Bytes of China

His own style: A fashion choice that keeps people and crowds at a distance

Xin Kai (psyeudonym) is a wholesale clothing seller. I stopped by his story today and he told me about an incident that happened today with the chengguan

tricia wangOctober 23, 2011card, chengguan, china, fashion, hair, identity, police, style, undefined, urban

The New Luxury Consumer: White male serving Chinese couple in Toyota Highlander Advertisement

Oh how this Toyota Highlander advertisment is reflective of the new global order. I saw this picture in Guangzhou's domestic terminal. A Chinese couple is getting out of their Japanese brand car into what appears to be a private yacht. A white male greets them, taking their travel items and appears to be eagerin their service.

tricia wangOctober 23, 2011advertisement, china, consumer, credit rating, debt, global, global economy, imaginary, luxury, spending, us

Just Another Day of Fieldwork in China - Student singing for money on street

I felt off today. Everything was making me annoyed.

tricia wangOctober 23, 2011anthropology, bias, china, ethnography, everyday, fieldwork, health, life, observations, street, student, sustianable

Shanzai Nokia N9 has 7 OS interfaces, but most importantly it has Talking Tom & Stripping Games

In the wonderful world of shanzai, we have a new competitor made with a Mediatek chip- a Nokia N9 knockoff, the Noka (诺卡) N9. The Noka N9 has 7 operating systems interfaces: Meego, iOS 5.0, HTC Sense, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry, Smasung’s TouchWizand Symbian Anna. This screenshot below from the video shows the user switching OS interfaces.

tricia wangOctober 20, 2011females, gams, noka n9, nokia n9, operating system, shanzai, smartphone, strip, talking tom, users, 诺卡 N9

The shanzhai smarpthone bandits are coming in China! My response to Nokia's CEO on 90% of the world not using smartphones

This is a quote from Stephen Elop's first speech in Asia last week since becoming the CEO of Nokia: "The reality is that 90 percent of the world does not have or cannot afford a smartphone or a high-end device...This gap creates an opportunity.”

tricia wangJune 27, 201190%, affordable, cellphone, china, feature, low-income, mobiles, nokia, smartphone, stephen elop

How I was treated on the subway when I was doing fieldwork as a migrant worker

One of the people I've spending a lot of time in my fieldwork is Yang Jie. I wrote about her a few years ago when I met her on the street selling traditional Miao clothing and trinkets in Beijing.

tricia wangJune 23, 2011beijing, categorization, china, class, ethnography, geoffrey bowker, iphone, leigh star, migrant, subway, technology, treatment

warm hot dogs: protein source in internet cafe

I was hanging out an internet cafe around 4pm in the afternoon on a weekday.

tricia wangJune 19, 2011china, food, gamers, gaming, hot dog, internet cafe, protein

Life Underground: an ethernet line to the outside world with no windows

I've been touring underground tunnels looking for a short-term rental. This is the room that I've decided to rent. The room includes an incredibly dilapidated twin bed and a wooden desk. To give you an idea of the size of this particular room, it's as big as a large walk-in American closet and smaller than a queen sized bed. These rooms cost 350RMB/month. Some rooms have a double-bed or a TV, and those cost a bit more.

tricia wangJune 16, 2011bed, bedroom, china, ethernet, ethnography, internet, size, tunnel, underground

Empty Condom Dispensing Machines

Even though there are condom vending machines scattered through out the city, I have yet to find one that could dispense even one condom. It only takes coins.

tricia wangJune 11, 2011beach, china, condom, empty, machines dispensing, public, sex

Using 驴友 BBS Message Boards to Find Travel Friends

I met a young, college student at a bus stop while I was waiting for a bus with a friend.

tricia wangJune 11, 2011bbs, china, digital, marriage, relationships, technology, tourist, travel, vacation, youth

