Day: August 22, 2007

Categories
Business Stocks

Consumer series IV: China Youth Travel

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last Updated on August 23, 2007 by stlplace

I am resuming this series as I am in Shanghai, and I got first hand look at the consumer spending here. Travel industry grew very fast in recent years due to several factors:

1) The golden week, where people got one week break in Chinese New Year, May 1, and Oct 1;

2) People have more money to spend in general, especially young people want to more DIY travel (freedom tour instead of the good old group tour);

3) More sites have been developed, e.g., Sanya, Lijiang (Yunan), etc.

But the travel industry is highly fragmented in China. The main players include: the scenic sites (Huangshan, e’Mei Shan etc.); the travel agency; the airlines; and the hotels. The profit margin of travel agency business is not high, especially the domestic travel.

Continue reading “Consumer series IV: China Youth Travel”
Categories
Life

Be careful won’t be wrong

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 22, 2007 by stlplace

This morning on my way to work, I passed by an ICBC branch, seeing many people on the line, I turned around to take a picture. Then…I got hit by a bicycle. It’s nothing serious, but one won’t feel good about it. My point here is be careful about traffic when in China, the rule here is quite different from the west. It’s my bad that I forgot people ride bikes on the side walk. The other day I saw a bus ignored the red light. I’m not saying the traffic back in St. Louis is perfect, either. I still remember my car got hit by a woman who ignored the red light.

Another thing we need to pay attention is the escalator: those in the malls or metro stations. Especially with the kids wearing the Crocs. While the crocs are comfortable, it also has the anti-slip feature. It tends to stick on the surface. I remember tripped up myself couple times because of this, while walking in the malls. This could be dangerous for the kids while riding escalator, because the escalator itself is a dangerous thing already. I read some injury reports on this Manila newspaper. I personally think Crocs is not to blame, but parents please be careful with your “crocling kids”.

Categories
China Fun

New Oriental class break

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 22, 2007 by stlplace

Found the following video clip at Tudou, the China’s very own YouTube. The content pushed the envelop a little so don’t play it before your boss, coworker or kids. I haven’t verified whether this is indeed from a class break of New Oriental.

This (in a very small way) reflects the entertainment of China generation Y (young people born after 1980, or 80后).