Beijing to get city-wide Wimax coverage?

I’m just acting as part of the echo-chamber here, but this article from Ogilvy suggests the rollout has begun, and will really impact from next year. Cool.

More phone thoughts, Emerald Hill

I’m so indecisive.

I took a look at the Nokia N73 last night, and it just… doesn’t speak to me, if you know what I mean. I know, it’s only a phone, but still: if I’m going to spend a fair lump of cash on something that will be with me for most of the day, I want it to be something I like having around.

Also on my mind are the new toys from Apple. I was taking a look at Preetam’s iPod Touch the day before yesterday, and I was pretty impressed. Then last night,after I’d seen the Nokia, I went to meet up with a friend, a Singaporean, who I know from Beijing. She’s back for a few days, along with a number of other Beijing-based foreigners. One of them, a Norwegian games developer and entrepreneur, had an iPhone that he’d bought, unlocked, in Beijing for RMB 5000, or thereabouts. It had a number of applications installed on it, including SSH, which he was using to connect to his servers. Cool.

Now the iPod Touch has far fewer 3rd-party applications available than the iPhone, and Apple seems to be doing the best it can to keep them both crippled (shame!). A bit of searching shows that there are a lotof people working on opening them both up, which raises the possibility that in the not-too-distant future, an iPod Touch might be able to run SSH, Skype, and lots of very useful software. And given that Singapore has an increasing number of places with free wifi, a wifi-enabled iPod would certainly be a better option than changing my current, very cheap, phone plan in order to get expensive internet access. I can still keep using my old Nokia 6108 to make calls…

…until I go to China again, probably early next year. By then, the Meizu MiniOne will be on the market, and the latest specs do actually make it look very attractive – more than the iPhone, if I’m honest. Of course, by then, the Asian launch of the iPhone will be closer, and maybe Apple will have improved it – but according to what I read now, they’ll enable Japanese and Korean input, but not Chinese. WTF???? Unless that changes, I will definitely get the Meizu! Of course, by then there may even be a new Apple PDA in the works…

Anyway, back to Emerald Hill… The reason there were so many Beijing residents there was that China is really tightening up its administration of foreign residents. It seems that anyone who has been living there for five years or more has to leave for at least a month. Next year, the Public Security Bureau will be enforcing the rules on registration much more closely, while it will be harder to get visa changes or renewals through the slightly dodgy companies that advertise all over the place… All natural as China modernises, of course, but it does mean that some of the edginess and bohemian ways (in Haidian, at least) will vanish. Oh well.

A better culture through gaming?

In the context of the environment, I posted the other day that I thought China’s leaders would use technology to fight corruption within government ranks. It seems that some anti-corruption officials are thinking laterally as, just a day or two later, the news broke that the government has funded the release of a computer game in which players are encouraged to kill and torture corrupt officials…. Naturally, to save embarrassing the Communist Party, the game is set in the past, in the time of the Emperors – but that won’t stop the message getting through.

China Digital Times discuss it here, pointing out that (as a responsible game should), the game automatically shuts off after two hours so that younger players won’t be online for unhealthy periods.

According to the BBC, the game has been so popular that the servers have been overloaded. The same article also quotes a professor from Beijing University, Wang Xiongjun, who complains: “Government officials should be the ones getting anti-corruption education, not local youngsters“. While that’s no doubt also true, the way to change a culture is to educate the young, no? And perhaps this game will contribute to that.

According to China CSR blog, the game has been sponsored not by the central government or party, but by “Ningbo Haishu District Discipline Inspection Commission and Haishu District Ximen Street Party Working Committee” – which, China Digital Times clarifies, is in Zhejiang Province. What might happen if Beijing decided to follow suit?

Beijing buzz

Part of my occasional series of adverts extracted from the That’s Beijing classifieds feed. These struck me because they typify one of the many aspects of Beijing that fascinates me, and why I miss the place dreadfully – namely, the sizzling buzz of (as I put it once before) “adventurers, the artists, the entrepreneurs, the dreamers and the carpet-baggers from all over the world“.

