China’s Internet users reach 253 million people [ July 24th, 2008 ] Posted in » Internet

China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reports that the number of Chinese Internet users has reached 253 million people in late June 2008. According to the report, this is the first time that China has surpassed the United States (US population is about 300 million) and became the country with the most Internet users.

However, the Internet penetration rate is only 19.1%, still lower then the world’s average of 21.1%.
According to the CNNIC report, there are 91 million new netizens since June of last year and this year alone, 43 million new netizens were added to China’s netizens population.

Here’s the entire press release (download the entire report here):

2008724日,中国互联网络信息中心(CNNIC)在京发布《第22次中国互联网络发展状况统 计报告》(以下简称《报告》)。报告显示,截至20086月底,我国网民数量达到了2.53亿,首次大幅度超过美国,跃居世界第一位。尽管如此,互联网 普及率只有19.1%,仍然低于全球平均水平(21.1%)。
同时,宽带网民数达到2.14亿人,也跃居世界第一。CNNIC在发布会上同时宣布,截至722日, CN域名注册量以1218.8万个全面超过德国.de域名,成为全球第一大国家顶级域名。这三项重大突破举世瞩目,互联网大国规模初显。

快速崛起的互联网大国

CNNIC 的报告显示,中国网民规模继续呈现持续高速发展的趋势。与去年同期相比,中国网民人数增加了9100万人,是历年来网民增长最多的一年,同比增长达到 56.2%。仅2008年上半年,中国网民数量净增量就达4300万人,并一举超越美国成为世界上网民人数最多的国家。
统计表明,中国网站数量持续增长,共有191.9万个,年增长率为46.3%;其中CN下的网站数为136.9万,占总网站数71.3%,表明国内绝大多 数网站都已使用CN域名。由此带来的域名需求以及奥运官网应用beijing2008.cn等事件的示范作用,推动CN国家域名在今年初突破千万注册量之 后,再次实现跨越,以1218.8万的注册量傲视全球国家顶级域名。我国在网络规模上的突破,成为我国综合国力不断增强的一个重要注解。

网民结构与人口结构趋近

着网民规模的逐渐扩大,网民结构与现实生活中的结构逐渐趋近。我国网民的学历结构正逐渐向总体居民的学历结构趋近,体现出互联网大众化的趋势。从学历角度 分析报告数据,互联网显现向下扩散的趋势。目前高中学历的网民比例最大,占到39%。同时,中国网民中女性比例上升到46.4%,比2007年底上升了 3.6个百分点,中国网民逐渐走向性别均衡。

互联网主流媒体地位凸显

一直 以来,网络应用是CNNIC报告中重要组成部分。此次报告显示,网络新闻使用率达81.5%,用户规模达到2.06亿人,网络新闻阅读率比200712 月增加了8.8个百分点,在网络应用中排名跃升至第二位,一改此前数字娱乐应用在前十大网络应用中占据绝对优势的局面。这与今年上半年一系列重大新闻事件 的网络媒体的表现密切相关。可以说,互联网已经成为新闻传播领域中影响巨大的、最具发展潜力的主流媒体。

互联网深层次应用规模提速

CNNIC 的报告显示,人们的网上行为也开始与实际生活靠近,网络购物、网上银行等实用性应用走俏。数据显示,我国网络购物使用率为25%,用户人数达到6329 人,半年内用户量增加了1688万人,其中最为普及的城市是上海,使用率达到45.2%。网上支付和网上银行则极大地推动了网络购物的发展,网民对二者的 使用率分别达到22.5%23.4%,尤其是网上支付,半年用户增量达到2379万人,半年增长率达到71.7%。受2007年中国股市火爆的影响,网 上炒股/基金使用率为16.9%,尽管目前使用率在下降,但总体用户量仍然略涨了466万。
手机上网成为网络应用的一个重要发展方向,势必加快互联网的大众化。当前28.9%的中国网民在过去半年曾经使用手机上过网,手机网民规模达到7305万人。
CNNIC发布的这一系列数据表明,互联网大国的规模已经显现,网民对于互联网深层次应用的需求和接受程度大幅度提高。中国互联网正在逐渐走向成熟,未来在国际网络社会中的影响力也将更强。

