CNReviews 2008 Summary, Part 2 – May through August

CNReviews 2008 Summary > Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

Sorry, we’re not done with the 2008 retrospectives yet.  Why the lengthy, 自我自恋 (self-referentially narcissistic) posts about 2008?  Because it will help us figure out what we should focus on in 2009.  It was a successful 1st year for CNReviews, but we failed to find an editorial focus.  Part 1 covered January – Apil.  Part 3 will cover September – December.  Here we go:

May 2008

May was marked by the Sichuan Earthquake, the 3 day mourning period afterwards, and Western misconceptions of the mourning period. (On a personal note, I traveled in late May to the CHINICT conference in Beijing and co-sponsored a charity cocktail party May 23.)

Sichuan Earthquake – We felt shocked and powerless.  We did what we could: post the most comprehensive earthquake donation guide on the Web (including Oliver Ding’s SlideShare version), earthquake photos, and posted a first-hand account of walking out of a earthquake death zone and the aftereffects.  We observed that the earthquake bringing people together in China, the three days of mourning and subsequent Western misunderstanding of the period.  WE also highlighted Richard Brubaker’s Hands on Chengdu volunteer efforts.

Olympics – We highlighted traffic problems caused by the torch relay in Shanghai, and posted about Min and Elliott’s trip to the Beijing Good Luck Games.

Web 2.0 and Blogosphere – CNBloggerCon location was announced: Guangzhou.  Min posted a great interview of Yeeyan, the translation community. David wrote about a meeting of the “China Web 2.0 bigs.” Elliott wrote about our joint plans with Christine Lu and The China Business Network.

Business and Economy – Kai shared an eWaste Recycling opportunity.  Elliott wrote about Silicon Valley style startups in China and a Behind the Scenes look of 2007 China Venture Capital.  Kai wrote about the difficulty of grasping the world’s biggest economic boom.  He also shared some tips on converting from USD into RMB. We also invited people to a May 23 charity cocktail sponsored by The China Business Network.

Culture and Society – David continued to Mind the Gap on parental nagging and Mother’s Day. Min shared her experience as a Chinese working for a U.S. multinational.

Current events – Kai noted the Shanghai bus explosion and our skepticism on official explanations.

Beijing – David provided some early info on Beijing Subway Line 10 and then part 2 of his Subway Line 10 guide. Elliott considered Zhongguancun Hotels vs. Chaoyang Hotels for a business trip.

Shanghai – Min posted a great Shanghai Railway Station review and guide.

June 2008

Sichuan Earthquake – Min wrote about the Jet Li One Foundation and the foundation’s relief efforts.  David wrote about Runner Fan Paopao.

Web 2.0 and Blogosphere – Elliott wrote about a seed of an idea for a US-China blogger meetup which ultimately became the China 2.0 Tour.  We also shared about our meetups with the Beijing and Shanghai CNBloggerCon 2008 committee.  We also announced the blog network OpenWeb.Asia which David is part of.  Kai covered in-depth the CIRC Chinese Internet Research Conference (liveblogged day 1, roundup of blogs and links, and liveblogged day 2). Elliott wrote about the Supernova 2008 conference on distributed conversations, and gaming.  We also announced the name-change from Kijiji.cn to Baixing.com.  Finally we discovered and fixed a duplicate content problem on our blog that was killing our traffic.

Culture and society – Elliott wrote about his memories of Hong Kong in June ‘89. Kai wrote some random observations about traveling out of China (part 1 and part 2) and about watching movies in China.  Min shared some traditions of the Duanwu Festival holiday.

Education – Min wrote one of our most popular posts – rankings of China’s universities.

Beijing – David covered: Beijing Subway Line 8, Beijing Airport Express (and surrounding expressways), Beijing Airport Transit Guide.

July 2008

The month was pregnant with anticipation for the Olympics and we shifted our focus accordingly.

