Shopping in China

Where to buy cheap and reasonable quality stuff in China through the internet?  Check out the following online shopping websites recommended by Rong.

Taobao
Everyone in China knows Taobao and it sells everything.
"Chinese eBay" Set up in 2003, Taobao is the biggest online shopping platform in China, accounting for over 80% of domestic online business. Most shop owners are individuals, however, more and more big-brands are opening their official shops on Taobao Mall (Tmall).
The nasty part is everything is in Chinese and most of the owners can't chat with you in other language than Chinese. Maybe this could be a motivation for some of you to learn Chinese .Or you can view online shopping taobao english-Agreetao.

How to use taobao?
1. Set up an account.  An email address would be required.
2. Search items. Type in things you want to buy in the searching bar either in characters or pinyin (yes, you can use pinyin as well!!!).
You can set some search requirements as well, such as arrange the items bases on price or popularity, choose the places where the shop is located ( this affects the delivery time)
3. Purchase. You don't have to bargain over Taobao. Once you see something you want, just click the "buy" button.Then you need to fill in your address and contacts.
4. Pay. The payment part is the most complicated: you need to have a Chinese bank account and make sure it has the online payment service. Then you need to set up an Alipay account (like "paypal", but completely FREE!!! So much better). The fascinating part is almost all the online shopping websites can be paid through Alipay afterwards.

If u want to buy books...
1. Dangdang  is "Chinese version of Amazon" .You can find almost every book published within 30 years in Mainland China on Dangdang and with a discount. The best part is no delivery fee is charged once your purchase is over 29 RMB(4.75USD) and also you can choose to pay when goods are delivered.

2. Kongfuzi
As the biggest second-hand Chinese book online platform, it's the best place for you to find an ancient or limited-edition book. Most of the bookstores are owned by private owners, therefore sometimes the delivery fee can be a bit expensive.

3. Taobao
You can find a lot of Ebooks (especially English ones or acedemic ones ) on Taobao for about 5 RMB (82cents) per one. I don't think they have the digital copyrights, but it is so cheap that it's hard not to be tempted. And sometime it's the only fast way you can get a book for your thesis.

The 3 C's of Content Marketing

Happy Monday, everyone! This week in news read about the top 5 emerging technology trends, 19 social media facts that every marketer should know, Google Android catching up to Apple in race for mobile ad dollars, and mobile contributed 59% to ad revenue for the first quarter of Facebook. In tips, learn how to increase your social media click-through rates, the three C’s of content marketing, effective, ethical native advertising, and 5 steps to creating a better app… It’s Skimming the News!

NEWS

The Top 5 Emerging Technology Trends of 2014 via Business2 Community

According to Gartner, one result of BYOD is “a doubling or even tripling of the size of the mobile workforce.” Gartner predicts improvements in JavaScript performance will push HTML5 and browser-based enterprise application development environments into the mainstream. Gartner believes the number of mobile apps will grow—while the number of larger applications shrink–with apps becoming smaller and more targeted than more comprehensive applications. Read the full article for the complete list of emerging technology trends.

19 Social Media Facts that Every Marketer Should Know [Video] via Mashable

Over 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years old. 53% of people on Twitter recommend products in their tweets.93% of shoppers’ buying decisions are influenced by social media. 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations whereas only 14% of consumers trust advertisements. The four C’s of digital are creating, curating connecting, and culture. See video for full list of facts.

Google’s Android Catching Up to Apple in Race for Mobile Ad Dollars via AdAge

In a report published Tuesday, mobile-ad platform Opera Mediaworks found that devices running Android sent a greater percentage of ad requests in the first quarter of 2014 than those running Apple’s iOS. The report found that, in the first quarter, Android devices’ share of mobile-ad requests reached 42.8%, up from 31.3%. Over that time iOS’s share fell to 38.2% from 44.5%. After serving 76% of impressions in the first quarter last year, Android and iOS now control 81% of all traffic and 86% of revenue.

Facebook’s Q1: Mobile Contributed 59% of Ad Revenue in Q1 via AdExchanger

Facebook reported first-quarter earnings Wednesday, exceeding analyst estimates with ad revenue growth of 82% to $2.3 billion. In contrast, Google’s Q1 revenues were seven times larger at $15.4 billion, but its growth was only 19%. The number of users accessing Facebook via a mobile device jumped 43% year over year to 609 million globally, and monthly active mobile users surpassed 1 billion for the first time. Mobile now contributes 59% of the company’s total ad revenues, up from 30% in Q1 2013.

