Baixing.com has been awarded as Red Herring Asia 100. It is the only classified site in Asia awarded.
© Red Herring
I am pretty excited about it.
Baixing Awarded as Red Herring Asia 100
7
Red Herring Asia in Hong Kong
I am a blogger. To have a blogger in a conference is really dangerous for most of organizer. Here I am coming.
The conference started with some problems – not a surprise from the first impression. I am maybe the only person who don’t wear suite and tie – I am very serious. I am. I wear the green shirt – the only one who is not pure in black.
The session should start at 8:30 AM, but we started pretty late. The host, CEO of Red Herring was not able to come due to visa problems (I really don’t know why a US citizen has visa problem for a short trip to Hong Kong – I heard they don’t need a visa for stay less than 90 days). Then all the speakers for the keynote panel didn’t appear. So our poor hosts stood on the stage in a awkward position, explaining what happened. Then asked if there is any volunteer who want to go to the stage and say something. It seems if anybody can speak something on the stage help them a lot.
The short embarrassing pause was filled by Red Herring editor by talking about the recession – with all due respect, he did pretty good job to tell something without preparation, but it is obvious that no one is really interested. Within just few minutes, they realized that talk recession is not the right thing to do, so they started to invite Red Herring nominated companies to put their presentation ahead of schedule.
I managed to put mine about baixing.com to the third slot between 9:20 – 9:30, before everyone spread out to different breakout sessions. But, everyone doesn’t mean too many people. It is just barely half of the room.
The organization was pretty massy. The previous two day schedule was pushed to one day, and with the dinner cancelled in the morning – just got the announcement. If I had known it earlier, I could book the night flight back to Shanghai without staying in Hong Kong for additional night, and waste my valuable time in office – there are so many things to do. Then the next problem will be, where to go tonight. Hotel is not a good choice.
BTW, I am in Hong Kong. Anyone want to have a cup of coffee?
The sessions? Some are pretty boring, but as always, you can have a bad conference organization, but the entrepreneurs are always the highlights of any gathering. I have already talked with some nice people from India, Beijing and Hong Zhou. I would expect more…
Updated More Changes
At the morning session, I learnt that the Award dinner was also canceled. If I had known it earlier, I will definitely book a flight ticket back to Shanghai the same day, then I was stuck in Hong Kong. In the afternoon, when they announced the reward, the final list didn’t come yet. They said they will complete the list the second day.
On my Way to Hong Kong
I am sitting on the floor of Pudong Airport Terminal 2. My flight KA897 is going to depart at 17:20 to Hong Kong.
This is my forth time to Hong Kong.
First time, Wendy and I traveled there – I fly from Beijing to Shenzhen (cheaper), and she flys there from Shanghai. That was the longest trip, and my best trip there. My trip record: Hong Kong – the Amazing City
The second time, I went there for PR train. (PR = Public Relationship). That is single day trip – go there early in the morning and returned Shanghai on the same day. During that trip, I learnt Cantonese for street name: 百花街 (pronounced as Bai Fa Gai)… I don’t have any photos for this trip, and I didn’t write about it.
The third time was the fireware dinner for Randy. Stayed in JW Marriott Hong Kong. Report from Hong Kong in Jan
This is the forth time, attending the Red Herring Conference.
Happy 1.5 Year Birthday of Yifan
Today, Yifan is exactly one year and 6 months old. I am far away from my cute son. So I bought a big bear for him. On the tag, I wrote:
To: Yifan
From: Daddy and Mommy
Hope Yifan will like it. The toy bear is almost the same size of Yifan, and I bet he must be happy to have a little brother to play with him.
Below is a picture of Yifan when we brought him to Shanghai Zoo last Saturday. He is obviously happy to see monkeys, but he is not as excited as we thought when he saw giraffe – he shouted loud whenever he saw giraffe on TV at home, but did show too much excitement when he saw some real one.
I was told by Jim that baby are most lovely between 1.5 years and 3 years. I don’t know what happens after 3 years, but obviously, Yifan is more and more lovely everyday. Now he understand a lot, and start to learn to say some word. I cannot wait to get back home and kiss him.
Happy 1.5 year birthday, Yifan.
I Love JSON
I am deep in my heart a technical person. Although I am thrown into the business world, from time to time, I get back to the technical world to play for a while, and then get back to normal life. To me, it is just like a fever – the passionate fever that will fade out anyway, but when it comes, I am so interested in the topics.
Playing with Solr – the open source search engine on Saturday, I am again interested in a wonderful simple technology called JSON. I realized almost all the Google API, and open source API are now supporting JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). I even created a page that helps me to view the JSON object easier:
If you are also pretty technical, you will love JSON a lot.
