Be in A Sea of Red

January 26th, 2011  |  Published in Observation

文章标题:年的颜色
記事タイトル:春節のカラー

There is no better reminder that Chinese New Year , aka Spring Festival will soon be upon us than a trip to the supermarket.

When you go into every nearby supermarket these days, you seem to fall in a sea of red. Red clothes, red underwear, red decorations with golden Chinese characters, red rabbit toys, red gift boxes… various red items are surround yourself.

Commonly, red is considered as a symbol of Socialism in Western countries, but for most ordinary people in China, red does not mean political conviction, according to Chinese traditional, it is considered a bright, happy color, sure to bring a sunny and bright future. Especially, It is believed that essential appearance and attitude during New Year’s sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Yes, red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck.

Good luck! I wish you a happy Chinese New year!

Why Can’t I Access Facebook

January 12th, 2011  |  Published in Observation

文章标题:为什么我不能访问Facebook
記事タイトル:僕はFacebookにアクセスできない、なぜ?

Miss Eimi ASANO(Japanese: 浅野 瑛美), one of my Japanese friends, who has been in China over one year for studying, asked me whether I can view her latest photos on Facebook via QQ last week. But I told her that I can’t access this site in China. At first, she seemed unbelieving, at last, she was so disappointed when I definitely told her that is true.

Actually, many foreigners have the same feeling when they first came to China, that is why I can’t access some popular websites, for example Facebook, Twitter and YouTube etc. It’s difficult and complex to explain the reasons, but you know, the main reason is still political sensitivity. That means those websites may include many harmful information for authorities.

So, the authorities set up the Great Firewall of China, called the GFW for short, to block the content by preventing IP Address from being routed through and consisted of standard firewall and proxy servers at the Internet gateways.

Although some people can fly over the GFW and access the blocked western sites via special methods including VPN, SSH or IPv6, most netizens still can not enjoy the services.

“How would they feel? So depressed?” you may ask. The results, however, beyond your exception. Many Chinese IT companies provided the same service, and people can also share the fun, excitement, and benefits from those local social network services.

Here is a short list of the Chinese equivalents some of the blocked social network services.

This is not a definitive list but it is representative of the market. It’s no doubt that many of the above companies grew at faster pace and have benefited from the removal of the competition from the overseas while their western counterparts were blocked.

The Buildings for Commercial and Residential Purposes

January 5th, 2011  |  Published in Huilongguan, Observation

文章标题:回龙观商住两用新楼盘
記事タイトル:激鬥!新築マンション、回竜観で

Since China is a socialist country, all land belongs of right to the state. But based on a special “land-use right” system, there are mainly four types of lease on land in China:
residential(Chinese:住宅用地), which is on a 70-year lease; industrial(Chinese:工业用地), which is on a 50-year lease; commercial(Chinese:商业用地), which is on a 40-year lease; and multiple purpose(Chinese:配套用地), which is on 40-year lease.

Due to rocketing real estate prices, many development companies have also shifted their strategies, and construct various complex buildings for commercial and residential purposes, which was originally targeted for office use.

Huilongguan West St and Huilongguan East St, the major artery in Huilongguan, including many infrastructural facilities and shops, will usher in two new members.

Top North Flats(Chinese:东亚上北鑫座), close to Line 13 of the Beijing Subway, offers 800 rooms and suits. Her slogan was “YOHO”, which means mini soho, mini office and mini studio. You, of course, can also intend to live in it as a residential space.

Hupotiandi(Chinese:琥珀天地), located in the core of Huilongguan business areas, with complete supporting facilities. It offers many types from 50 to 75 square meters. It also near by Line 13 of the Beijing Subway.

Although the disadvantage of the buildings for commercial and residential purposes obviously exists, people, especially the investors are interested in appreciation room and values in the future.

The new two construction will bring Huilongguan’s real estate into a new competition situation, maybe.

The Gap Between Programmer and Businessman

January 2nd, 2011  |  Published in Thinking

文章标题:程序员与商务人士的思考角度
記事タイトル:考えの違い、開発者とビジネスマン

When a new idea appear, it will raise interesting questions in both the programming and the business world.

For example, programmers tend to ask question like, “How do we implement communication format?” or “How do I do object inheritance?” or “How do I make this service run faster?”. Questions typically associated with going through the steps of writing code.

