We had 3 speakers:

1. Larry Salibra, CEO Appartisan Mobile Apps, Guangzhou – speaking on apple mobile app development market
2. 郑伟彤 (Peter Zheng), Product Director in Kingdee, speaking on Business Model of Kuaidi100.com
3. Ryan McNamara , Marketing Director, I-Contain Wireless Technology Solutions, speaking on how GPS tracking affects online businesses.

Like I always say, I need feedback and hear what people want in order to have a successful anything, and we had a rocky road with the internet meetups, trying different formats, rooms, lengths, and schedules. But seems the best situation is to have a round table introduction of everyone in the room, speaker, 10 minute break, 2nd speaker, break, and then the 3rd speaker, to a case study, and then open floor networking and business card exchange.

Some people have even said they would prefer just networking, no need for the speakers…but I think it “puts meat on the bones” and gives some topic and education to the event. Even when there is just pure open networking at the end, most people filter out after 30 to 45 minutes.

And we don’t have drinks or food at the event…again, this is a free event, and the only sponsor right now really is Kingdee for giving us the venue, and the volunteers helping organize and speakers for spending their time to make the presentation and deliver it.

Overall, I am really happy passing our fifth meeting, and hopefully will plan out the next 6 or 7 meetings upfront with dates and get a long term agreement with Kingdee for the room.

Already outlining August (I know, there is July still to determine) where we have a speaker who wants to discuss intellectual property in China and trademark protection for ecommerce businesses…looking for a second speaker to complement it, already have some leads to fill it in.

Other topics coming up are payment processors, social learning / collaboration, and maybe advanced ecommerce listing tools.

I really enjoy planning these events, but seems a long term project with long term value, if kept up and consistent.

Incoming search terms:

• e commerce logo

I have been in touch with her on weibo (Chinese twitter) and its great she is explaining there are more developments in Chinese marketing and internet promotions.

As I have said over and over…as the global economy gets more “flat”, equal, and competitive — currencies evening out (US dollar declining) , inflation (China labor and raw materials are skyrocketing), and education / information flow (internet and telecommunications) — there is no longer “easy money” for Chinese factories…they will have to apply more “soft skills”, management skills, use a CRM (client relations management) system. All those things a factory manager would laugh and say “no need” years ago. The customers were banging down their doors in the past, giving them wire transfers quick and easy…

Times have changed.

And Chinese businesses, especially factories for the export business, need to adapt. Fion, at Timev asked me to let people know about their upcoming PM (project management) event in Beijing on June 17. I really wish I could go, but I’ll be having events and meetings down in South China. Anyway, here is her shared info on the event:

It would be more than great if you can say something about this Beijing PM meeting, which is scheduled on 17 June. The website is http://pm.timev.com. As you may know, Product Manager isn’t so “familiar” to Chinese Internet world yet. Some people just don’t know what PM means, or how important this role may play in a company. Maybe you would like to discuss this topic a bit in your blog?

And please do mention our PM meeting in Beijing. We have invited almost 20 senior Internet PMs to be our speakers this time, including Chairman and CEO of Qihoo 360, CEO of meitu.com, VP of 58.com, founder of 8684.cn, CEO of EICO Design, and more from Bing, Motorola Mobile Devices, Baidu.com, qunar.com. We believe this meeting will be China’s biggest PM meeting so far. And we expect all speakers and participants will enjoy a good time of learning, sharing and meeting.

Even I was not exactly clear what she meant by PM (product management), I normally think of PM as a PROJECT manager.
Here she calls PM as a product manager, a person who manages a specific product. Not necessarily a PHYSICAL product, but in the internet world, a web platform, a web service, as a platform. Fion goes on to clarify on a product manager:

Well, that’s a typical question, I’m actually not sure whether I understand product manager correctly A product manager is sometimes considered as a bit similar to Project Manager. There’s saying that the difference between the two. A Product Manager is required to “think”, about the design of his product, about what the users may need, about how better user experiences can be created and about whether this product may make profit for the company; while the project manager is focusing on the execution and the performance under certain conditions concerning time, cost, resources, etc.

