In case you didn’t follow the news, there was a ballot measure in California, Proposition 8, that would ban gay marriage (in opposition to the California Supreme Court decision this summer making gay marriage legal). Proposition 8 passed on Tuesday.

Here’s one of these so-called pundits weighing in on Phoenix News why overseas Chinese families would support Proposition 8 （八号提案）：

那么华人到美国以后，尤其第一代移民打拼，都是为了为孩子创造一个良好的教育环境和生活环境，现在生活环境已经被毒品弄得痛苦不堪，现在又弄出一个同性恋出来。

(Rough translation: After Chinese go the US, especially the first generation of immigrants, they want to create a healthy environment for their children to live and study. Now this living environment has been made miserable by drugs. And now homosexuality has been brought out as well.)

Yes, that’s right — having homosexuals in your community is as bad as widespread drug abuse.

But wait, the hatred doesn’t stop there. In the same discussion, he goes on to castigate the African American community as well:

现在在华人当中，两件事情是最让家长头疼的：一个是女儿嫁给了黑人，一个是儿子变成了同性恋。那个是整个是做父母的就就要跳楼了。

(Rough translation: For today’s overseas Chinese, two things would be considered the worst headache for parents: one is your daughter marrying a black man, one is your son being gay. If this is true and you’re a parent, you would jump off a building.)

Excuse me?

Look, I know that many Chinese and Chinese parents have a very traditional perspective on the world. And I know there is still racism in China. But these two pundits are supposed to be well-educated, and representing Chinese as a whole. Their words (and positions as professors, for that matter) add credence to what are, in my opinion, some dangerously divisive and hateful ideas.

I give the host credit for at least calling them out on their words:

你说一个女儿嫁给黑人，一个是同性恋，这俩都是偏见哪。照所谓政治正确的立场来讲，这不都是偏见吗？

You say a daughter marries a black man, the other is homosexuality, these are prejudice. From a politically correct perspective, aren’t these all prejudice?

Fair and balanced in China? Phoenix News, you’ve got a way to go.

But what’s the take on Obama in China? How does China view Obama’s presidency, after eight years of the Bush administration where Chinese exports were embraced?

Of course, there is some concern on the trade side. A number of websites, including Hexun and Sina, cite a rather cautious quote from Obama regarding his stance on China:

中国既不是朋友，也不是敌人。他们是竞争者

(rough translation: China is not a friend, nor an enemy. The Chinese are competitors.)

Indeed, the article from Hexun, which includes in its title “The pressure is great for Chinese foreign trade”, suggests that Obama will put dampen the foreign trade market, which previously had been such a runaway locomotive under Bush. Of course, things have already slowed down. The article mentions a letter Obama wrote to a textile organization in the US, where he promises to pressure China to float the RMB and reduce exports. On the other hand, the author suggests some common ground for the two countries, namely working together to help resolve the current financial crisis.

As for Sina, the view is more positive than you’d think as well. The author points out Obama’s reputation for pragmatism — meaning that he would always act prudently when considering any policy changes towards China.

He reminds us that Obama spent four of his formative years in Indonesia, leaving him with a positive impression of Asia. He also once visited Karachi, and was shocked by the poverty and lingering landscape of feudalism that gripped many of the citizens there. These and other experiences have influenced Obama, and helped him to make better foreign policy decisions.

He also mentions Obama’s tendency to surround himself with the best and the brightest advisors, including Jeffrey Bader of the Brookings Institution, who is described as one of today’s preeminent China experts.

Additionally, this blog provides the translation of a discussion about Obama’s policy from Shanghai:

Despite this, in light of the large number of Obama’s China advisors with realist positions, and even more due to the fact that America and China’s common interests outweigh their differences, Obama’s “not a friend nor enemy” and “competitor” strategic position towards China is bound to be discarded about half a year after taking office, just like what happened early on in the Clinton and Bush administrations.  His China policy will gradually become more rational and realistic.  Compared with Bush’s current China policy, when the time comes, the differences in Obama’s policy will mainly appear in issues regarding America and China’s economic relationship.

