Bytes of China

There are no couches in this internet cafe

It's going to be a long night in this cafe. There are no couches. I have to learn how to be a better upright sleeper for these situations.

tricia wangMay 7, 2011china, couches, internet cafes, migrants, sleeping, wang ba

at night, you wouldn't have know that this internet cafe was open

We arrived into the city at 2am. It was completely dark, not even a little light on in the street. Not even a street light. As we walked all the way down the alley, we could make out the dark words, 网吧 - the sign wasn't flashing in red or even lit - we could just see the outlines of the letters in the dark.

tricia wangMay 7, 2011china, daytime, internet cafe, open, wangba

On an overnight train to a fieldsite

Despite being packed in on overnight train, people are always meticulous about placing their shoes underneath tip of the bottom bunk. If you put it anywhere else then you would be breaking unspoken train code of conduct.

tricia wangMay 7, 2011china, conduct, overnight, rules, shoes, train, wo po

little kids watching the grown up play a computer game

There is a grown up sitting in the middle seat. He is surrounded by 5 kids (2 boys, 1 girl). The door was locked, otherwise I would've found out what game they were playing.

tricia wangMay 7, 2011boys, china, computer, game, girl, little children

sleeping inside the arcade during the middle of the day

Coins are falling out of the slots. There is a loud play-a-long drumming game with Hotel California blasting. Three people are hitting the congos. We are surrounded by people driving, and yet still these three men in a row are able to fall asleep at a game arcade during the middle of the day. This is on a week day when the arcade is not as busy. They found the most comfortable seats in the place - the driving car games. The workers here do not seem to mind at all. There are still plenty of seats left.

tricia wangMay 7, 2011arcade, china, migrants, sleeping, urban

It's the ethernet cable I care about, not lebron james

She takes me to her apartment for the first time.

tricia wangMay 3, 2011basketball, china, ethernet cable, internet, lebron james, migrant, poster, price

As the city changes, so do we.

The entire city is being torn up to make new buildings and a subway system. When construction sites weave their way into the earth, we imprint ourselves into the city just from walking by the site everyday, stepping onto the broken sidewalk, covering our ears from the loud drill, watching the cranes raise each piece of steel, and walking past the dusty workers. As the city changes, so do we.

tricia wangMay 2, 2011changes, city, construction, dust, site, subway, workers, wuhan

Hanging out with youth at a rock show

I'm hanging out at a local rock show with university students. 3-4 bands have already played and 90% of the songs are covers of songs from the states sung in English. There are around 50 people in the small bar. Most people are just tapping to the beat and drinking beers. Some males are smoking. None of the females are smoking.

tricia wangApril 25, 2011bar, china research, lower tier, rock, youth

Smiley Bear mouth cover for me

I couldnt handle the dust while biking so I finally gave in and got a mouth cover, but of course I'm gonna do it with style!

tricia wangApril 24, 2011bear, china, dust, fieldwork, mouth cover, research, tricia wang

Why I don't carry a dual-sim card phone

profile: young, male, migrant worker, travels by car between two cities 8 -10 hours apart, owns two feature phones (motorola, anycall)

tricia wangApril 24, 2011anycall, card, dual, feature, migrant worker, mobile, motorola, phone. cellphone, sim

Tracing prices of second-hand computers through wall postings: seller lowered the price for her/his computer

This seller decided to lower price for her/his computer by 100RMB. At first it was 800RMB, but a posting at the end of the black reveals that the seller lowered it to 700RMB.

tricia wangApril 24, 2011advertisement, china, computer, posting, wall

The Fabric of community life is in the numbers: real walls are still important information places

This is a wall where in a local slum where people post advertisements for services that they are offering from lock experts, to laundry washing, moving, and computers. People walk past these walls and if s/he sees a service that they are looking for, they will call the phone number.

tricia wangApril 24, 2011china, community, life, numbers, pasters, phone, wall, wheatpasting

A recipe for disruptive innovation? Learning from Shanzai producers

Three friends are sitting and smoking together on an overnight train. Most people standing around them have standing seats only. The boy on the left is playing with his shanzai cellphone.

tricia wangApril 24, 2011android, cellphone, disruptive, emerging markets, feature, innovation, mobile, nokia, shanzai, smartphones, symbian

This panda is ready to observe! White board & sticky notes here we go!

I've hung up my beloved Go Write! mobile white board in my office. This will be the magical extension of my brain along with lots of multi-colored sticky notes.

tricia wangApril 23, 2011china, dry erase, fieldsite, go write, mobile, panda, tricia wang, white board

The first breath: stepping into my fieldsite and home for the next year

My entry into China this time couldn't have been more seamless. No lines in customs. Luggage came right out. Walked into the arrival area without even having to go through a suitcase scan. But I shouldn't speak too soon. I have to remember that Shanghai is like New York City - whatever happens here - good or bad - cannot be representative of an entire country.

tricia wangApril 22, 2011beijing, changes, china, city, construction, eating, public, street, taxi, train, urbanization, wuhan

Bytes of China! A new blog on the ethnographic analysis of China's digital youth culture

Welcome to my primary blogging home for the next year! I'll be sharing insights from my next year of research on how non-elite youth are using digital tools and interacting with the physical city through these tools. Instead of waiting to read my book or hearing a talk, I'll be giving you small bytes of my fieldwork several times a week for the next year from pictures of my daily travels to quotes from interviews and previews from my field notes.