A product manager is responsible for the overall and ongoing success of a product. In the internet world, a product could be a website, an APP, a software… But I believe product manager can be find in any industry. I read an article on http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/11/ff_bloodwork/2/ about how to redesign a blood test report and help people read it more easily. This, as I understood, could be a work by a product manager too. Read this item on wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_manager. And just write what you think about PM. Actually, you kind attention and interest to this meeting is itself an support to us.

And, here’s another interesting thing. I @ you at sina weibo earlier, telling you that I replied you email and asking if you’ve see what we do to promote the PM meeting. Then a friend of mine, who’s actually my previous colleague @ me and said it’s wired I’m talking to you like that, and suggested that I could have private messaged you. Ya, isn’t it an interesting thing? I actually did @ you openly on purpose to test/utilize the openness of weibo. But in some way I think this story shows that most people are still using and considering weibo as private, amusive and even a small circle of his friends…

Still, my main point here is that China continues to make progress in marketing and “white collar” skills. Moving away from making widgets in a factory, and more high tech products and services. Its natural in the development of any country, and for Americans, it means we (as Americans) have to keep on top of our marketing and sales skills to be competitive globally.

Incoming search terms:

• chinese seo 2011
• xiamen china seo

Life is the path you make it…and when people ask me how I get myself into certain situations….its such a long string of events….networking, knowing people, as well as being in the right place at the right time.

James Sung, my friend in Shenzhen for a few years, has a consumer electronics factory (the bluetooth factory I visited earlier this week) and he invited me to a TV series his CCTV reporter contact is doing, foreigners in China and their consumer electronics inventions. He asked me to present about the electrapour and the ecommerce services I am providing.

The video was recorded last Thursday in Shenzhen, and then aired today (Monday) at lunchtime. Actually a few friends in China sent me a QQ without my even telling them that they had seen me on TV! CCTV2 is a fairly well viewed television show.

Watch the CCTV full Video (video site2 here , I am in the 21:30 minute for about 45 seconds. Youtube (for those outside China) below:

The reporter really liked the LED pourer, Electrapour, maybe he will become a reseller too!  Haha, but I guess it is a simple, direct eye catching product….seems I got more facetime on the TV show because of it.

It was double translated, the reporter couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak Chinese, so we had to have a middleman translate his questions, and then translate my answers.

James Sung spoke about his Peel product, that converts an Apple Itouch into an Iphone. Askan was there too, talking about his mini projector product. Then they had us walk down the outside of the office to look especially professional to end the clip.

Some thought DON’T SHOW IT ON CHINESE TV! YOU WILL GET THE IDEA COPIED. Come on, if someone wants to copy it, it will get copied! That is one of the worst things an entrepreneur can do, is to keep quiet and not tell people their idea for fear of it being copied.

My friend in Hong Kong, Rayfil Wong, had been on an American Inventor reality TV show and said that 70 – 80% of a product’s success is based on the marketing efforts. Its also amazing I have been sitting next to him in boot hk coworking space for months and hadn’t had that conversation….Just amazes me again and again, even with the internet and social media, we still do not optimize the network surrounding ourselves each day.

So how does this happen? Maybe consistently trying, letting people know what you are upto. Not giving up. Not getting discouraged when people may tell you to give up.

It also comes from networking. I believe these Shenzhen ecommerce meetups have been helping, its all a long term investment….meeting people, learning, networking…..getting known. Its a test of will and determination.

Incoming search terms:

• rayfil wong campusfork
• tv interview foreigners in china

In Hong Kong I have been having tons of meetings with foreigners rushing into the Chinese consumer market. With the fiveislands team in Dongguan and Hong Kong, we can offer the expertise and tools to compete.

98products I learned the hard way, Chinese shopping carts, payment gateways, baidu SEM campaigns and mistakes….jeez I learned the hardest way possible I think, but I learn by being on the ground. I will be adding the Chinese bar products to the cashncarry line of products, along with the photograph camera accessories, photo albums, video game supplies. Talking to a Shenzhen product designer, Karta, about selling his bike accessories in China too, as well as a whole line of products from friends and contacts in USA, Iceland, and other countries.