So, what’s the verdict? Certainly, there’s going to be pressure on China — but, on the other hand, China sees Obama as a steady hand who, when it comes to governance, will, to borrow a phrase from a Spike Lee film, do the right thing.

UPDATE: This story on the World also talks about how China views Obama…mentions that people are excited about the election as a historic moment, but also cautious in their concern that he may be more protectionist.

“He said that someday he would like to make me the manager of his Yiwu office,” she wrote, “because I’m the only person in China that he trusts.”

It’s not as though this is a new sentiment. Let’s face it, throughout China’s recent history of development, trust — or rather, lack thereof — has figured into business relations with the country. Now, however, with the increasing transparency of information coming out of the country, and in light of recent scandals involving tainted milk and, to a lesser extent, Siberian ginseng, it’s front and center yet again…well, at least in China.

If it weren’t for the financial crisis, believe me, more American families would probably be checking their pantries with a fine microscope in search of the lactic miscreants that may have polluted their foodstuffs. (Admittedly, even I have taken a second look at some “made in China” foods in my home that contain powdered milk, and wondered if they were fit for consumption — I gave them to my husband and decided to avoid purchasing them).

Especially when it comes to importing and exporting, how can we trust our suppliers? The answer is not simple. If you’ve visited more than a few suppliers in China, no doubt you’ve experienced the ultimate China cliche in trust betrayal — seeing knockoff brands sitting on the wall of the sample room, or featured in catalogs. The “Hello Kitty” purse. The “Coach” bag. The “Dior” clutch.

It’s not hard to understand why this phenomenon — the IP issue — remains. For the longest time, in Chinese culture, the whole concept of IP was a fuzzy matter. Copying functioned as a form of flattery in many instances. When foreigners pummeled China’s reputation beginning from the 1840’s (when Hong Kong was ceded to Britain) all the way to the Japanese occupation before and during World War II, during this time, the Chinese determined to learn from their aggressors, just as Confucianism encourages us to learn from others. Learning from others meant first understanding, and copying, the best practices and ideas. Also, from the beginning of China’s history, students were expected to learn primarily through memorization. Much of China’s education today rests on the regurgitation of facts and ideas, not independent, free thinking. This is an atmosphere that will tend to encourage more copying rather than developing novel concepts.

On the other hand, the IP issue plays out differently in Taiwan. Thanks to increasing regulation of goods, and crackdowns on pirated DVDs and IP violations, Taiwan has seen a decrease in these issues…though admittedly, you can still get your cheap Hello Kitty watches and mobile phone trinkets at the local night markets. Regulation, however, makes these instances much rarer than in the mainland.

With the milk scandal, regulation has been at the heart of the tragedy. Thanks to the country’s 免检产品 (inspection-free products) program, large companies considered to be pillars of corporate responsibility and quality were given the freedom to self-regulate. Well, given our recent financial crisis, I probably don’t need to explain why self-regulation doesn’t work. Before you knew it, the pillars fell and there was spilled milk all around. And, like the financial crisis, the biggest losers weren’t the corporations — who probably have enough connections with powerful Chinese such as officials and CEOs to, say, shift the direction of their business if needed. No, it’s the little guys — the dairy farmers — who lost out.

But keep in mind, the dairy farmers were never necessarily out to cheat the system — they were just trying to do their job. It was further down the food supply chain where melamine even entered the picture.

It will take time to trust China again, just as it will take us time to trust Wall Street and the financial system. But, as long as you do your due diligence — and don’t take things for face value, you may be pleasantly surprised. Just like this country, here are good people behind that label of “China” that don’t buy into the idea of gaming the system for more profits.

People like my good friend, Caroline.

Thought I’d dig into the mailbox and respond to what’s becoming a Frequently Asked Question. This comes from my friend Joel here in Pocatello as well:

Do you focus solely on Chinese culture and translations or do you write other things as well?

Good question Joel.

No, we’re not just focused only on Chinese culture or translations — we do quite a bit of non-China-related work. Writing projects — just look at our portfolio and you’ll see lots of examples of this.

