3G in China: It’s Not Cheap

The bad thing about newspapers is that they often come in about a day or so late. Adding to the negativity is a May 18, 2010 article in Tianjin’s Jinwanbao Evening News which is of the opinion that 3G fees in China are a bit on the expensive side.

According to a Sina report, of the around 593,000 polled, over 50% of respondents felt that 3G fees were pretty high, whereas only 39% were OK with the prices. The same report showed that imported 3G mobile phones were pretty popular, but did not show the same results when it came to locally-made ones. The figures showed that 3G-ready or 3G phones from Apple, Nokia and Dopda were the most popular.

You know what China’s biggest 3G problem is? China Mobile, the PRC’s biggest mobile telco, isn’t singing along — as in it’s stuck with the PRC’s stubbornesque TD-SCDMA technology. When this got ousted in late 2007 (and when WIMAX became the international standard), the PRC suffered a massive setback. Unwilling to dump TD-SCDMA, the telco mandarins basically forced China Mobile to use the locally-developed technology.

And nope, the iPhone doesn’t have a TD-SCDMA version ready.

Guangzhou: Tweeting Cops Won’t Allow Tweeps To Comment

Mute Cops 2.0?

The Guangzhou Police is now tweeting on Sina Microblogs, but they’re not allowing people to comment. When the cops were asked, Propanganda Department chief Lu Zhengguang blasted out this bit of familiar officialspeak: “In regards to comments, as a new item, we need a complete process. We are still in the process of finding a way.” Another bit of govspeak: “The microblogging service of the public security organs is to give information about security to everyone; it is not for everyone to comment on. If you have something to say you may say it, but the public security organs is not intended for people comment on.”

Uh. Right. Remember this guy?

Our great chairman Mao Zedong’s classic refrain: serve the people (為人民服務). If you don’t allow the cops to be talked to… well, what’s the point? Are you still serving those folks out there?

A closer look reveals just how one-sided the conversation is: through the forest of ideogrammes one sees little other than one-sided propaganda, and… let’s see… only three replies. It’s only following 27 people, while 1,840 folks (including Shrek, if you look closely at the screenshot), seems to be following the service.

Do these guys have a UFO Management Department?

Meanwhile, the lingo there is nothing but Mandarinspeak. Leading commentator North Wind (Bei Feng) has lambasted the cops for failing to us “people lingo” (大白话), questioning why folks would follow the Guangzhou cops if they didn’t talk the talk (of the masses, of course).

Update: They are finally allowing people to comment… as of yesterday (May 19, 2010). Guess they cave into the vox populi…

China Announces New Rules For Online Maps

@1rick draws your tech blogger’s attention to some more mapped Mandarinese coming out from the People’s Republic’s State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping. Apparently, some online maps are considered “detrimental to the country’s national security”. (Most likely, maps cutting off Taiwan, or showing the two sides of the straits in über-different colours, are getting Beijing more than a little upset.)

Here’s what’s required of maps, according to the article on TheNextWeb (from ReadWriteWeb quoting Xinhua):

To be in accordance with the new standards, any map must be hosted within the confines of the country, on a server that has no history of security breaches within the past 3 years. The rest of this year will be spent weeding out content that doesn’t adhere to these rules.

Your tech blogger also happens to be super geek in the Subways, but it’s likely that quick maps around the station won’t set off too many alarms — as long as there are, say, no military camps around this-or-that exit. If it’s a map of a closed station with a trillion sensitive locations and they’re all marked, then — needless to say — he’ll be in a bit of trouble.

(But frankly, with the Daxing extension to Line 4 set to open this autumn all connected to commercial establishments, it’s more commercialesque than even.)

Best estimates give the number of map sites on the Chinese Interwebs at around 42,000. There are big players — MapBar, Map123, Baidu and, of course, Google. As we’re seeing more map sites in China, we’re also seeing a more active government trying to stomp out content that’s not supposed to be spread out in the first place.

By the way, on iPhones, the map and the satellite images are off by a fair bit — and even your location’s a bit “out of focus”. We guess it’s just part of the great plan!

Is Zynga’s Next Stop Beijing?