Pudong Airport to JW Marriott
Who gets my help today?
This is my first time travelling in Shanghai. I wanted to know how we can go to JW Marriott Tomorrow Square at Nanjing West Road.
Will it be possible for me to take the Maglev Train to theJW Marriott hotel in Nanjing West Road.
The answer is Yes, you can take Maglev to JW Marriott Tomorrow Square Hotel.
Below is the overview map. You can use the + and – sign to zoom in or out to see details of the map.
Here is the route:
1. Take Maglev at Pudong Airport (here is how).
2. Transit to Metro Line #2 at Long Yang Road Station (here is how)
3. Get off the train at People’s Square Station. You’d better take the Nang West Road Exit.
4. The hotel is immediately at the exit. It is located somewhere in the middle of Nanjing West Road Station, and People’s Square Station of Metro Line #2. You may need to walk about 10 minutes to get to the hotel. However, you can see the hotel immediately when you leave the station – because it is now the tallest building in Puxi area in Shanghai.
If you take taxi, it should be around 140 RMB.
Happy Travelling!
P.S. I am going to visit the JW Marriott Hong Kong tomorrow. When I travels at eBay’s cost center, I stay at this hotel, but now I don’t.
Still Many People Go Abroad
I went to the Shanghai Entrance and Exit Administration Bureau today to have my Hong Kong visa renewed. Here is what I saw:
This was a cold, sunny, and clear Saturday morning. I didn’t expect so many people waiting in line to get a passport or visa. The line of people winds and finally leads to a photo service – they were waiting for their photo taken.
As I observed, the line moved very slowly.
Heading to Hong Kong
I am visiting Hong Kong for two nights to attend the Red Herring Asia summit. Baixing.com was nominated as Red Herring Award, but not sure whether we can enter the finalist list. Let’s just wait and see. There are many uncertainty ahead for any rewards like this. Anyway, the most important award is from the market, not from any organization.
I hate to have to get a visa to visit Hong Kong. It does not make too much sense for a Chinese citizen to get a Visa-like document to visit another part of the country. It is even more frustrating that sometimes it takes longer than a Visa for many countries.
I went there, and was told that if I submit the documents on Saturday, I get the visa on Friday. If I come here on Monday, I get it immediately. So I will had the documents sent and received on Monday.
My Friend Blogroll
Look at this magic code. I just added this piece of code to my home page, and meanwhile, I keep a Google Spreadsheet here. At any time, I add a friend into the speadsheet, the link on my homepage gets updated immediately. You can also help yourself to add you into the list by filling in a form. After I confirm, it will be published.
<dl id=friend><dt>Friends</dt></dl>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
function listEntries(json) {
for (var i = 0; i < json.feed.entry.length; i++) {
var dd = document.createElement(“dd”);
var link = document.createElement(“a”);
link.href= json.feed.entry[i].gsx$url.$t;
link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(json.feed.entry[i].gsx$name.$t));
link.title = json.feed.entry[i].content.$t;
dd.appendChild(link);
document.getElementById(‘friend’).appendChild(dd);
}
}
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/list/pSOl_srkuwZXvH3XSagMAdA/default/public/values?alt=json-in-script&callback=listEntries”></script>
I have to say, Google Spreadsheet, and Google Docs is far beyond our imagination. I also found out that I can still write code fluently.
Below is my current friend roll:
- Friends
Note: Above shows both pending and confirmed links, and the links on homepage only shows approved links.
Joined WWW2009 Programme Committee
Invited by Cong Yu, I am not a PC (Programme Committee) member of World Wide Web Conference 2009.
Obviously, I am a big fan of the Internet (World Wide Web). It has been part of my life since 1996. I thought about a lot of (not-so-great) ideas about Internet, and am still in this industry.
WWW Conference, as a key event for the WWW society has been well-known. Below is from the WWW2009 website:
On the 20th Anniversary of the Web, Welcome to the 18th International World Wide Web Conference.
The International World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee (IW3C2), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and Madrid municipality cordially invite you to participate in the 18th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2009) to be held in Madrid, the charming and cosmopolitan Spain´s capital.
The World Wide Web Conference is the global event that brings together key researchers, innovators, decision-makers, technologists, businesses, and standards bodies working to shape the Web.
Organized by IW3C2 since 1994, the WWW conference is the annual opportunity for the International community to discuss and debate the evolution of the Web. The conference will feature a range of presentations on world-class research, as well as stimulating talks, workshops, tutorials, panels, and late-breaking posters.