KFC’s Win-Wings allow you to be a winner

Went to the local KFC yesterday and saw their spanking new dish, the KFC Win-Wing (胜利之翼) chicken wings.  Two pieces of chicken wings stringed on a stick in the shape of a “W” (or M depending on which way you look at it).
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In anticipation of the Beijing Olympic next month, KFC introduced a new slogan for this W shaped BBQ dish: “Cheer for China’s Victory, Win! Win! Win!”

You can also eat a wing and call the remaining the Victory-Wing.
Or competitor, McDonald’s, can copy it and turn it over and call it the MacWing.

What will they think of next?!

BTW: this new dish costs ¥10.50 a stick; get it while they’re winning at KFC.

Take a look at these so called “winners” from around China:

July 24th, 2008 | 2 Comments

Bill Gates Spends ¥100,000,000 to Watch the Olympic

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The world’s richest person, Bill Gates, has spent 100,000,000 RMB renting a “mid-air courtyard” to enjoy the Beijing Olympic.  The courtyard is 180 meters from the Beijing National Aquatics Center (Water Cube) and Bill Gates has rented this place for one year according to the sales department of the Pang Gu Da Guan (盘古大观) estate.
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The size of the courtyard that Bill Gates rented is about 700 squre meters and the price for one square meter is about 90,000 RMB.  According to the sales people for Pang Gu Da Guan, they can only rent you the place, you cannot buy it.  “We don’t rent for short-term, we only rent for long-term; the shortest term that one can rent is 1 year.”
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According to the sales person, besides Bill Gates, other clients has already moved it.

July 23rd, 2008 | 2 Comments

Two Bombings in Kunming Make Everyone Jittery

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Two bus bombings in Kunming, my hometown, occured yesterday morning around 9AM.  14 people were injured and two were killed according to the news on CCTV.  The bombing took place near Xiaoximen (小西门) and Xichang Road (西昌路).

While all the attentions were focused on Beijing, the bombing in Kunming came to everyone as a shock.  Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province and in my opinion an extremely peaceful city; it is also a popular tourist destination in China during the summer months. 

As the Olympic Games near, the tension in Beijing tightens and security beefed up.  For example, anyone who enters the subway carrying a bag (doesn’t matter if its a suitcase or lady’s purse) must be inspected and the bag must be x-rayed.

The security in Beijing obviously must be top notch, but the security else where in China must not falter either.

July 22nd, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Two Tsinghua Students Celebrates Graduation by Streaking Naked

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Two Arts Major students decided to celebrate their graduation from China’s prestigious Tsinghua University by taking their cloth off and streak through the campus naked. The good news is pictures were taken and were posted on the school forum for all to see. A reporter found one of the graduates who participated in this “freedom act” and found out that the naked streak was aimed to improve Tsinghua University’s “humanities atmosphere”.

It’s good to know that four years of Tsinghua education produce more than just computer nerds.

July 19th, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Red Cliff (赤壁), is it worth it?

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Well I don’t know yet, going to get up tomorrow at 7 and head over to the Chongwenmen movie theater to get my hands on three tickets.  Why so early you ask?  Well, every Tuesday and Thursday, Chongwenmen movie tickets are half price!  What would usually cost about 60RMB will only cost 30RMB on Tuesdays and Tuesdays.

I’ve heard a lot of good reviews about Red Cliff so I’m going to give it a shot and spend my money on it (otherwise I’ll just download it off of Xunlei or watch it on Youku).  However, I’m still feeling skeptical because all the other major releases in china in the past few years have been a disappointment.