Business folks, but, tend to ask question like, “How do I ensure that the person using the software is really who they say they are?” or “How can we tie together multiple services into a workflow?” or “How can I ensure the reliability of the service transactions?”. Their questions typically address business concerns.

The two perspectives fit tightly with one another. Every business issue will have a software based solution. However, the two perspectives are also at odds with each other, the business processes demand completeness, trust, security, and reliability, which may be incompatible with the programmers’ goals of simplicity, performance and robustness.

How to bridge the gap, it may be the mission of architects, I think.

Year-End Summary

December 29th, 2010  |  Published in Thinking

2010 will soon be over and it’s time for me to make a summary.

Firstly, I have a daughter, born March 8th of this year. She is a gift from the God for me and my wife. Day after day, as she grow up, we learn and understand more and more about responsibility of the parents.

Secondly, I have passed all examinations, including ugly programming test, for Master of Software Engineering in Tsinghua University, and submitted successfully opening report for graduation.

Lastly, I opened my personal blog for my English writing, and tech blog for driving me learn new technology and share my experience. Open is very important, I think.

Certainly, awful things still exist.

My own business is stagnant. It requires me to get more and more ability to control everything you may face.

My work is dull, no raise and no promotion, and most important, I be still at a loss for the future.

Finally, I’m becoming older everyday.

Oh, my God, that’s how sentimental I am. Anyway, I’d better make planning for next year right now, because You’ll fail at a 100 percent of the goals you don’t set, Mark Victor Hansen said.

Focusing on The Countryside

December 26th, 2010  |  Published in Viewpoints

You can find out two business issues existing in the countryside.

Firstly, most farmers want to know their corps can make a good price in nationwide markets, but their information is not symmetry, and secondly, many smaller and medium sized enterprises have the demand to promote their products and services, but they do not have a lot of money for advertising.

Unlike first-tier cities, most rural family can’t afford a computer with internet access, but nearly every individual in China has a cell phone.

Because small cities and rural areas still hold the majority of China’s population, business opportunities are here, maybe.

If you want to start own business in mobile internet fields, the demands and requests from rural areas are the key drivers in the future, I think. Especially, it can help you to avoid direct competition with giant internet companies in first-tier cities.

You still can get benefits from Chairman Mao’s theory that focusing on the countryside rather than large cities(Chinese:农村包围城市).

Goodby, The Most Consistent Household

December 22nd, 2010  |  Published in Huilongguan

Xu Jingming(Chinese:徐景明), finally, moved from his house in Lincui Road(Chinese:林翠路) soon after the construction company informed him that the compensation money had been remitted into his bank account on Dec 17, and his house was tore down in that night.

That means the “Nail Household” that has blocked the construction of a important arterial road in Beijing over four years is gone.

Five years ago, Beijing’s authorities decided to build a road that can link the Fifth-Ring Road(Chinese:五环路) and Huilongguan communities in order to alleviate traffic congestion in Badaling Expressway(Chinese:八达岭高速), the only arterial road in the northern part of the city.

But when the road was almost completed, one house continued to stand in the way as its owner refused to move. The result was the way has to narrow into one lane to round the house causing clogged traffic daily during rush hours.

The local government can offer 1.8 million RMB, but Xu asked for 5.8 million RMB in compensation in 2009. Now the deadlock has been broken. Neither Xu nor the government would mention exact amount.

“How much did the government pay?”, the question naturally floated around in everyone’s mind.

Wang Xiao Feng

December 19th, 2010  |  Published in Pick Up

Wang Xiao Feng(Chinese: 王小峰), is not only a senior editor for China’s San-Lian Lifestyle Weekly(Chinese: 三联生活周刊), but also one of most famous Chinese blogger widely known for his blog called Do Not Guess(Chinese: 不许联想), which pokes fun at art, culture and social issues and receives 12,000 visitors a day.

Actually, his early blog, Massage Cream(Chinese: 按摩乳) won the 2005 BOBs‘ Award for Best Chinese Weblog. But Wang stopped updating in August 2006.

In 2006, Wang became Time’s People of the Year as his contribution to China’s weblog.

Wang is also hipped on moviemaking. A Hard Day’s Nights(Chinese: 小强历险记), in 2006, Shi Mian Mai Fu(Chinese: 十面埋妇), in 2007, and Ni Ya Zhen Hen(Chinese: 你丫真恨), in 2008. In his works, all the roles were played by blogger.