At 11:50 am BJ time 5/15, we just received via a comment on our earlier post of what appears to be a first-hand account of a 12 hour, 30 kilometre walk by students and teachers from the earthquake danger zone. We are posting the comment exactly as it was left (with a few typos corrected). Min is trying to contact the writer to interview her and to verify the story by phone or email. Stay tuned while we learn more…
Update by Min: I just talked to Zeng Juan (曾娟), an English teacher from 四川理工大学 成都美术学院 (Chengdu College of Fine Art) for about 15 mintues. The following report is an interview done by Juan after 64 students and 3 teachers (冉，钱 and 秦) went back from Tai An (泰安) to Chengdu(成都) safely. Three groups of students, each led by a teacher, went to Tai An town around Qingcheng Mountain (青城山) for outdoor sketch last Sat. (May 10). Supporting each other, 67 students and teachers walked for 12 hours and got back to college at around 9:30 am, 19 hours after the Wenchuan earthquake.
Juan also told me the current status in Chengdu and her college: None of the students in the colleges in Chengdu were hurt by the earthquake itself. But in extreme panic, a few of them got hurt by jumping from second floor of the building. She was at home when the earthquake happened and she thought it was a natual gas tan explosion when she heard huge sound and saw smoke. Currently, most of the local students in her school have gone home and the students from other provinces are staying in the conference hall and art museum of the school. Quan felt very sad about one of her friends who lost his wife in the earthquake. She works in Mian Yang (绵阳). — 6:27pm May 15.
New Long March–Walking Out of Death Zone in Earthquake China (by Juan Zeng)
As a teacher in Chengdu Arts College, Sichuan Technology University, Chengdu, I’d like to report the Long March about my students who had walked out the death zone in earthquake.
After 12 hours walking about 30 kilometres without any food or drink in heavy rain and wind, they escaped from death. Besides this, they helped others to escape. They are my heroes. I’d like to record this for my wonderful students to show my respect. The love is the way to life and hope. (more…)
There has been a tremendous outpouring of energy from the blogosphere and on Twitter to determine the best way to help out. This post provides a guide to how you can donate toward China earthquake relief efforts. We’ve now compiled over 35+ ways to give. Please add comments and links and I will keep this post updated. A SlideShare version of this post was also created by Oliver Ding.
I. Red Cross and various conduits
There is widespread consensus that donating to the Red Cross is the most reliable way to provide immediate disaster relief. Tuesday night BJ time, Bill Bishop (Niubi) hosted an auction with 15 mostly Chinese friends, and the consensus was the best way to give is to provide funds directly to the Sichuan provincial Red Cross. The next best option would be to give to the national Red Cross of China. (more…)
A groundswell of information is being shared and produced about the devastating Sichuan earthquake yesterday that hit south-west China near Chengdu, Sichuan. Coverage all over the place but check IfGogo.com, Shanghaiist, Danwei, GlobalVoices. If you are on Twitter, you can follow the people that account ChinaList follows and that’s a start at tapping into some of the people in China. Or you can use Summize to search Twitter for the term: 地震 or earthquake. People’s Daily coverage here and reports Premier Wen heading out to the affected region. CNN reports 3,000 dead, 900 buried in quake, according to Xinhua.
Via Twitter and YouTube, I’ve been following Christine Lu, founder of China Business Network, on her first week back in Shanghai. Her vlog is a great resource for people and companies who are considering entering the China market. Subscribe to her feed now .
Here’s a quick guide to the interviews and what I thought were the most interesting points. I only embedded a few videos…just follow the links to Christine’s blog!
Erica Kerner, Director of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for Adidas
Background: 15+ years in Greater China, 10 years in Shanghai. “Shanghai is my home.”
There are interesting challenges for consumer marketers reaching the domestic China markets. Huge intergenerational differences exist between the grandparents who went through the Cultural Revolution; parents who are getting their “first everything” - first car, first apartment; and kids who have everything as soon as they are born.
