Mad About Shanghai

Mobile Payment and eWallets in China

It seems Alipay is taking China by storm.

Have are you currently an Alipay user?

Check out this video. Yes. It's actually possible to get around on some days in China without a wallet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nMCkzyRu3E

An Article to Share: A Hundred Apps Bloom in China as Millions Bank on Their Phones

China has really come a long way in terms of digital.

Because of banking red tapes, high level of fraud / cyber crimes and differing consumption patterns in provinces and areas to name a few, as early as ten years ago,  many spectators around the world have speculated that digital and ecommerce would never succeed in China.

Today, digital is very much part of the everyday lives of the metropolitan Chinese. They have progress with such speed that despite such a big territory and customer base they have put to shame my more advanced countries.

Gone are the copy cat days of old. They are showing the world how to do it.

I share with you one article from Bloomberg:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-19/wechat-baidu-and-alibaba-help-chinese-embrace-digital-banking

Most Expensive City in the China for Expatriates 2015

ECA International has released their latest report on the cost of living for expatriates.

Shanghai beat Beijing to be the most expensive city for expats as compared to all other cities in China as well as Asia Pacific. Globally, it is the 8th most expensive in the world. Ouch~

In all, 220 cities were surveyed and prices for food, daily essentials and other basic costs were factored.

You can read the full report here.

Table credits : Asia One

 

Universities in China : Peking University

Peking University or "Beida" or 北大 is one of the oldest and finest universities in China.

Established in 1898, in addition to rich traditions, the university is known for their blend of traditional architecture with modern infrastructure.

My friend, J, who moved to Beijing some time back, and unofficially my "Beijing correspondence" contributed these photos:

F1 Chinese Grand Prix (10-12 April 2015) - Race Day

 

 

 

 

Photos from Mercedes Benz.

Most Expensive City in the World for Expatriates

The Economic Intelligence Unit has revealed the costliest cities in the world for expatriates in 2015.

The information gathered is for companies to calculate the necessary relocation packages and does not necessarily means it is the most expensive city though.

If you think Shanghai or Beijing are expensive, you would be surprised.

The top 5 remains unchanged from last year:

1) Singapore

2) Paris

3) Olso

4) Zurich

5) Sydney

The least expensive are:

Karachi (Pakistan)

Caracas (Venezuela)

Bangalore (India)

Mumbai (India)

Chennai (India)

Read more about it here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31689124

Happy Lunar New Year 2015 !

Chinese Mobile Phones : Hua Wei

Having been impressed by the XiaoMi Note I bought earlier, I am again impressed by the quality of the Hua Wei series of mobile phone at a recent telecommunication exhibtion.

Incidentally, it has been reported recently in a report that Hua Wei has become the third biggest seller of mobile phones in the world. The other close competitorS from China remains Lenovo and XiaoMi.

Though still a copy cat (they are built exactly like a iPhone or a Samsung), the quality remains solid and comfortable in the hand:

Xiaomi Mobile Phones

Have you heard of the Xiao Mi brand of mobile phone ? 

While there have been many other brands of China made mobile phones like Hua Wei, Lenovo and Meizhu which are surprisngly of very good quality, the one that has taken China by storm is this brand. 

They even managed to poached former Google executive, Hugo Barra onto their payroll not too long ago.

Literally meant  "small rice" , their products are priced at unbelievable value, (check out the prices on their Singapore page). I bought a XiaoMi Note online for about US$140. I also bought the Xiao Mi 10400 mAh powerbank for just slightly more than US10.

Surprising, they dont feel cheap and surpassed my expectations.

The quality is really not too bad for its price:

Unbelivable value! 

The Drivers of eCommerce in Asia Pacific

The Drivers of eCommerce in Asia Pacific by SP eCommerce.

Click to enlarge.