China Blogging Tour

Interview with Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei.org

Had a great lunch in Beijing with online media legend Jeremy Goldkorn, founder and editor of Danwei.org. I'll call him a legend because Jeremy, 37 (as I recall), has been in Beijing for 12 years, speaks fluent Mandarin and is regarded as the best "alternative" voice on what's happening in China as far as the media, marketing and the Internet.

I asked him how companies in China, both Chinese and multinational, are using social media. And yes, Chinese CEOs such as SOHO's Pan Shiyi, are blogging. Listen in...

Eddie Choi on social media in B2B marketing

Interviewed China dot com entrepreneur and social media expert Eddie Choi at Ad-Tech Beijing last week (Oct. 17, 2007). Then had the pleasure of having a long chat with him over tea yesterday in Hong Kong. Eddie blogs at TradeDot.com, also the name of the trade show marketing company he recently sold.

His Second Opinion marketing idea is cool. Namely, you don't seek just one other opinion when you're looking for information or to buy. You seek at least two. See Eddie's write-up of Ad-Tech Beijing.

After close to 3,000 comments from readers, the Forbidden Starbucks is gone

Everybody here in China knows about this. CCTV celebrity news anchor Rui Chenggang blogged about the Starbucks inside Beijing's Forbidden City [points to blog entry in Mandarin] in January 2007, questioning whether it was culturally appropriate for a U.S. business to be located there.

One thing led to another - his blog post was picked up and debated on bulletin boards; blog host Sina.com featured his blog prominently on their home page; that drove more traffic. The result was 2,864 comments left by readers and over half a million page views on Rui's blog. (You can see these numbers at the bottom of the second image, below.)

As you may recall, Starbucks agreed that a storefront inside the 600-year-old imperial palace wasn't the best idea. Starbucks' lease ran out and the shop officially closed in July 2007. Now a Chinese brand of lattes occupies the space. I had an espresso there (see photo above) when I toured the Forbidden City last week in Beijing. It was just as pricey as Starbucks!

Is this an example of corporate blogging? You bet

Given that Rui's is an official employee blog, sanctioned by CCTV (China's official news network), I'd call this an example of effective corporate blogging. Waddya think?

Great explanation of the Forbidden Starbucks brouhaha here by William Moss / aka Imagethief, who is based in Shanghai.

Riding China's expat roller coaster: two days vs. two weeks vs. two years

I've been here in China (my first visit) for exactly one week. The roller coaster phenomenon goes something like this...

1. Scarcely 48 hours after arriving in Beijing I shared what I considered to be my GREAT revelation with an audience at Amcham Beijing: with 137 million Internet users [make that 172 million] and an estimated 30 million bloggers, China's use of social media is MUCH BIGGER than in the U.S. Wow.

The corollary... this is an amazing opportunity for companies - Chinese or multinational. Tap into this online crowd with a corporate or CEO blog and your company can reap the benefits. OK, hmmm... maybe.

2. Two days later, I was back to square one; not sure I understood anything about China and China's use of the Internet as a marketing channel. Censorship is a gray area and quite nuanced. It's confusing.

Note: I had a great lunch with Jeremy Goldkorn, founder and publisher of Danwei.org, who explained some of the nuances. Did a video interview with him which I'll post to YouTube when I get back to the U.S. (YouTube continues to be blocked here in China.)

3. It's now eight days since I've arrived and I'm where I should be... I understand much more than when I left the U.S. on Oct. 13, 2007. But I realize it would take years (perhaps a lifetime) to really understand Chinese consumer and business culture.

Having said that, I'm looking forward enormously to sharing a panel tomorrow on CEO blogging (21st Century PR: Executives and Their Blogs) at Amcham Shanghai with China's word of mouth marketing expert Sam Flemming and China PR / tech guru Will Moss (aka Imagethief).

Useful Links

China's Online Internet Explosion (What It May Mean for the Internet Globally... and for U.S. Users) by Deborah Fallows, Pew Internet - July 2007 (download PDF report)

Social Media Flourishes in China (Jennifer Jones' interview with Sam Flemming on Podtech)

Chinese Bloggers: "Everybody Is Somebody" by Rebecca MacKinnon (Nov. 7, 2005)

Clouds & Dragons at The Shanghai Museum

Wandered through the stunning Shanghai Museum for several hours. Loved the Porcelain & Ceramics Collection. Noticed that dragons (good luck) and clouds were a repeating motif on a number of the pieces. Above is one I loved: "Clouds & Dragons" dating from the Qing Dynasty (AD 1723 - 1735).

Enjoying the glittering Bund in Shanghai

Out on the town last night to see - and be seen. After a steaming (platter after platter, bowl after bowl) dinner at [name to come], we got back in a taxi to visit one of the dozens of nightclubs along the glittering Bund.

We ducked in and out of several buildings, riding tiny, cool elevators up and down. Then chose the super cool M The Glamour Bar in the historic Nissin Shipping Building. The building overlooks the Bund along the Huangpu River, with the Pudong skyline beyond.  The club was jammed with an upscale looking mix of expats, tourists and locals - great music.

Snapped this shot from the outdoor terrace of a club we didn't go to. Thanks to Sabrina Dorr of Edelman Beijing (above); Danny Levinson, CEO of BDLMedia; and John Cho of Cisco China [links to Blogs@Cisco; John isn't one of the bloggers] for a great evening!

After ad-tech Beijing, Mandarin edition of The Corporate Blogging Book is featured on Sina.com

I shared a panel at ad-tech Beijing on corporate blogging with Australian blogging guru Des Walsh [links to Des's slides for our panel] and Jason Ge, General Manager of channel & marketing sales for Sina, China's major portal and BSP (blog services provider). Although Jason speaks a modest amount of English and I speak no Mandarin, we hit it off. I was able to listen to his remarks through simultaneous translation.

Jason emailed with a link to the Mandarin edition of The Corporate Blogging Book, featured on Sina (below). Sina gets something like 300 million page views a day, Jason told us. Hopefully visitors will find the book and buy the Chinese edition!

Thanks to American colleague Rick Bruner, who attended, for a nice write-up of our ad-tech panel here. More on ad-tech Beijing by TradeDot founder Eddie Choi, who is based in Hong Kong and whom I had the pleasure to meet.

Video interview with Sharon at The Great Wall (Mutianyu)

[BEIJING: Oct. 18, 2007] Sharon and I hiked up the section of the wall that you can see in the background of the video below. It was a beautiful cool day. Blue sky when we started out around 8:30 AM and then it turned cloudy. Surprisingly, it took only an hour and 15 minutes to drive to Mutianyu from downtown Beijing.

Hiking the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu

Fantastic day today hiking a bit of the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. This is a section of the wall northeast of Beijing. It was less than one and a half hours drive from the city. Below I'm with my guide Sharon, who was terrific. More photos of the Wall.

 

YouTube is blocked in China

Darn. YouTube is blocked right now. I uploaded some great video interviews last night but now I can't see them from the China World Hotel where I'm staying in Beijing. It also means you can't see the videos below if you're looking at this blog and you're in China.

P.S. Great hotel, BTW, if you want to be located in the CBD (Central Business District). I loved the Club Level lounge - wonderful breakfast as well as hors d'oeuvres and wine in the late afternoon. Definitely worth the extra cost.