Explosion at Construction Site - No Public Reports

I was walking by this construction site above with my friend Lao Meng when we heard a humongous explosion and then saw large metal sharples the size of car tires flying onto the street. We both just stood there watching everyone panic and running away from the site. We didn't see any pieces of metal land on anyone; the metal flew over everyone's heads and onto the street. And we were safe in the end. It was shook us up a bit and reminded us that it's quite normal for several deaths to be associated with each construction project.

tricia wangJune 10, 2011blast, china, construction, explosion, migrant, worker

Technolgies of Luxury: Toilet Ads featuring "Western Toilets" are a sign of luxury

All around the city are advertisements for "Western" styled toilets that have lids, seat, and raised base. No squatting is required. In new apartment buildings, there are ads pasted in elevator entrances. Usually there is a woman in a dress pointing to the toilet. This is the first ad that I've seen with a male baby holding his penis as he urinates into the toilet.

tricia wangJune 10, 2011advertisement, china, digital, luxury, technology, toilet

Man on bus having difficulty with his cellphone stylus

This older man is using his stylus to write Chinese characters for a text message. He keeps having to take his glasses on and off to write it. He writes a few strokes, then presses a button, then puts his glasses back on, and then repeats the entire process. The bus is also very bumpy so he is trying to stablize the mobile with his hands.

tricia wangJune 10, 2011bus, cellphone, china, cutting, elderly, glasses, mobile, nails, older, public, technology, transportation

The Culturally Situated Weibo 随手拍 Instant Photo Phenomenon: the largest singles Social Networking Site in China

What first started out with well-meaning citizens taking pictures of child beggers on the street has now turned into a national phenomenon of individuals uploading pictures of themselves and their friends in the hopes of finding a potential relationship.

tricia wangMay 24, 2011dating, instant photo, meet-up, men, rescue, romance, singles, students, university, weibo, women, 随手拍

Weibo Message to all Users - Fun, Love, & Entertainment

This is a message that has started popping up on my Weibo account lately:

tricia wangMay 23, 2011celebrity, cute, diffrence, entertainment, fun, information, twitter, twitter diffrence, weibo

Some tips for surviving in any city where the transportation can be a litlle messy.

Transportation in some second tier cities is still a major work in progress. In my city, Wuhan, roads are being torn apart to create the new subway system that will be finished in 3 years. The government is also building new highways, bridges, and canals. Incredible water engineering feats will be accomplished - East Lake will be connected to the Yellow River.

tricia wangMay 18, 2011bike, black, bus, cab, cabbies, car, china, tips, traffic, train, transportation

Some things that I learned about my new home in China - settling in takes a long time!

I've finally accomplished 2 very important things after a month of being here - I have my permanent residency card and am officially registered with Wuhan University. Neither of these things were easy. They required tons of running around and tons of bureaucracy. After all the quarantine health checks, cab rides, unclear answers, unexplainable long breaks, and missing officials - I am happy to say that I've learned a lot about my city. I think this advice is also useful for other cities in China.

tricia wangMay 16, 2011china, culture, loud, passport, permanent, photos, registering, residency, screaming, tips, wuhan

A documentary about the city that I am based in - Hankou 汉口

This is a documentary, 汉口汉口 Hankou Hankou， by 刘文祥 Liú Wén Xiáng. It detials the early commerical history of Hankou, Wuhan.

tricia wangMay 16, 2011hankou, meng fang yong, wuhanLiú Wén Xiáng, 刘文祥, 孟繁永, 汉口汉口

China's and the World's future can be summed up in three words: thanks for shopping.

This is the sign that is the exit and entrance of every Carrefour in China"谢谢你惠顾“ "thanks for shopping."

tricia wangMay 15, 2011advertisement, carrefour, china, consumption, cultural, little children, one child, shopping, walmart, world

Non-digital means of spreading information through paper currency

I bought a tea from a tea stand and this is the 1RMB change that I was given: a hand-written message about fal0n g0ng, explaining that it is a harmless organization that does good things.

A place to track all my musings about China

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