WWW2009 seeks original papers describing research in all areas of the Web covering the implications of ubiquitous access to the Web through the “three screens” – computer, phone, and TV – and how such Web access will change the way we live, work, and interact in the future. Accepted refereed papers will appear in the conference proceedings published by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Topics of discussion will include Browsers and User Interfaces, Data Mining, Industrial Practice and Experience, Internet Monetization, Mobility, Performance and Scalability, Rich Media, Search, Security and Privacy, Semantic / Data Web, Social Networks and Web 2.0, Web Engineering, XML and Web Data. The conference will also feature plenary speeches by renowned speakers, and tracks devoted to developers and to recent W3C activities that are of interest to the community
I will be on the Deverloper Track Committee. Interestingly enough, this is the first time I participate in a real international event. Previous events are pretty related to China, and United States only.
I will be involved in reviewing the submitted paper. I MAY think about going to Madrid, if I am not extremely busy next April.
Meet with Judy, Hua, Bill, and Liang
Tonight, had a nice dinner with my old friends in Microsoft.
Judy is now in Boston Consulting Group in Shanghai,
Hua became CEO of NCSoft in China,
Bill does investment for Tencent,
and Liang now is CTO of Tudou.com.
Nice guys. Nice place. Nice dinner, and nice talk.
Judy reminded us that it was a Thanksgiving dinner.
Happy Thanksgivings
I never really understand the origin of Thanksgivings, and don’t know what people should do on this day. Meanwhile, at the back end of my mind, I still hesitate a bit to talk about this “western holiday“, confused about the terms of “westernization”, or globalization. To do something without a tradition just because of seeing it on TV, or movie sounds silly, just like people celebrating V-Day without know how to spell it. That is the starting point of my thoughts of Thanksgiving day. P.S. I even don’t know exactly what day is Thanksgivings if Judy hasn’t had written me a note saying: “BTW, today, our dinner is on Thanksgivings Day”.
So, in short, I don’t celebrate Thanksgivings day (no offense to people who think the day is so important. Just keep in mind, that in China, there is no such a holiday).
However, I do want to take the chance to thank a lot of people (as the name of the day implies). It is them who made my life so meaningful and happy. I want to thank many many people. What a hard task to do! The list is so long, that I can hardly put it into this article.
The Death of A Citizen
Yesterday, when I was boarding my flight back to Shanghai, I browsed my Google Reader on my mobile phone, and heard the news that the young man killing 6 policemen was already executed. What a shock news. I feel deep sorrow for him, and feel even more hopeless about the justice of the country.
My friends outside China felt strange to know that I pay sympathy to a man who killed many policemen. It is even more wired that many of my friends feel the same. What’s wrong?
It reminded me of a case described in The Tipping Point. The story was about a man riding subway were approached by some bad guys, and he immediately shoot all of them to death. In a normal situation, what is right and what is wrong is obvious, but in New York at that time, when crime rate is so high, that people got robbed, killed, stolen in the subway, they feel so hopeless, and the man became a hero in many people’s heart, just as a Robinhood. If sense of justice and security was reinforced, the society becomes “normal”.
It is the same case in China. When the young man was mistreated by policemen, and he tried everything to seek for justice, and the current society doesn’t give any justice. Feeling hopeless and angry, Yang takes a step that people don’t take in most normal society – using violence to solve the problem. From what I read, and some people I talked with, there is a Yang in themselves, and the only difference is, they are not angry enough or “brave” enough to take their knives yet. That is why the whole story is so sad.
I am not saying Yang should not be punished, but punish without restore of justice encourages more cases like this. There was a golden opportunity to restore the justice Yang was seeking for before he dies, but the situation turned out to be, we are much far away from justice by even more violently protecting the bad guys. Now, Yang is dead. Even though there is no bad guys as Yang claimed, there is no chance for the rest of us to know, and that is a pity in the history of this nation.
I believe this case will remain in history for a long time, when people look back and study the abnormal society we ever lived in. We cannot really understand what an event means only after few years. I believe this is such an important event. It happens yesterday.
In Beijing Airport, Back to Shanghai
I am at gate 31 of Beijing Airport, heading to Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai. The two day Beijing trip was full of fun and inspiration. Among my trip, talk with Kooxoo.com founder Chen Hua, and talk in Baidu were highlight.
When I left Beijing, I just feel if you ask me about the landscape of cities in China, and in US, I would even say the current Beijing is more westernized (or modernized).
Ops. Blured
Look at these buildings:
This is the area where Sina, Baidu‘s headquarters are located. Qunar is also here.
I am at the Gate 31 of T3 of Beijing Airport. This is what is before me now:
As any airport, advertisement is everywhere.
Byebye Beijing. I will be back soon.
P.S. I always wanted to get a Beijing Public Transportaiton Card when I arrive in Beijing and take metro. I feel I am more closer to this city when I have a transportation card – I believe the next time, I will definitely get one.
A Well Planned Trip to Huangshan?
