Happy New Year!

As I trawl through the reviews of the year here in the UK I wish someone could have done something like this . The Chinese South Metropolis Weekly is featuring a spoof review of 2006 in homage to the wave of internet political and film spoofs China saw this year. Seems to be offering more bite and social commentary than the UK media's rather flacid efforts.

Anyway, happy reading and a happy, prosperous New Year!

japanese Christmas greetings

A Japanese Christmas card, seamlessly blending Western and Eastern traditions by sticking a load of traditional Japanese artifacts in a Christmas tree.

more Christmas thoughts

Just to direct you to another's blogger's thoughts on the subject here. I don't agree on several points here, the first being the choice of wilfully dumb picture (what are we to gather from that?) and also that adoption of Christmas trimmings = cultural collapse. As one commenter points out Christmas is another opportunity to boost the economy so its bound to be welcomed. It's also, I think, seen as welcoming and enjoying other cultures and a chance to join in what is seen as an international festival (note the only Chinese commentator's statement: "Just as the slogan of Beijing Olympic Games "one world, one dream". We need cooperate, and also we need to share"). I would also question the positioning of the Chinese Spring festival as such a wholesome affair - I hear plenty of people complaining about the stress, expense, boredom, bad TV and family rows it brings and of course, as a gifting season its the time to ingratiate and bribe.
Having said all that, the article does make the valid point that Christmas in China is adding to the debate about Chinese cultural identity today and its an interesting point about Christmas dictating the manufacturing seasons of China - though how different is that from many other manufacturing dominated country?

Happy Christmas!

And what could be more festive than a Starbucks in Beijing? (There's been some impressive Christmas displays in Beijing and Shanghai but this is the only picture to have survived a technical hitch involving my camera). One mall in Beijing summed the celebration up perfectly as "Christmas Shopping Festival" and as such its increasingly adopted by trendy and/or western-style restaurants and shops. But its not just another reason to go shopping for everyone, an estimated 90 million Chinese Christians might be celebrating Christmas today. An interesting conference report from the Ethic and Public Policy Centre talks about Christianity in China and the impact Christianity could have on China. This article is also interesting as there's parallels between the CCP's attitude to faiths and many other things in China - as one interviewee puts it "China doesn't have many freedoms but there is a lot of tolerance". Also interesting as we hear a lot about China's openess to economic opportunity and material lifestyle trends but little about the increasing interest in spirituality or new value systems.

But its Christmas and I'm really not thinking more on all that, I'm got a heavy eating schedule to stay up with today.
Merry Christmas!

Winter means pelt sellers from the North West coming into the cities to hawk their wares on the streets, presenting incongrous symbol of the life that exists outside the sophisticated urban centres. And for any of you PETA supporters, no, there's no qualms about fur here.

first, we take Shanghai then Manhattan

This is the Shanghai guerrilla store created by design collective Adfunture and da>space.

Apparently New York and London are in their sights next.

Check out the adfunture website and the Da>space website for more on this and other projects. One of my favourite pieces on sale are some Nike trainers tagged with Chinese philosophical sayings by Changsa graffiti artists PEN crew and displayed with a suggestion that the buyer can then sell the unique pieces on eBay for a profit. Illustrating traditional Chinese culture/Western form clash, street fashion, post-modern sensibilities and Shanghai business acumen all in one go.

hospital marketing

Hospital advertising in China is big business. This ad, for the 'Ease Mail [Male] Hospital of BaoDing' emphasises their good practice standards. The cartoons illustrate the hospital' 3 key rules; doctors won't exaggerate symptoms, will pay close attention to patients and the most telling point, the staff won't demand bribes.

things that can happen to your brand in China 1

Now, I might be going out on a limb here but I don't think Mont Blanc are officially in the coach seatcover market.This is not only IP infringement, this is a brand being teleported into another entirely different product universe. But it's also not just Western brands suffering, local stars are also a target: a local business man has applied to use Yao Ming's name for a new brand of sanitary towels and Aidai, a local female singer, has found she is now also a brand of condoms.