For example, we just wrapped up doing an article for a company magazine, where I interviewed people, concepted the story, and wrote it up.

Web content is another area where we shine. We’ve organized and crafted content for a number of websites — check out a few of them in our case studies section.

Earlier this summer, we concepted and wrote up a four-ad campaign for a software company that sells to other businesses.

We also do brochures, newsletters, bios, case studies and even press releases.

Since we have a lot of experience in business to business (B2B) advertising, we love B2B writing projects. B2B operates by different rules in advertising, and it pays to have someone who ‘gets it’ content-wise. I’ve seen some B2B marketing materials written in a hyped-up consumer sort of way…and trust me, it’s not pretty.

So, anyhow, if you thought we were only about China, we’re setting the record straight. And next time you need help with a B2B project that requires a good writer, think about giving us a call.

Sadly, the title, and the cover, are a little misleading. Which is unfortunate, because a lot of people who pass on Foreign Babes in Beijing might actually miss out on a rather informative read on China. That’s because Rachel DeWoskin’s account of her life in Beijing — a PR account exec by day, and soap opera star by night — is sprinkled with some of thoughtful insight into Chinese culture. Given that DeWoskin’s father is a revered sinologist — and she spent much of her formative years in China — she has some credibility to stand on in this department.

Okay, about the title of Foreign Babes in Beijing, though. It’s actually the title of the soap opera she stars in, which features lovely foreign women who fall in love with Chinese men. As she describes it, it’s the ultimate power play for China: the tall, handsome Chinese man conquers the West…sort of. DeWoskin plays Jiexi (pronounced like “jay-shee”), a foreign seductress who falls for a married Chinese man, and who ends up becoming the most popular character on the show.

The story starts out a little slow, even though it begins in medias res — in the midst of her director requesting that she drop her trousers on set. It’s an unfortunate place to start — just as misleading as the cover and title — because it suggests a certain salaciousness that never really plays out in the book. But by the fourth chapter or so, I was pretty much hooked, and desperately turning the pages to follow DeWoskin through her exploits. It’s not just her self-effacing nature, which is refreshing coming from an Ivy-league grad like her. Nor the narrative, which is captivating on its own. It’s how much you learn along the way. Even with all of the years I’ve spent in China, I was impressed with her hundreds of references to Tang-dynasty poems, which neatly illuminate the circumstances at hand. She also references history and politics quite confidently, often delving into lesser-known tidbits about China. All of this as she stumbles through the culture, hilariously at times.

I was nodding my head as I read about some of her bizarre encounters. I never had to walk up 18 flights of stairs in the dark because the elevator lady was sleeping, or was chided for not living at the studio (where the managers would push the limits of privacy by waking unsuspecting actors and actresses to film at night) — but I’ve known my share of equivalents. Such is the life of a foreigner in China, where even today, as modern as it may seem, there is always something to make you raise an eyebrow.

But yes, to speak to the “Babes” side of this, there are plenty of cross-cultural relationships in the book. DeWoskin and her American friend Kate — a serial dater of Chinese men — find boyfriends in the great northern capital of China, as do a number of other foreign women. And they connect with some high-profile people along with way, including the famous rock star Cui Jian (the head of China’s most celebrated rock n’ roll band). Sometimes the book seems to hover dangerously close to name dropping. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the portrayal of strong, feminist women in China, living over there and loving it.

Once the soap opera is over, the narrative does seem to take a turn, along with DeWoskin’s life. She becomes an overnight star, and, before you know it, she’s moving on to other jobs — the more bizarre the job offer, the better. This perhaps is what drove the NY Times book review to declare that:

It becomes a Chinese version of “Friends,” as the author, expertly playing the role of the bemused American, lurches from one cultural misunderstanding to another, then huddles with pals at cool restaurants to chew things over.

DeWoskin also declares, by the end (1999 — ironically, the year that I first entered China), that Beijing is no longer some cool, hidden place. Which is bound to happen as any country opens up. Still, I’m not convinced that more openness means a country or city is less cool or that there isn’t something left to discover. I discovered a lot in those years after DeWoskin left China.

