China’s Internet Video landscape is growing in a fast pace as the major video sharing sites like Youku and Tudou becoming popular in Chinese people’s daily digital lives. These sites are not only served as user based video sharing networks, unlike Youtube, large number of the Chinese people actually watch their favorite TV show and movies on these sites. Issues of copyrights aside, the Hulu-like business model actually opened up a lucrative market for the Chinese companies. At the same time business opportunities were also created for individuals or small groups who are interested in internet media. The idea of “webisode” started in the western world, a new trend which provides opportunities for individuals or small groups to create media content that can potentially become popular. As we observe, user generated content / webisodes is the latest growing trend on the China’s Internet media market. Let’s see some examples.

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(photo by Xihua reporter 杨磊)

(From 002china.com) Currently the hottest news topic around the world is probably the World Cup. Other than the excellent performances by the teams of various countries, the most talked about subject is perhaps the loud horn noise that fills up the entire stadium from the beginning to the end of each match. These long plastic horns called vuvuzela are causing heated discussions internationally because of the high decibel noises they make.

Although the Chinese team did not make it to the World Cup, perhaps Chinese people can feel satisfied to know that 90% of the globally resounding horns are made in China. Other than the horns, many other products related to football at the World Cup are all made in China.

» » » » Continue reading ‘The annoying “vuvuzela” horns at the 2010 South Africa World Cup are all made in China’

From World Journal, Los Angeles:

Mr. Chen had been renting and living in a 2 bedroom house in South Pasadena, California for many years, recently he was forced to move because his landlord sold the house for 525,000 dollars (short sale). Friends from mainland China asked him why, he always responded angrily, “All you mainlanders are too rich, buying houses with cash, causing me to move!”

As China’s economy rises, a group of China’s new rich with abundant cash funds appeared in Southern California, mostly businessmen, taking advantage of the housing market downturn bought a lot of foreclosures, short sales or not yet listed houses with cash.

» » » » Continue reading ‘China’s new rich set trend buying luxury homes in California with cash’

From SouFun:

Mortgage slaves work hard for half of their lives and save up for the down payment, then work hard for the rest of their lives to pay off the loan. Finally when they can relax and live as home owners, they never have thought that when the mortgage salves are not yet old, the homes are already old, not only old, but also rotted, most of them become the subject for demolition. This is the reality of what currently more than 100 million Chinese mortgage slaves had to face.

According to Deputy Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxin (仇保兴) at the Sixth International Green building and Energy Conservation General Assembly, China has the most new buildings in the world in each year, the newly constructed area in each year is about 2 billion square meters, equivalent to 40% of the world consumption o f cement and steel, however they can only last 25-30 years.

» » » » Continue reading ‘Most constructions in China only have life span of 25-30 years?’

This is actually an old post, the earliest one I could find is from tieba.baidu on March 29, 2006, however, it came back to life these days and was reposted by sohu business review, chinareviewnews.com etc. and was recently referred by the popular commentary talk show Behind the Headlines with Wen Tao (铿锵三人行) on Phoenix TV.

Here is translation of the  content:

I am a typical so-called “economic animal” Japanese businessman, I have been China for over 6 years working and living in 5 different cities in China. I have learned some Chinese in university back in Japan, so I understand Chinese and can read Chinese character though less capable in writing and oral speaking. I have my own understanding about China’s being called as “world factory”, as far as I am concerned, China do achieve a lot in terms of productivity, but it has a lot more to go to fulfill the essence of being “world factory”.

» » » » Continue reading ‘A Japanese opinion on China being world factory’

Live report Shenzhen’s most awesome “snail living group” by 二肥卖

Shenzhen’s housing price is raising every day, depressed many people from buying homes.   But many families are “snail living” (蜗居: like a snail in its shell, living in a small home) in the cargo containers. At the Shenzhen 107 freeway entrance, many cargo containers appeared near the streets. The rent for each cargo container is 6 yuan ($0.90) per day. 

» » » » Continue reading ‘The cheapest housing in Shenzhen: cargo containers’

From Netease:

China Net March 11 reports, the largest denomination of RMB is too small, 100 yuan notes can no longer meet the rapid growth of economy. CPPCC national Committee member, Chairman of the Board at Hong Kong Yu Zhen Holding Group Co. Ltd. Chen Zhendong (陈振东) submitted a proposal at the CPPCC National Committee yesterday that the time for issuing 500 yuan RMB notes has come.

