sounds like saying “I love you”.

The traditional February 14th Valentine’s Day has always seemed like it was for older people, those who are married, and this is something that Chinese youth cannot relate to.   Thus, young Chinese netizens have taken it upon themselves to declare May 20th as Internet Valentine’s Day, where they can express and profess their love for someone via any online method (blog, micro-blog, online bulletin board, email, etc. etc.).   This is especially good for those shy Chinese youth who can’t do it in person and prefer the digital shield of the internet…

Starcom’s Youth Surveillance research shows very clearly the importance of anonymity for youth online. Furthermore, 79% of a youth segment we identified as being uber involved social networkers even said that they felt more like themselves online than they did offline.

But the fact that they’re redefining the so-called traditional festivals (granted Valentine’s Day is more of a Western idea) to fit their own needs and turning them around and making them more relevant to themselves AND sharing it on the platform they are most comfortable with – the internet – is fascinating!   Not only that, but the idea has spread so quickly and leagues of young netizens are embracing it wholeheartedly… all I can say is wow.

I’ll definitely continue to keep tabs on the ins and outs and cool trending items on Weibo and report those back to you!

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By SMG Research Team, May 12, 2010 3:14 pm

We all love a good human interest story.

Like the handsome beggar’s rapid rise from obscurity, there are stories about other Chinese internet sensations.  While there is nothing new about internet fame – especially when one looks to Youtube and the number who earn their 15 minutes via self-posted videos – I feel that the difference in China is that many of those who are widely recognized on Chinese video-sharing sites, like Youku or Tudou, are ordinary citizens who were not seeking fame, but who had it thrust unexpectedly upon them.

One of these sensations is Ren Yueli, a now 22 street musician from Zhuozhou, Hebei Province.   She was forced to quit school at 14 due to economic constraints and at age 16 went to Beijing in hopes to make money to send home to her poverty-striken and disabled parents.  Constantly cheated of her payment while working at a local restaurant, she decided to try something new.  For 100 RMB (around 12 USD) she convinced a guitarist she met performing in an underground tunnel to teach her to play and ended up practicing every night.  When she was confident enough, she began busking herself – through the freezing winters, where her fingers were often too stiff to strum, to the swelteringly hot summers.  By doing this, she was able to earn 1000RMB a month, sending half home to her family.  Her monthly room rent was a few hundred dollars and she lived off 10RMB a day for food.  Last January, a passerby recorded her singing in the Xidan subway underpass, and posted it onto Yukou. Within one week, it was viewed 3 million times and quickly exceeded well over 30 million views (not to mention the millions of hits on re-posts and other user-generated videos featuring Ren Yueli).

The speed in which this information travelled was incredible.  At its peak, the viewer tally went up by 10,000 views per minute and was reposted on many major BBS discussion forums.  “Xidan girl” ranks amongst the fastest rising search engine keywords.  Human flesh searches (scroll to the bottom of the post) were even conducted to find Ren Yueli’s constant whereabouts and to learn information about her life and her past.

Ren Yueli - "Xidan Girl"

Due to her internet success and popularity, Ren Yueli has signed on with a local Chinese record label and is in the process of recording her first album.  Occassionally, she will return to the underpass where she started and sing.  “I just want to help my family live a better life. If things don’t work out, I will go back underground and sing,” she says.

Reading online discussions about the top web celebrities of 2009, I was actually really surprised by how many became sensations based on appearance alone.  Some of them include:

Gu Jiawen, a bus ticket seller dubbed “bus beauty”, from Shanghai.  She was ‘discovered’ after an admiring customer took her photo and posted it online.

Another is Kang Xiaohan, nicknamed “Tanghulu Xi Shi”.  Tanghulu is a snack similar to a candied apple, but using hawthorne, yams, or other fruit skewered on a bamboo stick, and Xi Shi is the name of one of the Four Beauties renowned in ancient China.

Kang is from a poor rural family in Anyang, Henan province, and works in Xi’an near a local university selling Tanghulu.  Similar story to “bus beauty”, where she was noticed, her photo taken and uploaded online, she became an overnight star.

Yet another is a policeman, Meng Kunyu, given the title of “most handsome traffic cop in Beijing”, after a group of female university students took his photo and posted it online.

Meng Kunyu -"Most Handsome Cop"

I wonder what the fascination with nice-looking ordinary people is amongst Chinese netizens.  Does it lie solely in their looks?  Or in the fact that young, good-looking people are not usually seen working jobs (e.g. bus ticket sellers) that are normally occupied by an a-yi (older women, “auntie” type)?  Or is it a beast all unto itself, where quick-talking, sensationalism-desired netizens can create topics of interest out of practically anything?  Regardless of what it is, the remarkable force, power and speed of the Chinese online community is astounding.

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By SMG Research Team, May 4, 2010 4:08 pm

The one-child policy may have successfully slowed China’s population, but it left other problems in its wake.  We all know about the gender imbalance – with the disproportionate number of males versus females.   The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says that by the year 2020, over 24 million men of marrying age could find themselves without spouses.  For every 119 boys born in China, only 100 girls are born.  In some rural parts of China, the number of boys to 100 girls can jump as high as 130.

Some quick implications

There are many implications that can come out of this – at the base are large numbers of men who will remain single their entire lives, to inter-generational marriages (men marrying older women), inter-cultural marriages (men looking outside of China for wives), to possible societal problems, such as prostitution and kidnappings, to even a new super-breed of young men, who are aware of this problem and understand that they are not only competing for jobs, but also wives, and will stop at nothing to become the most desirable man in order to secure a good future economically and personally.

Let’s see some pics

These photos from China Daily depict the lengths taken, and the new businesses that are springing up, for the sole purpose of helping lonely young men find a match.  We can see that mate-searching is not only limited to the young man, but that parents are also taking it upon themselves to make sure their son marries and continues their family line.

The following pictures are from an event called “Meet for Love” (also referred to as “Blind Date Market”) in Shenyang city, in Northeast China’s Liaoning province.

Single men reading female profiles

A mom advertises her son's basic information - name, age, personality, job - in hopes it will catch the eye of a female

This young man is seeking a mate born in 1981

Definitely an extremely popular event