This chirp is somewhat a bit hard to miss, given the instant retweet reaction it triggered off. It so appears, according to DigiCha’s @niubi (Bill Bishop), quoted by TechCrunch’s Sarah Lacy, that the Zynga Game Network wants Chinese talent and is thinking more than just setting up shop in the Chinese capital.

Here’s proof: Beijing Craigslist had three job listings that was pulled down soon after they were first posted. They were looking for a CTO, HR Manager and Software Engineer (apparently more than one). @niubi’s of the opinion that the announcement might come tomorrow (Thursday).

To quote:

Online gaming has been hot in China, and the Western tech scene is taking notice. One of Zynga’s biggest competitors, Playfish, already has an office there. One source says its staff is likely to be a big poaching target [...] All this means the market for gaming talent in China is getting tighter amid all the interest, and Chinese startups can’t be happy about that.

Will Zynga also be part of Beijing World City? We’ll see…

Internet “Fully Restored” in Xinjiang. Oh Really?

After those riots that shook in particular Ürumqi in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, it looks like the Web as-is is finally coming back… of course with the blocks still in place. It’s going to be unlikely that Facebook and Twitter will be made available there again (for quite a while). The Asian Correspondent reports that the Web is now finally “fully” back.

Here’s a bit of politspeak to go along…

“For the stability, economic development and the needs of people from all ethnic backgrounds of the autonomous region, the Communist Party and the government of Xinjiang decided to fully resume Internet services beginning May 14,” the news office of the Xinjiang government said in a statement posted on a government website.

Behind the politspeak was more than the goal of “preserving social stability”. This came at a big price:

The severing of Internet connections in Xinjiang was more than just an inconvenience. Businesses who trade throughout Central Asia were forced to use faxes or send staff into neighboring provinces to access e-mail, while scientists found themselves shut off from research partners elsewhere. Many ordinary people relied on friends and family elsewhere in China to download their e-mails and pass the information on to them.

While Facebook and Twitter remains blocked nationwide, some sites slip out of the wall’s cracks, so to speak. Flickr, for example, is blocked in parts of Beijing but is fully OK in Shanghai, where your tech blogger’s based for about the next five days.

By the way, there was acknowledgement that Facebook, amongst others, remain “harmonized” — Xinjiang included:

At the China International Electronic Commerce Center in the regional capital Urumqi, a woman who refused to give her name, confirmed Friday that YouTube and Facebook were blocked in Xinjiang.

This ain’t good…

Wifi Around China: Costa Coffee Xizhimen

Ah, Xizhimen. It’s transit hell and heaven — two in one, at the same time. Where else can you link a railway station with a three-line Subway interchange? But then again, why’s everyone still walking a million miles just to change from Line 13 to Lines 2 or 4? And why do you have to “flip three times” on the bridge just to execute a right turn? (Road traffic hell as well!)

Still, the good thing about Costa Coffee Xizhimen is that it’s linked straight to the Line 13 station. When the transit gods get their act in order, in future, you will be able to get to the place through underground tunnels — regardless if you are here by train or by Subway. (Right now, passengers from the nearby Beijing North Railway Station will have to use an above-ground connection.

Costa Coffee has lots of outlets in the Jing, but the one at Xizhimen is noted for its accessibility. It is linked straight into the Xizhimen CapitaRetail Mall, and finds itself on the ground floor (or the first floor if you’re so inclined). During especially summer, the café has a somewhat-Shanzhai “porch lounge” as in a bit that “juts out” into the rest of the mall. (It’s Shanzhai because it’s all indoors!)

In the very same building is also a Chamate, for those who must do tea. Signals here are pretty good, although they’re not that great if you’re doing VPNs. (12vpn finds itself with more mileage here than Witopia on your blogger’s end.) If you connect and reconnect it’ll work — but man that’s a lot of hassle…

Wifi: Free; password needed, given upon purchase
Signal: Good
VPN support: Iffy. Some VPNs won’t link up to Twitter or Facebook after a bit.
Transit links: Subway Lines 2, 4 and 13 to Xizhimen (exit at Line 13 Exit A; you have to be in the Line 13 part (the dull grey building) and exit from there; do not enter the Line 13 platforms if interchanging from Lines 2 or 4). Beijing North Railway Station nearby as well.

