Author Zhang Lijia tells in The Millions how she became interested in prostitution in China, after discovering her grandma was a ‘working girl’. It took years to write her bestselling novel Lotus: A Novel.Read More →
Western marketers rely on stereotypes of the Chinese consumers, rather than connecting with them, says China marketeer Ashley Dudarenok in the Holmes Report. “the relatively sudden rise of the Chinese consumer, has given rise to a number of stereotypes,” she adds.Read More →
Your number of followers might be an important metric for popularity, but figuring out who are fake or not is tough, in China, even more than elsewhere, says marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok. And at Weibo the problem is even tougher, she tells at Abacus News.Read More →
Prisoners have to learn how to deal with a changing society before they leave prison. In China, it is obvious they have to learn how to deal with e-commerce, says business analyst Shaun Rein in Inkstone news.Read More →
Despite desperate efforts by the government to push the events of June 4, 1989, at Tiananmen Square into collective amnesia, new documents have shed light on the events. Journalist Ian Johnson reviews the latest publication, The Last Secret: The Final Documents from the June Fourth Crackdown, for the NY Review of Books, and summarize what we have been learning over the past 30 years.Read More →
Tradition and an unequal political system hamper women in their development in China, says author Zhang Lijia at the Addison Gazette. “Women are being left behind in terms of political participation and the salary gap between men and women is becoming wider.”Read More →
Organizing public debate in China is challenging, but former Xi’an professor Chen Hongguo does. Journalist Ian Johnson visited the book club Zhiwuzhi Chen established after he decided to leave university, and discusses how he manages to survive, for the NY Review of Books.Read More →
Chinese surveillance technology, especially social credit systems and facial recognition, is seen by Western media as a final end to privacy. But Tencent watcher Matthew Brennan sees this innovation works differently on the ground, in China, he explains in Metro.Read More →
China might have most internet users of the world, but getting an email to them is often hard, as most communicate through domestic social networks like Tencent’s WeChat. Email, unlike WeChat, did not offer tools to make money, explains China veteran Kaiser Kuo as one of the reasons for thatRead More →
A short video clip of Tencent watcher Matthew Brennan went viral, as he noted facial recognition tools at China’s airports. Most reactions from outside China were rather negative, he notes at CGTN, but in China itself, facial recognition is becoming the new normal. More debate is certainly needed, he adds.Read More →
Chinese apps like Tiktok and WeChat make inroads into the US, and American companies start to copy their features. Fintech analyst Sara Hsu says fierce domestic competition makes those apps better than what we know outside China, as younger generations like their lives through apps. So, if they do well, they can cater for much more than only chitchat, se tells at CGTN.Read More →
Women in China might be regaining some tracking in the economy, they are still lacking political leverage and earn on average less than men, says author Zhang Lijia at Wion. “According to Zhang, if China wants to improve the lives of women, it will first need to accord them equal status in society and politics.”Read More →