This is what I had been trying to do for years loadpipe dream and finally I have the support and tools to EXECUTE the plan. But it was also just taking time to learn the local Chinese market, build up a network and knowledge base here over the past few years….and also I see the Chinese ecommerce market more developed and accepting of online payment and shipping…so a few years ago the market maybe wasn’t as ready as it is now. I remember customers having to come to the office to buy, even if it was less than 50rmb (7 usd) value of an order.

Anyway, hoping to build up a portfolio of foreign products and assist them in online distribution in the China market. After years of research and networking, combined with my new deal with Five Islands, I think it’s a pretty sweet set of offerings we can offer people.

Will also keep building up community, networking events, coworking space, and generally an environment of supportive and knowledgeable ecommerce experts in Hong Kong and South China!

Bridging China and USA/foreign internet business….definitely not an easy feat….reading about Baidu trying to buy an English search engine, and google leaving china last year..bridging China to the foreign internet, is uncharted waters. Sure there is DHgate and Lightinthebox , alibaba’s aliexpress, but not really out there to help the gweilo in China.

If it was easy everyone would be doing it. If you or someone you know is interested, contact us at fiveislands.cn, I’ll soon be adding a banner ad on this blog too….creating win-win synergies and exploring the Chinese ecommerce business opportunities together. Also bridging Chinese companies who want to do more ecommerce in USA, have alliances, partners, and friends in America who can help there as well. CONNECTING is what I love to do, and bridging cultures….taming the chaos (that make you fee better Leon!?).

Incoming search terms:

• banner cash & carry shop

1) What do Internet marketers need to do differently in the China market as opposed to other areas of the world?

do not just copy and paste with a translator….domain should also not just be the .cn extension…… make a memorable brand for CHINESE! common domains are the pinyin (chinese characters converted into western characters) mixed with very basic, easy to remember/pronounce english words. also numbers are good as they are also in the chinese character sets too.

but really, china is nothing like the rest of the world, sure you can sell the products or servicrs you do in the west, but your website layout and brand i suggest is independent and you should have a web marketing team based inside china.

2) What has been the most successful Internet marketing program or technique you have seen?

in chinese market? there is a chinese company that helps chinese companies buy from usa, they had a twitter (as well as the chinese versions, weibo) that if their tweet was retweeted, they would get a coupon….very viral, very fast….

Just giving a small coupon or bonus anywhere in the world is effective….but seems more effective in China….saving a few yuan goes a long way in getting attention.

3) What misconceptions do Westerners have about Internet marketing in China?

sure, the market size and opportunity is huge in china, now more then ever. but its not always price. chinese now want to show the world they are “equal” and have “made it”, so dont compete on price, but instead on this fact….that chinese are rich and sucessful and now can pay the same price,or more for foreign brands.

But being in China a few years now, I am almost thinking like a Chinese mind….so annoying watching foreign companies RUSHING IN to the GOLD MINE to make money to the billion population market…..not having any clue and thinking they can just copy and paste translating it into Chinese.

I know its hard for impatient gweilos (like me) to realize, but you can’t come rushing into China thinking business is done the same as in America…..really its a completely different world.  Not just government regulations (guanxi) but also the consumer mindset.

Incoming search terms:

• internet marketing in china
• web marketing in china
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• marketing differences in china
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• the way to do web marketing in china
• marketing differences china u s
• marketing differences china vs usa
• web marketing china
• marketing differences in china and us

So when I was asked to speak on this subject…..I had to take a second look and question the girl, Fion who was emailing me, her reply below:

Hi Mike,

Ok, your newer photo and title received.

For the topic, we think it would be still interesting to talk about SNS promotion and even facebook, because many Chinese companies are also using it. Actually, my previous job was in a online gaming company whose games were all operated in North American and Europe. They did a lot on facebook and were very interested in it. So, it would be nice if you can talk about SNS promotion. Let us know what you think.

so…….it is true and something I have been saying forever….by blocking these social tools inside of China, it is holding back business, sales, marketing, and networking with the outside world. How can an export company, which needs to gain foreign customers in order to grow, and survive, continue to be competitive in the global ecinomy if the government forbids them to utilize social platforms where their target customers “reside”. As social media continues to be integrated into SEO it will be harder and harder for businesses inside countries that control and regulate information to be as effective, which is sad because I love the Chinese business spirit…and having them setback from international business because government policies is such a waste of mind and opportunity.