Ever since Ang Lee successfully released Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the United States, all the major directors in China wanted a piece of the action as well:

  • Zhang Yimou’s Hero (英雄), House of the Flying Daggers (十面埋伏), and Curse of the Golden Flower (满城尽带黄金甲)
  • Chen Kaige’s horrible and idiotic movie The Promise (无极)
  • Feng Xiaogang’s The Banquet (夜宴)
  • Peter Chan’s Warlords (投名状)

On a scale of 10, I would give the above movies a 4 simple because, in my opinion, the directors focused too much on making money (too much fancy schmancy actors and scenes) and paid little attention to developing a good storyline.

So hopefully, Red Cliff will be different and perhaps break this curse of the bad 古装片。

July 17th, 2008 | 6 Comments

Reason for the Oil Price Increase in China

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Go go go! 加油!加油!
Anyone who ever lived in China will know the meaning of the phrase “加油”; for those who don’t, it cheer everyone in China use meaning “let’s go!” or “keep going!” (literally it means “add oil”).

Well a couple of days ago I got a text message on the phone explain why this year, China is experiencing the oil price increase:

According to the message, the increase in price is due to increase in demands.  Starting this year, the people in the snow disaster region needed “加油”; the torch bearers needed “加油”; the people in Tibet needed “加油”; the people in Sichuan needed “加油”; the Olympic needed “加油”…  With such demand in oil, no wonder the price increased.

July 15th, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Starting Tomorrow, Carry Your ID at all Times if you Live in Beijing

Starting tomorrow, July 15th, people living in Beijing need to carry their identification at all times in case of random checks by the police.  The police warns that no matter if you are a native Beijinger or an outsider, you’ll need to carry your identification with you when you leave the house.  If you are a foreigner, carry your passport.  If you’re from the United States, don’t think your drivers license will do because I have used my driver’s license before and they don’t recognize it.  This is part of Beijing’s effort to beef up security before the Augest Games.

July 14th, 2008 | 3 Comments

Happy Anniversary

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你可以闭上眼睛好好想一想,要是你身边的那位不见了,你会是什么反应。我女朋友常问我是否爱她,我常不回答。我这人不善于表达,心中的话也是留给自己,说出来就失去了那真实感。但她问我是否爱她,我常常想到,要是他忽让不见了,我会什么反应。一直以来我都想到一半就不敢想了:很可拍,很孤单,很怀念。

五年前我们在云南大理相见,谁知五年后,我们还会依然在一起。这不是命中注定,也不是不是老天有眼,这是精心经营,彼此忍让,加上一点大胆而不后悔的精神。爱情没有我想象的那样浪漫,两年多来,每天早上六点起床打电话,晚上一两点睡觉,在浪漫也坚持不下来,需要的是一种信仰,一种渴望彼此的冲动。浪漫留给小说,留给电影,留给白日梦;我情愿要给我夹菜,盖被子,炖鸡汤,陪我散步,看病,吵架。为什么?因为到最后记住的不是玫瑰花或钻石戒,而是那些很平常的小细节。

闭上眼睛好好想一想,这都是我想到的。

Happy Anniversary!

July 12th, 2008 | 1 Comment

Finally, a Chinese Bank Note without Mao Zedong

A limited edition (6 million notes) Chinese bill is coming out soon to commemorate the Beijing Olympics.  According to the Associated Press:

Mao is gone from the note, replaced by a sketch of the new National Stadium — the Bird’s Nest — and the emblem of the Beijing Games, according to the report. Both are set against the backdrop of the Temple of Heaven, one of Beijing’s iconic sites.

So finally, a bill without Mao Zedong.  In the United States, if you are talking about money and mentions Benjamin or Washington, everyone will immediately know you are either talking about 100 dollars or 1 dollar. Since all the banknotes (except the less than 1 Yuan denomination notes) feature Mao Zedong, you can’t simply mention his name for everyone to know how much you are talking about.

The other day our CEO announced that whoever introduces a new talent to the company will “personally receive 5 Maos from me as a reward if the company decides to hire the new talent.” We all were confused because in China, Mao Zedong is on every banknote; from the 1 Yuan bill to the 100 Yuan bill. So everyone jokingly replied the email asking if the reward was 5 Yuan or 500 Yuan.

July 9th, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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