Archive for October, 2008
China Wants the U.S. Dollar to Drop Dead
Seeking Alpha/October 28, 2008
China pounds the conference table hard for a new currency order. After a first commentary a month earlier, China now shoots straight against Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs), accusing the USA of plundering the world’s wealth with its own fiat currency. The attack does not stop there. Other, unspecified, currencies urgently need to [...]
Marketing For A Different Standard Of Beauty (Part II)
China’s cosmetic industry is currently maintaining annual sales revenue in excess of RMB 50 billion. This ranks China second place in Asia, and eighth place overall. Since 2001, the cosmetic industry has been in synch with China’s GDP figures growing at a rate of roughly 10 percent each year.
What types of cosmetics are people buying? [...]
China stays quiet amid talk of new financial order
Reuters/October 27, 2008
BEIJING (Reuters) - Just as it was never realistic to think China could single-handedly save the world economy, it’s probably wise to tone down any expectations that Beijing somehow holds the key to a new international financial order…
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Observer ABC: A Lesson in Internet Language and Other Useful Phrases
Let’s make sense of this simulated MSN conversation between a Chinese boyfriend and girlfriend.
First, we need to learn the essential vocabulary:
A. Nanzihan ç”·å汉: is the essence of manliness. Someone who is considered a Nanzihan is typically strong, responsible and courageous.
B. 放鸽å fang gezi: What you say to someone if you two already have plans, but [...]
Marketing For A Different Standard Of Beauty (Part I)
About two years ago, when I first arrived in Taiwan, I had the following conversation with a female Taiwanese colleague:
Me: “What did you do yesterday after work?â€
Colleague: “I played basketball with my sister and lost so I had to buy her a douhua.†(Douhua is a light sweet soupy tofu snack that can be found [...]
Changing Faces - Rise in Cosmetic Surgery in Asia
TIMEasia
What we won’t do for beauty. Around Asia, women—and increasingly, men—are nipping and tucking, sucking and suturing, injecting and implanting, all in the quest for better looks. In the past, Asia had lagged behind the West in catching the plastic surgery wave, held back by cultural hang-ups, arrested medical skills and a poorer consumer base. [...]
Oak Pacific Interactive vice president arrested on suspicion of extortion
Danwei.org/October 23, 2008
A senior employee of Qihoo company yesterday confirmed to the National Business Daily the rumor that the vice president of Oak Pacific Interactive and founder of DoNews, Liu Ren (刘韧), has been arrested for extortion.
Yesterday, a senior employee of Qihoo company revealed when he was receiving an interview from NBD that Liu Ren, [...]
What’s new with the Chinese consumer
McKinsey Quarterly/September 2008
“Chinese consumers are proving to be an elusive target. Another ten million enter the market each year, and the behavior of the hundreds of millions already there is evolving rapidly.
Since 2005, we have been tracking the behavior of these Chinese consumers. Each year, we have interviewed roughly 5,000 living in cities and towns [...]
Quick Observation: China’s White-Collar Workers Have A New Place To Play
With 7.5 million users after only 5 months, you need to KEEP AN EYE ON kaixin001.com (known in China as Kai Xin Wang). This online social network is beginning to challenge Xiaonei with a heavy focus on the adult white-collar worker market segment. Whenever I catch a sneak peak of my Chinese colleagues’ computers during [...]
百度一下：Business Ethics
Instead of “Googling it,†the vast majority of Chinese netizens (internet citizens) would rather 百度一下 (Baidu yi xia). Founded in October 1999, Beijing-based Baidu is the leading internet search engine in mainland China (pronounced BYE DUE). According to recent CR Nielsen figures ranking top Chinese websites by number of unique browsers, Baidu was number one [...]