Web 2.0 and Blogosphere – We posted on CN Reviews blog statistics, and anonymity in the blogosphere allowing for freer speech.  Kai posted an exceptional post on openness and control within social networks entitled “the wisdom of the crowds, the folly of the mobs“. Elliott posted on a chance meet up with Paul Denlinger at the TechCrunch summer party.  We also aired a number of interviews including: Tangos Chan, Victor Koo of Youku. Calvin Chin of Qifang.cn, and Hui Xu of HiPiHi.

Current events – Kai posted on Wild Card Zheng Jie eliminated from Wimbledon, and had a popular post about idiotic conversations on the web and why the US will not boycott the Olympics.  Elliott also asked if “the West is impossible to please?” and Kai followed up on terrorist claims to the Shanghai bus explosion.  Meg also posted on visa problems for foreigners including the unfortunate eviction of our own Meg Stivison’s boyfriend, Stick.

Olympics – David posted on Beijing driving restrictions during Olympics, Kai posted on $1 meals and $1131 internet access at the Olympics.

Business and economy – Foreign Bank Account requirement (FBAR) for US citizens;  Buy a WFOE in Shanghai

Beijing – An amazing Beijing Subway Guide by David; pictures of the Beijing Apple Store media preview, opening of the Beijing Airport Express, Beijing Subway’s new tickets and faregates. Our friend Eric’s Olympic Home for rent. Meg shared about the changes in Tiananmen Square.

August 2008

We entered August with some tech coverage but much nervous anticipation and excitement about the Olympics.  IMHO our Olympics coverage rocked!

Web 2.0 and Blogosphere – We aired several video interviews including: Elliott, Wang Jian Shuo (part 1, part 2), Benjamin Joffe of Plus 8 Star, Fritz Demopoulos of Qunar.com, and William Moss of Imagethief.   We also noted the Twitter #080808 meme, participated in Blog Day 2008, and attended WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco and Elliott posted about WordPress SEO mistakes.

Olympics – 88+ stars sing Beijing Welcomes You, and we provide a translation and a World of Warcraft mashup video.  Kai Pan was featured on BBC World Service Radio, and an interesting Olympics Pregnancy meme spread around the internet.  Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman were announced as Opening Ceremony theme song singers (updated with video and lyrics), Yao Ming announced as Olympic flagman, and we published our most popular post of the year: Beijing Olympic Games Online video stream guide.  Fiona Lee captured local celebrations of the beginning of the Olympics, the omnipresent Jia You cheer,  and David captured the Olympification of the streets of Beijing. Thalia captured a widespread view that NBC makes the opening ceremony look better than CCTV, Min speculated on the Water Cube secrets to smashing world records, and Fiona wrote about how to buy Olympic tickets for “sold out” events.  Thalia captured the Google 2008 Olympic Logos, and we highlighted Sky Canaves’ experiments with exploding Olympic lunch boxes.  Elliott posted an example of how Chinese press harmonized the New York Times through its translation to present a flawless, happy face on the Games. Finally, Fiona speculated on what’s next for China after the Olympics.

Opinion – Elliott praised George W. Bush for handling US-China relations well. Kai asked “Will the Olympics bring us together just for a moment?“  James wrote a well-commented post on how Westerner’s misunderstand China, Elliott wrote about the online evisceration of David Brooks, and guest writer Xiaodi Zhang wrote about Reactions to Liu Xiang and the nature of Chinese national pride. Kai felt compelled to add his on thoughts on American identity vs. the Chinese identity.

Culture and society – James wrote of the dating diary of an expat mattress wrestler,  American identity vs. the chinese identity, Jia you meme, NYT harmonized in translation

Travel – Hengdian day trip from Shanghai

Beijing – David covered the new Beijing South Station and Beijing Tianjin High-Speed Railway (part 1, part 2).  Elliott noted the opening of the new Beijing US Embassy. Meg wrote that the hidden aspects of Beijing were disappearing.  Elliott also posted a Jade Palace Hotel review.

August was undoubtedly the most exciting month in CNReviews history.  In Part 3, we’ll summarize the rest of the year, which was relatively quiet for us except for CNBloggerCon and the global financial meltdown.