Costa Coffee CapitaRetail Xizhimen (Costa Coffee 西直门嘉茂购物中心)
Xizhimen, Beijing, China

You Could Come To CHINICT — FREE

Our planet’s made up of two major landmasses: the Americas and this massive Afro-Eurasia “thing”. (Yep. Isn’t Africa nearly joined up?) At present, there’s a bit of continent-wise “yin-yang” in that the more 2.0 parts of Terra is in the Americas (Silicon Valley) and what’s probably consider-able as “northwest Afro-Eurasia” (Western and Central Europe).

But man, Afro-Eurasia is huge. And if we focus “just” on Eurasia, the fun’s all out west. What about the east? China? Wait up. We’re looking at the next Silicon Valley. See, there’s a reason that Beijing’s Silicon Valley, Zhongguancun, has three Subway stations. Increasingly, IT is becoming more and more it (pardon the pun) here in China.

China can either be equated with “copycat” in the sense of sharing the same first letter (bad idea) or “creativity” (good idea). Don’t let the Shanzhai iPods and iPads scare you. If you wanted to see the kind of creativity that defines China, you’d want to take a good look at CHINICT. You might go home on the second day shaking your head — as in why you didn’t enter this emerging new Silicon Valley anytime sooner.

Last year we had a stellar lineup, with the legendary @kaiserkuo moderating the event and Daniel Wu putting on a star appearance — but that underlined the whole thing. What about the creativity? The talent? Microsoft’s brave new North Pole video and new directions for the Redmond Giant? @thijsjacobs and Juice outside the conference hall, along with a lot of other revolutionary apps and companies making the difference?

If you thought that was all, get a load of the truly kick-ass lineup this year. Kai-Fu Lee (of Google fame). 金玉米 (that’s Jeremy Goldkorn). Nigel Burton. David Wolf. Kaiser Kuo. Elliott Ng. The bigs, both local and global. And look at that ticker on CHINICT.org — a who’s who of partners. Blackberry. Sina. The Wall Street Journal. Alibaba. Microsoft. That’s just part of the dynamite.

We are envisioning the masses descending at the Crowne Plaza Parkview Wuzhou Hotel, where the event takes place May 27 and 28, 2010. Having read this post, you’re probably going to head onto Expedia or places like eLong just to get to the Jing for this event. Wait — it gets better. You could be here. For free.

Surreal.

Nope, it’s real. From CHINICT.org:

The conference will sell out, but we understand that some people just can’t afford the ticket price, plus travel if you don’t live in or near Beijing. So today we’re giving out five free tickets to the conference. That’s over $10 000 worth of tickets that we can give away thanks to our sponsors.

Here’s how to get a ticket: Just fan the CHINICT Facebook page – and then retweet this post, and make sure to include the #CHINICT hashtag. The contest ends at noon California time on Monday May 17th and the winners will be selected at random at that time, and then contacted for further details. Anyone in the world is eligible, as long as you can make your way to Beijing and take care of your accommodation once there.

Okkie, folks. On your Facebooks, retweet, go.

(Oh yeah — and we’ll be there at CHINICT. By the way, this post will start our continuing coverage of this year’s event.)

Dropbox Blocked In China. But Why?

Why would they block Dropbox, out of all things? Isn’t that like taking away your hard drive? And we thought only America had those (fill-in-the-blank) customs officers that fed on your hard drives, internal or external.

Dropbox being blocked in China has both upset a lot of the nation’s netizenry and left “foreign experts” on the Interwebs confused. Dropbox apparently is for your own use — plus for the use of sharing stuff with others. Much of what’s on Dropbox is your stuff. It’s not like it’s publishing “reactionary propaganda” for the masses… right?

The idea behind Dropbox is dead easy and is data magic: drop anything onto Dropbox folders and that very same thing is available on all computers registered at Dropbox. Yes, you can put the whole Beijing Subway photo library on Dropbox — and take “just” your MacBook Air around and — still get access to the whole shebang.

Which leaves us with the sole reaction here: is personal data organization reactionary? It’s less a case of getting upset at the censors than just asking ourselves: Did they feed themselves on some really bad seafood as of late or why the heck are they helping themselves to Dropbox?

As in blocking the service…

The Caonima disapproves of this most recent blocking.