招聘 – Blogger/Editor

Mirkin Group, a Beijing newly based IT startup, is building out its team in China to position itself within three major regions: China, U.S., and Russia. The company is lead by a Russian-American young entrepreneur with partners in Silicon Valley & Moscow. The company owns a network of independent sites and services and needs an editor to perform duties related to blogging, editing forums, interacting with site visitors, etc… You are an intelligent, self-driven person with a “get your hands dirty” attitude. You are generally passionate about working at different roles and are motivated to excel in them. 工作职责 • Researching consumer products ranging from technology to sports to health • Innovative fast paced blogging on different topics • Attract people through external forums – i.e. drive traffic to sites • Editing on company forums • Some web designing is beneficial 岗位要求 (without this don’t apply) • Excellent written skills in Chinese • Recent Photo • Existing Blog • B.S. degree (with proof) 联系我们 This position is based in the Haidian district of Beijing (15 minute walk to Tsinghua).. Please send your resume to jobs@mirkingrp.com. Applicants looking for internships are also encouraged to apply. Both male and female applicants are equally accepted

Intership with a TV/Film Production Company

Crimson Forest Films, is a Beijing based TV and Film Production Company. Our founders are from the U.S. and Canada, but our young and exciting company has a hip and youthful international work enviroment. Great for practicing your Chinese, and getting work experience in production all at the same time. Looking for organized and responsible college graduates who are living in Beijing and who are interested in production. An ideal non-paid internship for recent college graduates, who have a foundation of Chinese language studies under their belt. We are centrally located in Guo Mao. Please contact Christian Lee at clee@cff.tv or call at 5131 6223.

International Film Festival Coordination Interns

2007 Natural Green Heroes Festival – Featuring independently produced films and videos on the theme of real people making a difference for the environment and enhancing the world around us. Program seeks compelling stories that feature people challenging current environmental standards and conditions, encourage thoughtful questions and realistic answers, and broaden our understanding of our place in the world. Accepted works will be packaged for broadcast and distributed to Public TV stations internationally. In cooperation with the Central Academy of Fine Arts and major green orgs. Internship involves Public Relations, Marketing / Brand Management, Event Planning, Creative Services Marketing/Communications Internship The mission of the Festival is to present films that inform, enlighten, and educate the community by providing a vivid reflection of the rich cultural diversity of Beijing and the world beyond our doors. you will be responsible for: Creating a plan to develop understanding of the festival target markets, corporate messages and strategies Generating interest from sponsors and delivering content for various projects, including websites and for-print publications (brochures, programs) Planning and managing pr events Maintaining and updating web content This position requires the student to work a minimum of 12 hours per week. Internship – when successful – transforms into paid position after two months Deadline: Mon, February 8th, 2007. Short Resume photo expectations Contact: Lidy

Multi-Lingual Professional South Asian Actor

Hi Friends, I am a Multi-Lingual Indian Actor (29 years old), received professional acting training in India (National School of Drama) and in China (Central Academy of Drama 中央戏剧学院表演系), having 12 years of acting experience in Movie, TV operas and Theatre. I also have excellent command over English, Chinese, Hindi and Urdu (all languages: speak, read, write, type etc.). Also, it is extremely convenient for Chinese people to communicate with me. MOST IMPORTANTLY, I HAVE THE CREDIT TO IMPORT FIRST-EVER INDIAN TV SOUP OPERA / SERIAL TO CHINA. Please contact me whenever needed. Thanks

ReubenDotDotDot Entertainment

Hello, My name is ReubenDotDotDot, I am an Australian professional performer currently living in Beijing. I do street, stage and roving style shows including; Acrobatic and manipulation tricks, with comedy and crowd participation, usually to an English crowd, but I am adaptable. I also perform crystal ball manipulation, magical illusionary juggling, either a stage show or roving character, perfect for both large and intimate events. I have many more acts and shows, which are adaptable to most events, clubs, pubs, restaurants, festivals etc. I have been working professionally for the last 4 years. You can find my bio and show information at www.reubendotdotdot.com, I can also send you promotional videos via email if required. Regards, ReubenDotDotDot

Thinking of Wu

A Chinese friend of mine was in town earlier this week. She’s originally from Dalian, but is now based in Beijing – in Wudaokou, to be exact. She can be pretty direct in her views sometimes; the first time I showed her around Singapore, I took her to the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel. There’s a tradition there of eating peanuts with your drinks and throwing the shells on the floor; I suppose this must go back to the colonial days. Anyway, I explained this to her and she just snorted in amazement. “What’s so special about that? I can do that anywhere I like, in China”. True, true.