In my presentation obviously I do not go into this, but I spoke about

• benefits of social media promotion for your business,
• listening to customer
• social media monitoring
• engaging with an audience
• Acting, having a plan to react to customer feedback – An example of customer service in action is Dell. This end consumer, Savannah Spangler, is complaining about her PC not working well, even saying the CEO of Dell, Michael Dell, “sucks”. Notice that they dell cares department addresses it, by asking if they can help….and then she RETWEETS it on her stream to show that they are listening and replying.
• how to grow a following
• measuring social media, klout

– on this blog I have mentioned klout optimization and how it is measuring social media people, both on a score and in a certain industry. It is quite amazing, and we need to be on top of it as it develops.

• case study on Dell’s social media command center – Late last year, Dell opened a social media command center, taking proactive measures in the quickly exploding social media world, listening to its customers, and not sitting back and waiting for others, but being a leader in social media.
• employees having their own social media account – Again using Dell as an example, we see staff having their own “work” twitter account (maybe these staff have a personal twitter account for off hours? cannot confirm), but notice how they use twitter to talk to other team members, customers, and just showing the “behind the scenes” action of the Dell business.

I am pretty passionate about social media, see the exponential power of connecting people in similar industries and feelings….and how like wildfire we can grow our network and expand our horizons. How social media is PEOPLE, and SEO is/was websites connecting to each other….

It was my 3rd time to present at the timev event, and I am happy to meet so many motivated and exciting Chinese internet enthusiasts.

If you want, you can download the presentation – Winning in Social Media 2011 xiamen timev

Incoming search terms:

• china seo vs social media
• english media in china
• english social

Seems a lot of that money is going towards international expansion outside of the US market. And…….CHINA seems to be red hot on their list………so many of my friends have been chatting about it the past week or so…..job offers flying around, offices opening…..

Will they be another eBay? Coming into China and trying to copy/paste their technology and translate it into Chinese? Or like Google and stop listening to Chinese government and un-filtering their results? Or will they try to do it like Yahoo China, and instead do an equity swap with a Chinese internet company like Alibaba and hand over daily operations for a minority stake?

My friend Marshall Taplits at Shenzhen Standard just published a great layout of the current group buying marketing in China and how Groupon China will have to react to compete.

Marshall writes it a bit more “politically correct” and luckily on my personal blog here I can say what I want to say…..Definitely groupon has play CATCH UP in China…..there have been copy-cats out here almost since groupon opened its doors (and especially since it got popular over a year ago).

Love it or hate it, when a new product comes out in USA, other countries copy it. But they don’t only COPY it, they tailor fit it for their culture, their people’s tastes!

And how many foreigners are they going to hire? With a foreign headquarters, you will need English speaking management, and translating everything back and forth English to Chinese and Chinese to English. I bet many of those Chinese groupon sites only operate in the Chinese language, have already built their technology, and customized it for the Chinese market, and move very quickly to changes in the market, without having to wait for foreign headquarters to approve a new budget or changes in strategy.

Interesting to see the outcome from this.

Incoming search terms:

• groupon mercedes
• groupon mercedes china
• groupon shenzhen

This Shenzhen ecommerce meetup came from a open forum discussion over a month ago on the Shenzhen stuff internet marketing group I made years ago. People had been asking for me to call a meeting and get all like minded people together. So this wasn’t a two or three day prepped event, it had been discussed for a few weeks via online forum.

Still, I was trying to guage what people wanted, I didn’t want it to be another “bar drinking networking event”, but rather a way to connect chines and foreigners in a neutral setting focused on business.

In the past I had presented at a punch party speaking about USA & China business differences with Guang Yao in the Nanshan High Tech Park, at the King Dee building, and after talking to the group afterwards, they told me I could use this new King Dee company meeting rooms for other events in the future if I ever needed. So I remembered this for this event, as it’s a very nice, professional setting in a high tech park…only thing is its hard for people to find, especially foreigners, as it’s a new area in the high tech park, and taxi drivers don’t know the names of the streets yet.