Wifi Around China: Starbucks Xiaobailou, Tianjin

This has got to be one of the closer Starbucks to a Tianjin Metro station, which rings of heavenly delight for your mass transit freak. He picked up a Starbucks flask emblazoned proudly with the word TIANJIN on it — and still he is not happy about the Starbucks there, unfortunately. Probably a victim of its own success, getting online there can be a wait that will drive you up the wall.

Tianjin is a truly ge’er (哏儿), or “cute” / “funny” (in the local lingo), city. It’s one of these places that throws you something unexpected — all the time — and at the same time, takes away that bureaucracy and straight-grid-as-hell avenues from the Beijing from you and rewards you with a real river or two. The city is just a thirty minute ride away by high speed rail, yet always manages to differentiate itself from its more capital-istic neighbour.

The Xiaobailou Starbucks is spread out over two floors, which is one of the “spacier” Starbucks in the area. (Right next by is, amongst other things, a Starbucks sandwich outlet, a config we’ve seen again at SOGO Xuanwumen, Beijing.) And while you get a probably bigger share of soft, plush sofas, the wifi seems to be sucked away as well. Some months ago your blogger was happily tweeting away. Some months later, it seemed like everyone’s suffering the wifi blues. Things get especially bad around 2 PM in the afternoon, when it seems like every living organism in the area comes into the café.

The place is probably located in the best spot on the map — right by Xiaobailou Metro station. If they can get their wifi in order, this is a great place to chill out.

Wifi: Free; password-protected (they give you the password with any purchase).
Signal: Difficult to get on.
VPN support: OK if you can get a smooth connection; if you can’t, sorry — forget it.
Transit links: Just by Exits A and D near Xiaobailou station, Tianjin Metro Line 1.

Starbucks Xiaobailou, Tianjin (星巴克小白楼 - 中国天津) (see on foursquare)
Xiaobailou
Tianjin, China

Ai Weiwei’s Grass Mud Horse Bag

It’s a slow but… revolutionary Sunday it is… now that we’ve been alerted to @aiww’s (Ai Weiwei) newest concotion, the Grass Mud Horse / Caonima bag. The Caonima or Grass Mud Horse (an alpaca in real life) is one of those godlike symbols for the Chinese citizenry, for its close pronunciation (in Chinese) to a common Chinese curse has landed the magical animal the position of being some kind of an animal mascot for the average Chinese netizen, who has to deal with an increasing amount of Internet censorship.

Ai’s bag is quick, monochrome (I guess?) and simple. All that’s seen is the revered Caonima — plus Ai’s name in Chinese characters in the upper right hand corner.

If you follow Ai on Twitter, he seems to be one of those more notable fanboys behind the revered alpaca (much like everyone else online in the People’s Republic). One of his tweets tweeted out when Obama visited Beijing late last autumn (2009) basically sounded like “the Obama horse has come out a thousand miles to visit the grass mud horse” (this being the case as both Obama and the Caonima end with the Chinese character for horse (马); it’s Obama’s 奥巴马 (or 欧巴马 / 歐巴馬 from Taiwan) and the alpaca’s 草泥马. In late January 2010, when the whole Chinese Twitterverse mounted a campaign against online censorship, Ai somehow came up with what the Twitterverse termed alpacaspeak to vent against the censors.

Ai can at times be super-sensitive. Secret police reportedly attended a tweetup along with other Hangzhou tweeps just recently (look up hashtag #57tea for more in Chinese) because Ai, who is politically active, became increasingly visible after he and others who in effect were forced out from their art residences, took the march out onto Chang’an Avenue, the first time in just over 21 years. The Beijing police announced a 24-hour surveillance programme on much of the whole stretch of the avenue right after the February 22 march happened.

Meanwhile, back onto the bag: we’re not sure where or when the average guy on the street can probably grab one. Given how sensitive Ai is, a “harmonized” version (with Ai’s name removed but the alpaca kept intact) might emerge.

But that’s still fueling the flames here. The alpaca has come to represent repressed Netizens sick of cyber controls. The government, claiming to be “harmonious”, is instead represented as a river crab (河蟹), a pun on the Chinese pronunciation for “harmony” (和谐), an excuse we hear too often when a site “goes under”.