Anyway, on this occasion, I’d asked her to bring me some of  the new T-shirts from Lush. She did, so I’m now the proud owner of probably the only “88 Wudaokou Warriors” shirts in Singapore! Apparently, they’re so popular that she had to place an order for them – good thing I asked in plenty of time. She said she’d been speaking with one of the Chinese staff at Lush, and they couldn’t understand why the laowai were so keen on the shirts. “I would never wear a shirt advertising Wudaokou”, she said, “It must be something to do with foreigner culture”. Most Beijingers still regard Wudaokou as remote countryside, so I know where she’s coming from – but yes, it is ’something to do with foreigner culture’. We all go to that part of town to  learn Chinese, as I did in 2004, or on exchange, as with my stint at Tsinghua University in 2005, and Lush is a haven. They play great music, they have free wifi (when it works), and the people are really interesting. You get all sorts there – truly, people from all over the world, and the multinational teams for their famous pub quiz nights are always full of interesting characters.  I had great times there, so I’m glad to keep a little bit of that spirit alive by wearing their t-shirt in the tropics!

Rent a laowai

Wonderful title… Another gem from the That’s Beijing classifieds!

Hello to all foreigners of all nationalities,

We all know that this is China and occasionally in China being from another country is a very desirable thing, if you are a foreign national from any country we want to put you in our database and find part time “face” jobs for you.

A face job is a job which requires no skill other than being friendly and being a laowai. Occasionally companies want a foreign face to go to meetings and conferences or to go to dinners and lunches and smile at the clients and shake people’s hands.

There are job opportunities for girls who are pretty and for men who can look good in a suit. This is a great way to make cash in the evenings or to travel and have all expenses paid trips around china while getting paid up to 1000RMB per day.

For foreigners in Beijing it will not cost you anything to register, just send me your CV and I will put you on our list, when jobs come up where someone matching your description is needed we will call you with the details.

Why not register???
This is a company run by expats for expats.

Any companies interested in viewing our database can also contact us and we will come to you with our client list.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Regards
Sophie.

rent_a_laowai@hotmail.com

A bounty for Bill

As regular readers know, I like to keep an eye on the That’s Beijing small ads. Here’s one that came up today; I wonder what the back story is…

1,000 RMB to help us find this guy?

Hey, we will pay 1,000RMB as long as you could help us to find this guy. thanks.

He is a canadian guy, 20 years old. Gold hair with blue eyes, 190 cm tall and his name is william. We are not sure whether he is still teaching english in Beijing but any information will be highly appreciated.Please see the attached picture.

Momus on Dashanzi

Momus has a good post, A Salty Egg on Beijing’s Dashanzi arts community, and the Factory 798 gallery. Once again, I feel homesick for Beijing (it doesn’t take much!). The last time I went to Dashanzi was with Fei, my friend from Xi’an, and her French boyfriend. We went to see a really, really good performance by two musicians: one a traditional, Shamanistic, Korean drummer and dancer, the other an American performing Afro-Cuban and Brazilian drumming from the Yoruba tradition. It was a great evening; we were stuck in traffic all the way and arrived way after the start time, but the event was almost exactly as late starting as we were in arriving, so we didn’t miss anything. Afterwards, the performers and audience danced and drank beer in the yard outside, and we eventually went off to eat in a little 24-hour Sichuan restaurant. Sigh, good times. Fei and her boyfriend got married recently in Paris…

Anyway, that’s all beside the point. Momus links to a BBC report on 798, which I’ll listen to soon. He adds: The way you identify artists in China is that all the guys have long hair and all the women have short hair and crew cuts. Yes; I’ll add to that the point that artists in Beijing tend to be the ones riding the black motorbike and sidecar combos based on a Soviet ripoff of a 1930s BMW design (also favoured by a bohemian type of expat), and that many of them hang out in my old haunt, Sculpting in Time.