Debunking myths about China state control & surveillance in the age of COVID-19
Posted on by Tricia Wang
Category: Ethnography of Tech
Chinese tech globalizing like the US, with drones and bikeshares leading the way
Posted on by An Xiao Mina
Dockless bikeshares in Europe predated the arrival of Chinese companies like Ofo and Mobike, at least in Berlin, but it was a recent trip in Shenzhen and Beijing that I saw their potential at scale. I am used to seeing Chinese tech phenomena remain just that, ie, limited to China. But the near omnipresence of these bikes in major cities — I…
Continue readingChinese tech globalizing like the US, with drones and bikeshares leading the way
Follow the Magpie, a rare stream of primary research about social media in China
Posted on by Jason Li
Christina Xu, Tricia Wang, and Pheona Chen just launched a new newsletter about the conversations and trends happening on the internet in China today and we should all subscribe now.
In their opening essay about the project, they write:
Our goal is to create something…
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VR malls, mobile payments and tuhao-themed parties (#cxinchina 2016 edition)
Posted on by Christina Xu
Editor’s note: Below is a selection of our favorite Instagram posts that Christina published during her 2016 trip to Beijing, Chengdu & Shanghai to research technology, youth culture and trends.
Technology
There are VR kiosks in almost every mid-high end mall I’ve been into in Beijing and Shanghai, as well…
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Your surrogate-cool-cousin guide to creativity and karaoke in China
Posted on by Jason Li
Uber in China: A Driver’s View
Posted on by Lyn Jeffery
China’s major cities are seeing fierce competition for drivers to join ridehailing platforms like Uber and China’s homegrown leader, Didi Kuadi. I just spent a few weeks in China using the “People’s Uber” service, the cheapest Uber service that uses private cars, and interviewed…
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Pictures of Chinese People Scanning QR Codes
Posted on by Christina Xu
On the way back to Shanghai from our fieldwork trip in rural Guizhou, Tricia and I decided to go shopping at Guiyang’s Hunter City Mall. Guiyang is the capital city of the poorest province in China,…
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Three Moments With WeChat
Posted on by Christina Xu
1.
On the morning of his wedding day, my cousin’s fiancé waited impatiently for Likes so that he could retrieve his bride.
Inside the apartment building, he and his groomsmen would have other trials to face: drinking vile concoctions of vinegar and wasabi, doing pushups, and liberally bribing everyone for hints to impossible trivia questions. But…
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Ethnographic dispatches: Spring 2015
Posted on by Tricia Wang
Growing up as a teen gamer in China
Posted on by Jason Li
A fantastic account about growing up as a teen gamer in China – dodging parental fears of “videogame addiction,” finding meaning in leveling up and going cold turkey as she is forced to surrender her laptop.