There were 3 speakers for this first event, I would speak generally / high level on the differences I have noticed between Chinese and American / European (western) ecommerce, Guang Yao would speak about Chinese Social Media (download pdf slides), and Huck Liang would speak about Importing goods into Mainland China via Hong Kong.

As expected, people had trouble finding the new King Dee building. A map and photo was posted on the event page, and….as much as I didn’t want to, I listed my mobile number so people could call if lost or needed more specific directions (thinking to setup a separate phone number now to post online). So while it was supposed to start at 1pm, we allowed general meet and greet between attendees while I and others were doing are best to text and voice call people to direct them to this location.

Approximately 50 people attended the event, from Shenzhen standard email blast to the Shenzhen stuff event page, couchsurfing post, and direct invites from myself and others attending, I definitely feel it was a success, especially for the first meeting of its kind.

I spoke from about 1:30 to 2, we took a quick break, then Guang Yao spoke. I had asked him to present in English, but he insisted he was more comfortable to speak in Chinese as he is not confident of his English. A common issue, I and other foreigners here just have to learn that we are in China, and if we want to do business here and learn, we have to become fluent in Chinese!

Huck couldn’t attend, but he gave me his notes on how to present on importing into China, which I presented on the whiteboard.

After the 3 presentations, I wanted a bit of an open forum about what the next steps are for the group, how often to meet, what topics / focus, good day or time to meet. Seems people liked the Saturday afternoon, and the fact that its not in a bar or restaurant. I think when its in a bar or restaurant, mainly only foreigners go. Some wanted to have meetings focused on startups, new technologies, comparing English and chinese business practices. I am more interested in keeping a more focused group based around internet marketing and ecommerce, but maybe we’ll branch off into a couple different groups.

Date hasn’t been set yet, but approximately 1 month from now, after the Chinese New year, on a Saturday afternoon in the same King Dee meeting rooms. Looking for speakers, hope to keep it focused on internet technology and marketing.

Incoming search terms:

• importing goods from hong kong to shenzhen
• presentation whiteboard
• setup e-commerce in china

Its such a stupid game of WHACK A MOLE.  I remember when twitter was getting blocked, and there were tons of new API versions popping up all over, and people were tweeting, you can break 1 twitter, but you can’t break a million.

It is such a waste of time, the people that are employed to monitor the internet, filter, block – and then the other side rehosting, rebuilding, learning to get around it in different ways….SO STOPID

Sure there can be the version that the Chinese government approves, the Chinese company version that cooperates and understands the governemnts reasoning and requests for filtering such information, reporting to Beijing about profiles it has banned and information is has controlled….
But in any system where there must be a central point controlling the flow of information, BY DEFINITION it will limit the creativity and growth.
Stepping back and looking at any LARGE corporation in America….they suffer the same issues….by being too big, and having too much “Red tape” for a worker’s new R&D project to be recognized creates so much buracracy that the idea is best off being funded in a new startup venture – where ideas can blossom and new ideas are supported rather then scrutinized.
This will be a rather shorter post, but just one that again and again keeps holding me back from seeing China as a technology leader in the near future. Sure it has amazing growth domestically, and there is a growing middle class with savings to spend and a hunger for foreign products and brands……but it is an almost isolated entity from the world…..
Maybe it fits the idea that the old “great wall” to keep people outside of China (or was it to keep people in?) The great INTERNET firewall is working to keep “ideas” outside of China….keep (or try) to keep its people inside, and at the same time, keeping innovation and creativity frozen and trapped inside some beautiful minds of the young Chinese I have met these past few years.
That is the saddest part….the younger generation in China…..such a conflict of their parents and grandparents conservative ways as well as the government……surrounded by their new curiousity and exposure to the Western world and technology…..
How long can the new, young generation in China stay restricted by this government filtering of information and ideas?

Incoming search terms:

• future of chinese internet filtering

But really….it feels good to be back in China, seeing friends and businesses. Shenzhen is a cool city, I do see opportunity here….but really, I just can’t get past this problem of internet censorship.

