Zaker, a Flipboard clone customized for China

September 19, 2011 by Jason Li

The above is an ad for Zaker, a Chinese iPad app that resembles Flipboard with Chinese characteristics. Ignoring the whole “copycat innovation” debate, it’s interesting to note that:

The video ad itself portrays a very ascetic but rich Western lifestyle (down to the cheesy piano music in the background)…

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50,000 vehicle bike sharing program in Hangzhou

September 15, 2011 by Jason Li

Source: Streetfilms.

Rising star classical musician chooses Hong Kong over China, alludes to corruption-fueled practices

September 12, 2011 by Jason Li

From the WSJ by Nicholas Frisch:

Mr. Sheng’s 2001 MacArthur “genius” grant propelled him into an elite circle of globally famous Chinese composers. His peers include Tan Dun, an Oscar-winner for the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” soundtrack, also with a premiere at New York’s Metropolitan Opera to his name; Chen Qigang, a student of the late French composer Olivier…

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“Only” 45.8% of China’s netizens have been attacked by a virus in 2010

August 30, 2011 by Jason Li

I was skimming through the latest “state of the Chinese internet” report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). It’s a pretty comprehensive study by a government body that interviews 60,000 people from 31 regions/areas.

One section that caught my eye was internet security. The report was boasting that only 45.8% of those polled had been attacked by a virus or Trojan…

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Bunnie Huang’s Rules of Shanzhai

August 24, 2011 by Jason Li

Fascinating read from my co-blogger Lyn’s research on shanzhai as an innovation space in the future.

My favorite excerpt comes from Bunnie Huang (the Chumby guy):

1) Buy low, sell high — and time counts as money. No holds barred.

2) Confucius’ silver rule, do not do unto others what you would not have them do…

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Hermès’ China-focused label

August 21, 2011 by Jason Li

From Monday Flying.

Shang Xia（上下）is literally translated to mean ‘Up and Down’ in Chinese. Figuratively, the phrase is used to describe a ‘topsy-turvy’ situation.An interesting move from Hermès, Shang Xia is a rare development from the luxury group, which tends to buy all or part of existing brands.

…

Product…

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Slang term of the day: tubaozi

August 8, 2011 by Jason Li

In China, the arrival of the tubaozi, the much-ridiculed “potato buns” from the countryside who got rich without ever living in a sophisticated first-tier city…

Via the Chinese Economic Review, in an article about the evolution of luxury consumers in China.

The Image of an Ideal Primary School in China

July 29, 2011 by Jason Li

Above: 10AM Communication’s ad for Capitaland showing off its philanthropic efforts. The setup is that many schools were destroyed by the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, and that Capitaland has helped re-build 15 schools across China. The video features their star project, the first “green hope” (whatever they mean by that) school in China.

The Singapore-based…

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Illustrated introduction to the four tones of Mandarin Chinese

July 24, 2011 by Jason Li

(Disclaimer: This is a repost of a blog post I wrote at my day job, which I think 88 Bar readers will also find interesting. Apologies for the plug.)

We’ve started playing with the newly released ShowMe app, which lets you create Khan Academy-style video tutorials. So far it’s been pretty great. Below, we’ve included the first…

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Losing respect for the manicured wilderness of the US

July 19, 2011 by Jason Li

From Outside’s Kinda Long March:

I CALL A HALT and set the video to capture the scene. After three days of clear weather, broken curtains of low clouds chase across the wooded slopes of Thunderhead Mountain in the distance. The rising wind brings a damp chill, and our team begins…

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八八吧 · 88 Bar

Author: Jason Li