Overall, Foreign Babes in Beijing is worth reading. And if you — or your questioning wife/girlfriend — still can’t get past the cover and title, just put a paper cover around it, and give it a new title. Something with more Beijing in it…and less babes.

Hirayama immediately began sketching out what would become one of his most powerful works, a huge, six-paneled canvas called “The Holocaust of Hiroshima.”

It’s a striking painting; most of the canvas is a blood-red sky, filled with wisps of dirty clouds. In the upper right, the Buddhist god of wrath looks down upon the city.

Hirayama says that despite the sorrow and destruction portrayed in “The Holocaust of Hiroshima,” the painting offers a message of hope.

Clearly, many Japanese citizens — this man included — suffered dearly for the actions of their government. Still, as horrifying as Hiroshima was, I have to wonder if it merits the description of “Holocaust”, especially given the atrocities the Japanese committed for years in China that have still yet to be acknowledged with the same gravity as the Nazi Holocaust.

Consider this: Japan had basically forcibly occupied portions of China since the end of 1931 up until 1945. It began in the Northeastern region — Manchuria — but eventually spread to include the entire eastern seaboard of China, plus Canton, Hong Kong and Hainan Island, as well as Taiwan. The land mass in Japan’s hands was greater than eight Iraqs put together — and with horrific, senseless violence that ranks right up there with the worst of human rights violations, illuminated in this passage from Jonathan Spence’s the Search for Modern China, which describes ONLY the rape of Nanking/Nanjing, a seven-week rampage by the Japanese:

There followed in Nanjing a period of terror and destruction that must rank among the worst in history of modern warfare. For almost seven weeks the Japanese troops, who first entered the city on December 13, unleashed on the defeated Chinese troops and on the helpless Chinese civilian population a storm of violence and cruelty that has few parallels. The female rape victims, many of whom died after repeated assaults, were estimated by foreign observers at 20,000; the fugitive soldiers killed were estimated at 30,000; murdered civilians at 12,000. Robbery, wanton destruction, and arson left much of the city in ruins. There is no obvious explanation for this grim event nor perhaps can one be found. The Japanese soldiers, who had expected easy victory, instead had been fighting hard for months and had taken infinitely higher casualties than anticipated. They were bored, angry, frustrated, tired. The Chinese women were undefended, their men-folk powerless or absent. The war, still undeclared, had no clear-cut goal or purpose. Perhaps all Chinese regardless of sex or age seemed marked out as victims.

That was only one incident during the entire Japanese occupation of China, but it gives you the sense of the depravity of the Japanese aggression — arguably, just from Spence’s description up there, just as bloodthirsty and inhumane as the Holocaust in Germany, given that, in many cases, the Japanese just needlessly raped and murdered innocent civilians, simply because they were Chinese.

Keep in mind, also, that, while 6 million people were murdered in the Holocaust, far more innocent Chinese were murdered in the atrocities by Japan:

The Chinese casualties were 3.22 million soldiers. 9.13 million civilians who died in the crossfire, and another 8.4 million as non-military casualties. According to historian Mitsuyoshi Himeta, at least 2.7 million civilians died during the “kill all, loot all, burn all” operation (Three Alls Policy, or sanko sakusen) implemented in May 1942 in North China by general Yasuji Okamura and authorized on 3 December 1941 by Imperial Headquarter Order number 575.^[9]

Every time I hear stories like this about Japan, from the Japanese perspective, it somehow magnifies the very absence of any attention paid to China’s grave suffering at the hands of the Japanese.

I used to wonder why Chinese were so livid over the Japanese…but now I know.

I ask, why is there a Holocaust museum for the Jews, but not also one for the Chinese? Why is it that we turn time and time again to Hitler as the despot whose imitators must never be allowed to reign, yet we somehow turn a blind eye to the Japanese leaders?

I don’t disagree that the Holocaust — and the despair and destruction of human life as a result — deserves recognition. But what about the Chinese?