For those of you who don’t know (seems on twitter people were asking me too) the websites that are blocked in China include:

• Facebook

• Twitter
• Youtube
• Foursquare

And tons others….whatever the Chinese government feels threaten to harm the minds of its Chinese population – essentially those websites they cannot call on the phone and have delete / moderate user content. This is what the GFW is, Great firewall, is. Within internet connections in mainland china, the government forces internet providers to block certain websites.

Its not like people can’t get around it, DUH!!!! ….there are VPNs, and other services…but jeez, its another sloppy (I hate installing all this crap on my PC) workaround. And then when I’m doing online banking…its all crazy because i’m jumping in and out of IP ranges in China, USA, Europe…..seem like some crazy hacker (well, maybe I am, haha). some Chinese people tell me the government doesn’t care about using VPNs, because that is normally for more advanced people anyway, and this blocking / filtering stops the majority of people.

So many of my friends here within the Chinese GFW workaround it. Its sad, and embarrassing to my Chinese friends here, they say at least I can escape it…they are “stuck here” they tell me, being a Chinese citizen. They wish they could turn it off…they don’t want to see people like me leaving the country due to this stupid government filtering.

And then I can’t just jump onto an internet connection at a cafe and use twitter or facebook…I have to get back on my connection on my laptop and do it.

Then there was the news – would google china leave China? I was doing somewhat OK in China before this….but its like a punch in the gut. Google China was one of the last major foreign internet companies in China. Yahoo China is technically Alibaba (share swap), and others don’t have offices with the boundaries of China.

Then it had me thinking, would I follow Google China and leave too? I was thinking maybe Thailand would be the place for me.

Yet I was getting some good movements speaking at Chinese internet events….and sometimes lecturing at the ecommerce university in Shenzhen. Everyone is always so tempted by the huge and growing Chinese market…to sell in China seems so sexy…..but it really does have to be treated completely indepently from English / American business….the way the 2 markets work are so opposite.

So all of 2010 I have been deciding what to do….really if it weren’t for this GFW (great firewall) in China, staying in China would be an easier decision for me. But there is also the political risk between Obama news and currency risk of US dollar dropping against the chinese yuan.

So seems Philippines makes the most sense…and the people there love the internet…I spend a lot of my twitter time chatting to friends in the Philippines….and English language is everwhere there.

Just hard still to giveup China…..I’ll be here at least till the end of November to renew my visa and take care of other business.

Incoming search terms:

• china firewall
• chinese firewall
• IP blocking GFW

They are not used to talking to many americans about Paypal china.  Their written english is great, but spoken….well…..is barely there.  Of course that is probably even better then my Chinese!!

Anyway….we discussed how its such a balancing act between USA and China

in USA, lots of the banks, ebay, and paypal want you to be in USA if you have business there.  So many chinese here in China would love to utilize an ebay USA account, as they can then come higher in the ebay search results for domestic USA customers searching (ebay prioritzes each country’s searches by the country the buyer and seller is in first, and then puts the international below).

So my being in China as a USA business forces me to use VPNs and other gateways to get into a USA location and then seem to ebay and paypal that I am surfing the website from America.

And on the Chinese government side, they keep blocking and banning more of these VPNs and gateways, as they do not want people in their country to access websites that do not comply with their censorship (ie twiter, facebook)  Remember the news about Google China leaving China?  Yea…..well, if they stopped listening to the chinese government about filtering their search results, they would have to leave, and did.

So anyway, it is getting harder and harder to do what I do from within the GFW (great firewall of china) as both USA makes it harder to seem like you are in USA and China makes it harder to get outside of their walls!

There is a quote I just found on twitter:

“If you’re not having problems, you are missing an opportunity for growth.” ~ Anonymous

And that is how I am trying to live. Sure, everyone questions why I struggle so hard…and sometimes I do say “damn, why don’t i just go back and work from USA, things are so open and easy to do business” but I cannot give in to the temptation. I am trying my best to maximize value on both sides.

As Jay Xie from Webpower Asia told me in a meeting yesterday, Americans will see my as a China inroad, and Chinese people will see me as an inside track in USA market. I have to play both of these sides. It is like a double life, but it the value I am trying to build in myself and business around me.