TIPS

How to Increase Your Social Media Click-Through Rates via Social Media Examiner

Most businesses make the same mistake in their social media updates: They don’t have a call to action that routes people back to their website. Remember to give fans a reason to click through. To get the most out of your efforts, look at which social updates, blog posts and advertising campaigns your prospective customers have responded well to in the past. Use your landing page to provide more information and another clear, strong call to action and the means to complete that action.

The 3C digital accessories Marketing via Entreprenuer

Be compelling. The information and perspective you provide should feel unlike anything that’s available elsewhere, and it should give your customer pause. Always customize. When publishing your content, it’s important that it feel unique to your customer, specially created to suit their certain kind of needs. Keep consistency. Each piece of content you distribute should be published consistently, with purpose, and with a constant brand voice.

The Essential Guide for Effective, Ethical Native Advertising via Business2Community

To avoid angering your audience, transparency is critical when it comes to native advertising. Strive to educate, inform, or entertain while weaving your brand message subtly into the content. Since kids are less likely to distinguish between advertising and regular content, avoid sponsored ads in children’s publications and websites. Native ads work best when the content is consistent with a brand’s personality, as well as the publisher’s editorial mandate. Finally, provide an opportunity to participate and make customers feel empowered.

Five Steps to Better Apps: A Cookbook for Mobile Application Security via Forbes

Code should be regularly scanned for security vulnerabilities during the development cycle.  Companies that have to go back and add security after development often find that it can be more expensive. Applications produced should be automatically tested as part of a build automation process. All development staff should have received some secure application development security training. Check for security gaps by testing vulnerabilities. Utilize other testing techniques such as penetration testing, infrastructure tests, and risk reviews.

Six amazing Chinese gadgets

Gadgets are cool, many people like these funny gadgets. Though China is often accused of not being innovative enough, but here are six china gadgets that put that myth to the sword.

1. Qihoo 360 Kids Guard 2

 According to the Chinese company Qihoo, more than 500,000 Chinese families already use the Kids Guard, a watch that allows parents to track their kids on their mobile phones.

Version two of the watch, a cute colourful silicon band designed not to irritate young skin, sold out instantly. As well as the GPS tracker, it also boasts an alert for when a child moves out of a pre-set range, and the ability to listen in for ten seconds to a microphone on the watch to hear where your child might have got to.

2. Beautiful Image 2 mobile phone

Can your mobile phone make you more attractive? Chinese mobile phone maker Meitu (Beautiful Image) is selling a ￡220 to ￡299 Android smartphone for vain selfies. Armed with a twin flash and a 13 megapixel camera, the phone automatically processes pictures to remove freckles, soften lighting, improve skin colour and add shine to the eyes.

3. The briefcase unicycle

 Popping up all over China's big cities are these briefcase-sized unicycles.

Stabilised with a gyroscope, commuters can carry their unicycle on the train or metro, then simply fold down the footrests on either side, step on and whizz the rest of the way to work. The top speed is around 12mph and cheap models cost around ￡180.

4. Quitbit smart lighter

 Not invented by the Chinese, but developed in a hardware development studio in the southern city of Shenzhen, the Quitbit lighter aims to help smokers cut down simply by telling them how many cigarettes they have had in the day. Your daily count shows on the side of the lighter and a detailed analysis is sent to your smartphone.

"Trying to cut back your smoking without tracking is like trying to lose weight without a scale," the company says.

5. Smart Plug 2

Why not put your electricity sockets to better use? Chinese companies are racing to make smart plugs, with this incarnation offering a dizzy array of add-ons. The plug can monitor batteries as they charge, cutting off electricity when they are full. It has USB sockets for charging phones. You can turn the socket on and off with your phone. You can connect it to a camera to monitor the house, and it has a sensor that can turn on a light for you if it detects you getting out of bed at night.

6. The EStar Holographic Smart Phone

3D smartphones are being developed around the world, but this is China's version. Using the front camera to monitor the eye movements of its user, the four camera Takee phone creates a 3D picture that looks, according to the manufacturer, like a holograph. The phone can also take record 3D images using its back cameras that can be printed out using a 3D printer. A snip at ￡360.