Live from Beijing!

Many people know that China is currently the second largest Internet market in the world, and is poised to overtake the United States sometime soon.  However, little is known outside of China about how Chinese online behavior differs from that in the United States, and what kinds of innovation are taking place within the Chinese Internet.  That’s the focus of this blog.

About Me

If you’re really interested, you can read my detailed bio.  In short, I live in Beijing, am reasonably fluent in Mandarin, and have been involved in China off and on since 1981.  I grew up as a software geek, and later in life got hooked by Silicon Valley startups, participating in five “interactive media” companies between 1992 and 2003.  In 2004, my wife and I moved our family to China so our kids could learn Chinese (read about that here).  After a year-long sabbatical, I co-founded my sixth Internet media company, focused on the information needs of middle-class Chinese consumers.  As planned, we sold the company two years later.  I now work for the acquirer (Global Sources) as a senior executive responsible for our online strategy in China.

What’s unique about the Chinese Internet?

Every day I learn more about how Chinese consumers use the Internet.  I’m fascinated by this subject, especially since it turns out that my in-going assumptions were all wrong.  Perhaps like many others, I had assumed that China was simply following in the footsteps of Internet development in the United States.  By “development,” I don’t mean issues related to hardware, protocols, and enabling software.  In these areas, China is using similar global standards (such as the LAMP stack and the rapid adoption of Ajax).  Instead, I assumed the Chinese consumers would use the Internet in the same way that Americans do, enjoying the same types of applications and innovations. 

Looking back, I now see how silly I was.  Two societies with radically different languages, histories, and current political systems are undoubtedly dissimilar in their approach to a new communications medium.

So here’s my growing list of what makes the Chinese Internet unique.  I hope you will comment and contribute to it!