Incoming search terms:

• paypalofficeinusa

Another annoying part was this new airline, China-sss.com (spring air) made me check my bag….normally take this as carry on! China Eastern, china Southern, and others never give me a problem with the size of this baggage.  So I had to check it before I boarded the plane.  I knew that was gonna waste an extra 30 minutes of my time when I arrived in shanghai.

Got to Shanghai, rainy and pretty cool (especially compared to hot and humid Shenzhen).  But was rather refreshing as I like the night rain so long as I have a roof over my head.

And, as expected when I was forced to check my bag, the luggage line machine was broken….and delayed.  We are talking landing in the airport around 1:30am, to be told the luggage line machine was malfuntioning and we had to wait.

But at least twitter was with me, it keeps my brain thinking instead of staring around blankly at people getting stressed waiting for the luggage.  I really love using it to chat to all kinds of people, read motivational quotes, I wish everyone would adapt and start using it as well.  It really can spark your imagination – sure its a bunch of text (LAMMY, I KNOW), but it forces you to write a short message, and to think about it.

So after finally getting my bag (and tweeting tons) took a rainy night taxi, was actually kinda cool and made me think back to the days i drove home after my job in high school in connecticut….just had a strange aura about it.

I was supposed to stay at my friend’s home, but again miscommunication with his Chinese-english and my lack of understanding culture (still, after 3 years) he said his home was full and he would arrange a hotel.  But I didnt understand clearly that he was waiting there for me, and had already booked the hotel upstairs!

Arriving at the hotel, I gave the taxi his fee, including a 50rmb bill, but he called me back to the car yelling that it was a fake!  Looked the same to me…damn i musta gotten ripped off at some point that day.

Arrive to hotel around 2:30am, and my level of chinese couldn’t exactly decipher what they were saying…but basically that i couldn’t get a room.  I didn’t want to call my Chinese friend, as I felt he was fast asleep and I could work my way out of it.  But I get so frustrated, there is some rule or prior arrangement I needed but I couldn’t get it much clearer then that

Walked down the road on a rainy night and stayed at “cash only” hostel….barely even checked my ID.  It was great!  no questions, money, key, room.

Morning, woke up exhausted and sick, think the rain and stress just got to me.  Been taking medicine most of the day today and have had to slow down my schedule.

Meeting my chinese friend, I then went back to the more reputable hotel….which turns out because of this Shanghai expo, they are requiring all foreigners to register with the local police before checking into the hotel.  So hopped a cab to the local police department and got my documents.  You think if the Shanghai city was preparing for all these foreigners to come, they would make it a bit more clear at the hotel check-in process.  Anyway, blame me, my fault.

Taking some medicine tonight….laying low, had to re-arrange some meetings for future dates and need to re-cooperate.

Incoming search terms:

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Google Buzz came out, and seems to have just let people see any Google product inside of it without being blocked in China.

Can Google Stay In China And Still Save Face?

Mar 12, 2010 at 9:08am ET by Greg Sterling

Ever since Google’s bold statement early this year that it would be withdrawing from the Chinese search market if it couldn’t find a way to operate without censorship, Mountain View has found itself in a bit of a no-win situation. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has expressed several times that the company would like to remain in China (the largest internet and mobile market on the planet) despite the tough stand.

So for those of you that don’t know what “face” is in China – its basically respect.   And sadly, I would say Google has lost respect here.  Because they seem irresponsible, to leave the chinese people – as in China, I have learned, you cannot change the government.  The government will lose money, investment, etc etc-  they dont care – they want power and control.  So to think the government here cares about google staying or not, and to use the Chinese people as a way to leverage the stance of Google in China – is silly and shows how little Google knows about China…..

I think google will stay, I think they will end up being quiet about the whole debate, and they will have to listen to what the government says….at least they tried, but the fashion in which they tried seems sorely mis-calculated.

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Interesting article below.

• Losing Google? Chinese Scientists Say It’s Like Going Blind, Life Without Electricity
  Chinese scientists say their research will be dramatically compromised if Google shuts down its search engine in China. One scientist says it would be like going blind: “If I lose Google, it will [be] just like a man without his eyes.” Another says it “would be like life without electricity.” Those quotes and several statistics showing [...]