Oh, and yes, I can now post pictures again so the paranoia can subside for the moment.

hmmm

Sorry about the lack of posts, for some reason I can't upload photos to Blogger , a stumbling point for my photo-driven blog as I'm sure you can imagine. Now this may be due just to Blogger's new upgrade but I can't help thinking its China's Internet Nanny at it again. The Government has only just unblocked Blogger and Google, Google Images and Gmail have all been playing up recently -usually an indication that The Powers That Be are trying out new Internet censorship toys. Most probably it is the site's upgrade but the fact I'm even considering government interference as a routine possibility is a symptom of blogging in China (I promise, I'm not prone to conspiracy theories by nature).

Ho hum, I'll keep trying, so please bear with me.

research snacks

Snacks laid out for a research group, lower tier China.

Classic Chinese focus group fare usually includes dry crackers, fruit, sweet preserved plums and dried meat snacks. No booze and crisps or sandwiches as might be expected for UK groups. Indian and Thai research houses sometimes provide a full buffet style meal before the groups (sometimes this also constitutes part of the respondents' payment).
Local variation in focus group food is one of my favourite things on the international research circuit; its an unintentional illustration of varying attitudes to hospitality as well as local food tastes.

weighed down

Shanghai schoolgirls wait for a bus.

Something I've just noticed recently; school bags designed like wheelie suitcases. Do students now need more help carrying the growing number of textbooks home perhaps? A sign of increasing educational pressure?

some techno with that waterfall perhaps?

This is a loud speaker in Shanghai's People's Park.

Is nature better natural? A debatable point in China where loud speakers blare out music in parks, nature reserves and scenic landmarks. Added value? Or noise pollution? Unspoilt nature or just boring countryside in need of livening up? All a matter of perspective...

overly optimistic positioning

Hotel Breakfast buffet, Bao Ding, Hebei province

Bao Ding is famous for its donkey meat served in between bun-like pancakes. This is an attempt by my hotel to give the specialty a more western positioning but when does a hamburger analogy stop being useful? Perhaps when the meat patty is made out of donkey?

Ah, food, one of the greatest cultural dividers of them all.

serious fun

Children being taught rollerhockey in a Shanghai park. Another example of China in transition - kit and tuition available but no formal space for it - this is just on a strip of pavement in the park just down from the elderly playing cards and the practising tai-chi masters. Entrepreneurial spirit meets with traditional notions of public spaces and sport.

post summit Beijing

The China-African Summit decorations are now deflated and the lanterns are looking a little knocked around by the wind but there's shiny new promises from the Chinese Government; increase in China-Africa trade, training African professionals, canceling more debts, China-Africa development fund of 5 Billion US, 3bln US dollar in preferential loans, a conference centre for the the African Union and doubling current to assistance to Africa. China is also to establish trade/economic cooperation zones in Africa.

But at the moment what does this mean to Chinese or Africans? From what I can see Beijingers seemed to be more concerned with the details of the traffic restriction over the conference days than anything else. And Africans? My only insight comes from Kenya's The East African and an article that touches on some of the on-ground realities for Chinese African business relationships, which suggests what life in the Special Economic Zones may be like...

"[China's] companies' prices for contracts are cheap because they pay their workers a pittance. The majority are Chinese, crammed into dormitories and sometimes paid less money than local companies pay casual labourers. Also, they don't mix with the community. As one Ugandan complained, they don't chase local women, so don't pay 'in-law levies'. "They take all the money back to China," he whined. Because they tend to import so many Chinese workers, they employ fewer local people than Western companies, the fact that they have a smaller wage differential between them and the 'native' hires notwithstanding.
Chinese companies, used to an environment riddled with corruption back home, are also known to have paid bribes in several instances, including to an African president who took a huge cut for a stadium contract. African Big Men, therefore, could continue to line their pockets with proceeds from trade with China. The masses of the people are unlikely to benefit."

(Full article here)

chanting the crab

Autumn means hairy crab is here again. A delicacy of the crab world it's much in demand but many unscrupulous crab breeders pass off non-hairy crabs as the real thing.
Anti fake hairy crab measures include special licenses and tagging but each year there's a new warnings about fakes.

Today's lesson: nothing is safe from piracy.

(Hairy crab food article here in all its gory detail).

shopping in Inner Mongolia

Was up in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia recently. While I was there I popped into one of the city's malls and saw some interesting fashion ad casting.
First off, the choice of brand spokesmen for the men's wear brands:



I would guess that these are local heroes (not at all implying that its not their dashing good looks getting them these gigs, of course).
Either way, an interesting take on the masculine ideal:





Also Grandsire - what a great name eh?