This video, in Mandarin Chinese, shows overseas Chinese living in Flushing, New York protesting against Falun Gong demonstrators standing outside of a local public library — who had been there for three days — in an effort to force the Falun Gong to leave the area. They say that, as Chinese, these Falun Gong ought to show their concern and support for their country, instead of denouncing it and refusing to provide charitible donations or assistance. And, perhaps more importantly, it collides with the usual image of Falun Gong practitioners as kindhearted, caring individuals.

Some of the seething language used:

“Falun Gong is an evil cult…everyone else is providing disaster relief, and what are you doing? You have no ancestors!”

“Where is your goodheartedness?”

“You’re not Chinese!”

“Falun Gong uses lies to create hatred. They have no humanity. That whole “kindhearted” image they promote is not Falun Gong.”

“Even Kuomintang, who we have a conflict with, has no problem [helping with disaster relief]. But you Falun Gong are still [condemning the disaster]….you’ve sold your souls!”

“Chinese people ought to have more responsibility [than the foreign workers coming into the country] to help….”

“They say they can foretell the future…so this is also their country, they are also Chinese. Why can’t they make the disaster go away?”

“The Communist Party wasted their resources raising [The Falun Gong]!….Shameless!”

The video is in Mandarin Chinese.

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对救援人员和幸存者的灾后心理急救

亲历危机事件的人，他们的应对能力可能会被冲覆。这些危机事件包括：对自己或他人现实或潜在的伤害或致死；受重伤；家、社区或财产被毁；与家人或密友失去联系。

汶川大地震显然构成了危机事件。此文介绍灾难对救援人员和受害人可能造成的心理影响，讨论个人或团体在灾难发生时和发生后应如何及时进行“心理急救”。本文帮助读者（1）描述灾难中和灾难后的心理环境；（2）描述救助者可采取的步骤以缓解他们自己和灾难幸存者的压力。

救援人员心理

在灾难中，可能看到或听到让人感到非常不适的事情。值得关注的是，救援人员可能会经历对幸存者同情而产生替代性创伤。救援人员不可过度认同幸存者；不能把幸存者的感受当作自己的感受。把他人问题当成是自己的会增加自身压力并影响工作效能。救援人员要提防自己和受害人的一些灾害创伤征象，以便采取措施减轻压力。

这些心理症状可能包括：

• 易怒或发怒

• 自责或责备他人

• 退缩和孤独

• 害怕灾难再发

• 感到晕眩、麻木或被冲没

• 感到无助

• 情绪波动大

• 伤心、沮丧和悲痛

• 否认

• 记忆力和注意力出现问题

生理症状可能包括：

• 失去胃口

• 头痛或胸部疼痛

• 腹泻、胃痛或恶心

• 活动过度

• 增加喝酒或使用毒品

• 做噩梦

• 不能入睡

• 疲倦或精力不足

急救队领导可采取一些步骤来保护队员在事发前、中、后的健康：

• 向整个团队提供压力管理培训

• 向队员通报可能会看到的场景，以及可能会碰到的幸存者或他们自己的情绪反应

• 强调救援是个团队。分担工作和情绪压力可以帮助减轻压抑情绪。

• 鼓励救助者休息和重组，以免队员过度劳累。

• 指导救助者到事发区外休息，以调剂救援的压力。

• 鼓励救助者在整个救援行动中适当进食并维持液体摄取。向队员解释他们应该喝水或其它电解质替代液，并避免喝含咖啡因或精制糖的饮料。

• 轮替团队，使队员得到休息或新的任务，比如从较高压力任务换到较低压力任务。队员可相互交流经历和体验。 这些对队员的心理健康很重要。
  

• 逐步撤出救援队员。将队员逐步从较高压力区转到较低压力区。

• 轮替后，与队员进行简短讨论。队员描述他们的经历并表达对此经历的感受。

• 在救援结束一到三天后，安排信息通报会，让队员更深入地描述他们的经历并表达对此经历的感受。

急救队领导可请受过紧急事件压力管理训练的心理健康专业人员进行一次紧急事件压力报告。紧急事件压力报告是一次在事发后一到三天之间举行的正式团体互动过程，它用来帮助紧急事件服务人员和志愿者应对创伤事件.