Relationships are important in business worldwide. But in China, there is a “duality” between those you hold in your “inner circle” and those outside. Those in your “inner circle” will do anything for each other, but if you are not in that “inner circle” then you are “s*** on a stick”
This duality made sense in a resource poor, people abundant country like China. You can’t spread your resources too thin.
Advice for people considering China market entry. Do NOT try to “make a big splash”, but take a step by step, cautious approach.
If your prospective Chinese partner thinks they have the upper hand, expect long, protracted negotiations.
In the creative field, you can add value as a foreigner because you bring an “outside influence” and a perspective on trying to create something special, not just focusing on making money.
Foreign creatives may come from an upbringing infused with a cultural milieu that brings a different eye to creative challenges.
US perceptions are shaped by US mainstream media, like the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. You have to take into account the “ulterior motives” of US media (what are these, Shaun?) to take into account their editorial bias.
China is entering a new phase. In 1997, it was mostly a producer, export-led economy. Today, 2008, domestic consumption is fueling growth. This has led to the need for CMR’s market research services.
Significant change in Chinese attitude. In 1997, there was a feeling of pessimism: “we are behind, and we need to catch up to the West.” Today, 2008, there is a much more optimistic feeling. “Every expects their paycheck to go up, for there to be more.”
Role of foreigners: (1) Provide broader perspective. Shaun does not agree with the point that “everything is different in China” so international experience can be applied. (2) Represent corporate culture. He used the example of Goldman Sachs. In order to use your corporate culture as an advantage, you need to bring that into the local market through people familiar with the home office.
Shaun also talks about the need for empowered local management with home office credibility so that can move quickly to respond to the market and not be second-guessed.
This is by far the most interesting interview to me, for some reason.
Tudou is now the #1 video sharing site (aka “the YouTube of China) with 53% user share, 60 MM unique visitors/month, and 10 MM unique visitors/day.
Leadership was due to first mover advantage. They started out with students but now have user demographics similar to the internet at large in China: 46% female, geographic and income mix similar to overall China internet, strength in 20-30 year olds.
Customer acquisition purely through word of mouth.
Differences between Foreign-run (MNC) and homegrown China startups. Even though staff is comparable in quality and background:
Difference 1 - Mindset - startups have a survival mindset, and feel like they have to grow or die. MNC employees work as employees but startup employees take ownership.
Difference 2 - Strategic Importance - Multinationals consider China “part of their globalized strategy” and part of the future, so “lets give it a try.”
Difference 3 - Decision making and independence - Multinationals may put their local teams on a short leash and not allow them to make decisions independently.
How foreigners can be successful - bring a new perspective, seek new opportunities, and be creative. Areas where foreigners have been most successful (in her mind) is fashion, design, and art.
Background: from Singapore, lived in China for 5-6 years
She is working on a project called Boomtown Beijing
She believes that Western POV is shaped by a very narrow range of information about China, with little showing modern China or “people having fun”…mostly covering people in China under “extreme conditions.”
Role of foreigner in China is to “represent a system of knowledge” based on language, culture, and upbringing. This is hard to replicate. So it is true that “more people in China speak English” but that doesn’t mean foreigners can’t play a role.
The job of foreigners is to “transmit this knowledge” and “institutional memory” to the local partners and employees that they work with.
Most people with some China experience may find that they already agree with most of the perspectives in these interviews. But I think most foreigners looking at the China market must learn to listen and appreciate the complexity of Chinese society and business culture today before coming to a “snap” judgment on how they think things really are. In my opinion, nothing in China is as simple as it might appear at first glance!
CNReviews is a blog about China’s blogosphere, travel, entrepreneurship, and the urban lifestyle of the generations born in the 70s and 80s in China. David Feng is based in Beijing, where he authors TechBlog86, runs Beijingology, and serves as President of BeiMac Union. Elliott Ng is an venture-backed Web 2.0 entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Min Guo is a Shanghai-based Internet analyst and blogger.
There is widespread consensus that donating to the Red Cross is the most reliable way to provide immediate disaster relief. Tuesday night BJ time, Bill Bishop (