On the other extreme, the female mannequins were all uber-Aryan types. Row after row of them in fact, all standing outside the shops in the mall, like something out of Doctor Who:



I'm sure that China, as with most things, is the world's biggest producer of shop mannequins but I have yet to see one Asian or even Asianish style shop dummy. I'm sure this isn't a source of fierce racial debate in China but it must be re-enforcing the link between the west and fashion on some level...

Which leads me to Exhibit C.
First off, a classic copy-cat brand strategy, the sound alike:



How many Inner Mongolians recognise the difference between Gucci and Cuuci on a linguistic or product basis? But hey, its a Western model, must be kosher right?

friendship, peace, cooperation and development

Beijing is hosting the third ministerial meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in a couple of days time. The streets are already being decorated with pictures of Sahara sunsets and Chinese lanterns (a rather strange juxtaposition).

Beijing road decorated for summit

A jetta (also a popular car model in Africa) parked next to one of the billboards welcoming the African summit attendees

I don't think I've seen so much effort for one summit, perhaps reflecting that this time China is entertaining in the role of patron.

China's involvement in Africa is relatively recent but they are now investing heavily into the continent which they see as a key future market for Chinese products, a chance to build valuable voting partnerships in the UN and a source of bargain priced resources (especially from African regimes the West won't deal with - Mugabe doesn't consider China a 'very special friend' for nothing).

While the West is still looking at China as the economic opportunity, China is building up the African continent with infrastructure, anti-corruption campaigns and training future African leaders alongside future Chinese government cadres - simultaneously contributing to economic development while also ensuring Chinese businesses have the best possible operating conditions.

People's Daily Online article about the Summit here.

electronic tickets are go

China is now issuing electronic tickets for domestic flights. I traveled with one last week and had a bit of an issue at the security gate when I handed over just my boarding pass and passport instead of the usual passport, boarding pass and ticket;

Security officer: ticket please
Me: I have an electronic ticket
Security officer: I need your ticket
Me: Yes, but it's an electronic ticket (showing email print out of flight details)
Security officer: but where's your ticket?
Security officer's colleague shouting across from the next desk: It's an electronic ticket!
Security officer motions to another colleague, "She doesn't have a ticket"
Me: I have an electronic ticket!
Colleague calls over supervisor,
Me: It's an electronic ticket!
Supervisor grunts and motions me through.

Now, wouldn't you expect an airport security officer to know about electronic tickets? It was all ok in the end as at least I knew I was in the right but what if I wasn't used to air travel procedures? Or wasn't used to electronic tickets? How confusing would that all be? I could perhaps be wondering if the travel agent or the airline had ripped me off somehow... how would I know whose word to take on this?

Illustrates in a small way how even sensible improvements can cause disruption, doubt and distrust - you just can't bank on everyone, even those whose should, to know what's going on. Now apply that to implementing a rebranding, a new look for packaging or a new service procedure and imagine the fun that could be - people thinking sellers are trying to pass off fakes, sales people not sure of the new system, misinformation abounding. Fun all round. Changes are inevitable as the systems and standards here improve but change shouldn't be undertaken lightly.

order, order

China is in flux when it comes to behaviour, some people think its ok to drive down the middle of the road, others know different. Some people will be queuing while others will completely ignore the queue, genuinely unaware of what the protocol is. There's yet to be an established standard of behaviour.

Japan is probably the absolute opposite, everything is prescribed and explained. No ambiguity is allowed and definition and instructions rule.



Wondering where to stop to allow vehicles to pass? Well, just look for the sign. Wondering where to stand when queuing for a public pay phone? Look for the sign (no photo for that, sorry, but in case you're wondering its about a meter back at a 45 degree angle away from the platform edge).

There's nothing left to chance:


No need to worry about where to stand when waiting for your train, your carriage door will be marked out for you.


And wondering what to do if a woman next to you is being sexually harassed? Follow the instructions on the anti-sexual harassment poster. Well, I assume they are explaining how to intervene (though it also does look like it's explaining how to join in). Either way, there's a guide for everything so there need never be any ambiguity, doubt or confusion.

How does this sort of prescription affect people? If you introduce a new category or product into this market for the first time perhaps your first task is not just selling benefits or affinity but also removing ambiguity about usage and occasion?