急救队员还应花时间考虑个人可以减少压力的其它方式。 只有你自己知道什么使你能够降低自身压力。在事情发生之前，很值得花精力去找到适合自己的降压方式。在日常生活中，你可以采取下列预防措施：

• 充足睡眠
• 积极锻炼身体
• 均衡饮食
• 平衡工作、娱乐、休息
  
• 就像你愿意付出帮助他人一样，允许你自己接受帮助。记住你不仅仅是个帮人者
• 与他人建立并保持有意义联系
• 使用精神资源，如导师、牧师、寺庙等
  

有 经验的救助人员会发现这些步骤对控制他们的压力水平较有帮助，但是，对一些案例来说，有必要向心力健康专业人员寻求帮助。紧急事件压力报告是更综合、多成 分、基于对团体或个体需求仔细评估的危机干预系统中的其中一类干预。紧急事件压力报告不应当作孤立的干预，它应于其它类型的干预协同使用.

一个紧急事件压力报告通常有七个阶段：

1. 介绍和描述这一过程，包括保证保密性；
2. 回顾、评论关于事件的事实性材料；
3. 分享当初对事件的想法/感受；
4. 分享对事件的情绪反应；
5. 回顾、评论参与者经历的压力症状；
6. 说明正常压力反应；
7. 进一步展开需求评估。
   

参与紧急事件压力报告应为自愿。若要安排一场紧急事件压力报告，你应联系红十字会、当地应急处理机构、或社区心理健康机构。若不知如何找到合适的联系人，你也可向消防局或警察局寻求帮助。

处理幸存者的创伤

一些研究指出，灾后幸存者经历若干情绪阶段：

• 在冲击阶段，幸存者并不恐慌，事实上有可能不会显示情感。
• 紧接着事件的是盘查阶段。在此阶段，幸存者评估造成的破坏，并试图找到其他幸存者。人们倾向于抛弃常规社会联系，而偏向最初反应行动（如，搜索和救援）所要求的更具功能性的关系。
• 在救援阶段，应急服务人员作出反应，幸存者心甘情愿地接受这些团队的指导。这是急救团队佩戴辨识标志（头盔、背心等）很重要的原因。
• 在恢复阶段，幸存者似乎会一齐反对他们的施救者。

急救队员应预期幸存者会显示出灾难造成的心理影响，一些心理战会指向你

创伤后压力可能会影响：

• 认知功能。遭受创伤后压力的人可能会不理智地行为，很困难作出决定，或以与其个性不符的反常方式行为。他们可能在分享或提取记忆方面有困难。
• 躯体健康。创伤压力可导致一些躯体症状–从疲乏到发热。
• 人际关系。幸存者可能经历暂时或长期人格改变，很难处理人际关系。

对救助队员来说，现场心理干预的目标应是通过稳定个体而稳定事发现场。要做到此，可采取的方式有：

• 评估幸存者的伤情和情绪震动。先处理医疗需要。观察他们以决定其响应水平，以及他们是否对自身或他人构成危险。
• 使未受伤人员参与救助。聚焦性活动有助于人们从震惊中走出来，所以应给他们一些建设性的事情做，如提供补给。这一策略对处理破坏性的幸存者特别有效。
• 以下列方式提供支持：（1）倾听他们讲述感受和生理需要。受害者常需要讲述他们的经历–他们希望有人听。（2）移情。做出反应表明你已听到他们的关切，以此来表现同情。受害者想知道有人分担他们的痛苦和悲伤感受。
• 帮助幸存者联系自然支持系统，如家人、朋友、或牧师。
  