The rumor of 500 yuan design which has been on the Internet since 2007

» » » » Continue reading ‘Proposal of issuing RMB 500 yuan bills’

What is this picture about? Why is this poor woman being blocked out by hundreds of Chengguan (City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcements)? [Netease] On December 17, Wuhan City organized over 800 law enforcement officers to forcefully demolish nearly 40,000 square meters of illegal buildings that are near the Wuhan City to Huangshi City railway construction site. The phenomenon of local famers rushing to “grow houses” is very common.

What does “growing houses” mean?

It is yet another unique phenomenon in China, formed in the last couple of years of amazingly fast social and economic development. When the entire nation is being modernized, countless high raises are erected every year, cities are expending and county’s infrastructures are also expending in order to support the economic growth. Highways, railroads and airports; bridges, tunnels and subway systems… are being built in almost every corner in China. This means some of the existing residential and farmland in the rural areas might be in the blue-print of a governments’ huge project. The government pays for development compensations for every house they have to tear down in order to build the development project. This motivated the farmers to build houses everywhere in the rural area of China. When some of them are permitted by the government but most are illegally and cheaply built. They even start to build houses in the agricultural fields therefore people say the farmers are “growing houses” instead of growing food.

» » » » Continue reading ‘Chinese farmers are “growing houses” instead of growing food’

In early 2007, Niall Ferguson coined the term “Chimerica” to describe the economic relationship between the United States and China. At first, in 2007, Ferguson said Chimerica “seemed like a match made in heaven” – the Chinese did the lending, the Americans the borrowing. China and the US accounted for 40 percent of global growth from 1998 to 2007.

» » » » Continue reading ‘The disaster of “Chimerica” – Can both sides be losers?’

International Herald Leader reporter Liu Ke and Pan Linqing reporting from Beijing and Jinan: A highway across Jining Jinxiang county, Jinxiang town in Shandong Province, dense piles of garlic can be seen everywhere on both sides of the road. A few kilometers away, South Dianzi Street is the largest Garlic market in China. People and cars are going in and out of the market; trucks loaded with garlic speeds by. People on the trucks seem to be in a hurry, but they cannot hide their excitement.

“I am not exaggerating, when two people meet here, the topics of the conversation cannot avoid garlic.” 48-year-old Sun Guangcai said, he is a garlic farmer in Jinxiang County. This county is the nation’s largest garlic planting base. Among the 800,000 mu of cultivated land 700,000 mu grows garlic all year round. It has lived up to its name of “China’s garlic capital”. (1 mu = 0.0667 hectare, 1 hectare = 2.471 acres, s0 1 mu = 0.1648 acres)

Since the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) this year in February, the price of garlic here already rose from 80 cents per kilogram to 8 yuan per kilogram.

» » » » Continue reading ‘The crazy garlic’

[Netease] Chinese TV series “Dwelling Narrowness” has caused national discussion on the continuously raising housing prices currently plaguing the market. Should young people (in China) who were born after 1980’s and just graduated from college be able to buy a home? On this issue, Ren Zhiqiang (任志强) boldly “speaks out directly without reservation”: Young people should not be able to afford houses. (You will find out who this guy is later.)

» » » » Continue reading ‘Young people should not be able to afford houses’

“Made in China, it is everywhere”, recently the Commerce Department produced an advertisement of a international image promoting “Made in China” brand and started to air on CNN Asia. This ad is deliberately made to rebuild and strengthen the “Made in China” reputation in the global market.

» » » » Continue reading ‘“Made in China” ad campaign, and its “secrets”’

From NetEase:

China Securities News reported on June 16: China continuously holding of U.S. treasuries has finally stopped. Reporter was informed from United States Ministry of Finance website as of the end of April this year China’s holding of U.S. Treasury bonds was 763.5 billion U.S. dollars which is lower than end of March of 767.9 billion dollars. This means that China reduced about 4.4 billion dollars of U.S. Treasury bonds in April.

» » » » Continue reading ‘China Reduced 4.4 Billion Dollars of U.S. Treasury Bonds in April’

From Oriental Outlook: reporter: Dai Wenming (戴闻名)

Oxford University graduate Jerome Vaughan (方哲伦) came to Shanghai in 2002, in his mind was only “the Bund (外滩) skyline” which was just started to appear in the western newspapers at the time.

» » » » Continue reading ‘“Swimming Style” Survival’

From NetEast:

Editor’s note: The Boao Asia forum 2009 annual meetings are held on April 17th- 19th in Boao, Hainan, this annual meeting subject is “the economic crisis and Asia: The challenge and the forecast”, the following is the factual record of the Central Europe International Industry and Commerce Institute Professor Xu Xiaonian’s answers to the reporter’s questions.

» » » » Continue reading ‘Xu Xiaonian: Shanghai Forever Cannot Catch Up with Hong Kong’