对于表明有自杀倾向、精神错乱、或不能照顾自己的幸存者，应转荐给心理健康专业人员。

提供帮助时，救助人员应避免以下说法。表面上，这些短语意在安慰幸存者，但是它们并不表明理解对方的感受。

• “我理解。”在多数情况下，我们不能理解除非我们有过同样经历。
• “不要伤心。”幸存者有权感到不舒服，并需要时间来改变心情。
• “你真坚强/你会渡过这关的。”很多幸存者并不感到自己坚强，并怀疑自己能否从伤亡损失中恢复过来。
• “不要哭。”哭是允许的。
• “这是上天/上帝/神的安排。”向一位你并不认识的人赋予一事件宗教意义，可能会冒犯或激怒此人。
• “事情可以更糟糕”或“至少你还有……”应由个人来决定事情是否可能更糟。
  

这些类型的反应可引起幸存者强烈的消极反应或疏远与你的关系。 如果幸存者对你所说的作出消极反应，你可以道歉。

急救队员可能面对的一项令人不愉快地任务是怎样管理在死亡现场的家属。下列指导原则可助你处理这种情况：

• 盖住尸体；尊重逝者。包紧毁伤的尸体。
• 让一位家属看一下尸体，并让其决定其他家属是否应看一下。
• 允许家属与亡者一起度过一些时间。急救队员可待在一旁，但不要观看——试着在情感上拉开一些距离。
• 允许家属哀悼。不要处于需要减轻自己的不适而去安慰他们。

另外，在有些情况下，家属可能不知道家人已死亡，而急救队员被要求告知家属。建议急救队员可这样做：

• 将家属从众人中分离出来，并带到一僻静、私密的处所。
• 可能的话，请家属坐下。
• 进行眼光接触，用平静、亲切的语音。
• 用下列话语告知家人的死亡：“很遗憾，你的家人已经去世。我很难过。”

8892347645324632_jj]]> http://www.thewuway.net/archives/168/feed http://www.thewuway.net/archives/162 http://www.thewuway.net/archives/162#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 00:47:02 +0000 Jocelyn http://www.thewuway.net/?p=162 Last week, I received a fresh market report from China Polling about the growing popularity of the iPhone in China. Some of their results got me wondering.

First, the numbers:

Unsurprisingly, over 65% have heard of iPhone, and among this group, more than 85% are willing to actually buy an iPhone if it’s available here in China.

While the iPhone is not yet *officially* available in China, the price sure won’t be a bargain once it hits the Apple store. This is, after all, Apple quality — you get what you pay for. A cursory search came up with one store in China selling an iPhone for 4,300 RMB (~$600 USD). Still, that price is still well above the average salary of a young person living in major cities such as Beijing or Shanghai (around 2,500 - 3,000 RMB).

There’s more:

Findings show that Battery Life, Memory Size, Style/Design are the top features when picking a phone for all consumers. The difference between iPhone lovers and the not yet converted is all about branding. The non iPhone lovers prefer Music and Camera features rather than being wooed and indoctrinated by the hip Apple brand equity.

I found it telling that the style/design was up in the top three, and also that branding plays a major role in wooing people over to the iPhone.

When I was in college and studying US culture (we read Neil Postman — classic!), our professor once asked us what the real symbol of US culture was. None of us even came close to his response: the car. It made sense because it is something so deeply a part of people’s lives, and, more importantly, it has become a way to express one’s values. Patriotic? Buy American (i.e. Ford/GM). Green? Get a Prius. Wealthy? Show it off with a luxury car (Mercedes, Porsche, etc.). The associations could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.

I have to wonder if the mobile phone is becoming the symbol of China, in the same way. While there are cars in China, not everyone can afford them. But everyone — yes, even those guys out in the fields in the countryside — has a mobile phone. And people are willing to spend thousands of RMB just have the “right phone”. Including getting the hot new iPhone in China (once it gets to China, that is).

I remember back in my office in Shanghai, when the girls in particular seemed obsessed with their phones. They hung all sorts of trinkets and pictures on them. One girl had no qualms about purchasing a mobile phone that had to be more than half of her monthly salary.

What do you think? Are mobile phones the new symbol of China? And how will the iPhone change the landscape?