Got another reader email. Here you go (after removing names and other private information)
Dear Jianshuo,
Pardon me for taking the liberty to write to you direct but my googling/research for my family’s trip keeps finding itself to your blog! I wonder if you would be so kind to give me some assistance?
I’m planning a trip with my husband and 3yr-old son. My husband doesn’t speak mandarin so the main job of research lies with me. We are planning to arrive in Shanghai on the 26th Dec and somehow make our way to Suzhou then Hangzhou then Huangshan. I would like to know what is the best way to travel from place to place that would be cheapest and safest with consideration of travelling with a toddler.
My husband took a look at the map and found that the distance was drivable but foreigners can’t drive in China! What a shame!
I was hoping to maybe travel by boat at some point if possible. But I find myself landing in some US websites that charge exorbitant rates in US dollars rather than RMB.
Ideally, we just make our way around, as we go along, in a romantic laid back manner but with a little boy, I really need everything to be booked up in advance.
Could you please help? I really apologise for being so bold but the tips I’ve learned on your blog have been so good!
I’d like to answer it on this blog, since Shanghai – Suzhou – Huangshan trip is so popular route for people visiting Shanghai. Let me start with planning philosophy.
Well Planned China Trip?
The idea to plan everything well, and book everything well in China is still not an easy job to do.
No matter how advanced the hardware is in China, don’t forget that China just stepped back to the track of development and opening up just 30 years ago. The software of te country (like booking, and business ethics) still need some time to recover to what is before the Culture Revolution.
It is pretty hard to book things. You have to be open and ready to handle “not booked” travel. Train ticket for example, is not easy to book online in advance. You have to go with a travel agent who can help you do it, not directly from the Railway Company – which is state owned.
Best Way to Travel is Train
The best way to travel between Shangai – Suzhou, and Huangshan is by train. It is especially so for Suzhou to Huangshan trip.
However, since you have a 3 year old, and Shangai and Suzhou is not far away – just one hour drive, I would suggest you to hire a car. You can either call a taxi from taxi company (like Dazhong) or hire a private car. You can look at my taxi category for more information about how to book, and which number to call. The alternative is to go to my classified site:
http://shanghai.baixing.com/gerenzuche/
There are many people offering one day rental at pretty good price. It is a Chinese site though. (Disclaimer: I am CEO of the company, Baixing.com. I have pretty good confidence in the car listing, because all the drivers either have government issued license, or deposit 1000 RMB for service quality guarantee to customers).
A car will make your trip to Suzhou very comfortable, especially when you have a kid with you.
To Huangshan? Car travel is not as safe and comfortable as train, and I suggest you to take train. Check out my train category.
Boat? Maybe Not on This Route
I don’t see there is any chance that you can take boat on this route. Just train and car.
Good luck to your trip. I have a son of 1 and half year old, and I do feel the happiness to travel with the little kid. Would love to hear how your trip is going on…
In Beijing, Again
I am in Beijing. Sometimes I feel like a clock – swinging between Beijing and Shanghai.
At Hong Qiao Airport, I found things changes quietly, but dramatically. Once a while that you do not visit the airport, you will find many surprises.
Taxi Lanes
The taxi lanes for picking up passengers at Hong Qiao Airport finally increased to 8 lanes, with 2 lanes coming from the parking lot to the pick up area. It is said that it decreased average waiting time from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. Good move.
Book Stores
In Hong Qiao airport, there are many Virgin bookstores – yes, exactly the logo of Virgin airlines. The books? Still the same as most bookstores. I saw Jack Ma speaking on the TV – a promotion to a DVD series featuring Jack Ma.
On Flight
I slept a little bit on the flight – feel good. Now I easily fall asleep. It is good to have a snap on my 27A seat.
I am in Beijing, and hi from Beijing.
Beautiful Thoughts with Beautiful Scene
Hello. Shanghai is so beautiful in early Winter. I don’t like very cold winter, or very hot summer. The feeling is so deeply left in my impression of the city, especially when you get into your car in winter – cooold, and in summer – hoooott.
But if you have to ask me Winter or Summer, which do you love better in Shanghai? I still may say, I love Winter better, at least Shanghai is relatively more elegent, more decent in winter.
Look at this picture I took inside the gate of the Shanghai Jiaotong University. See the leaves? See the trees? The color? The sunshine?
Photo by Jian Shuo Wang, uploaded from Nokia N78 via Shozu
A Break?
I am thinking about a break during my crazy days. In my current terms, a break means maybe two hours that I can sit under the sunshine inside a warm room with big glasses, and feel the warms of the Sun. It is so nice to be living in this lovely city, with a wife who I really appreciate, and a cute small boy just started to learn to walk (did I told you that Ayi told me that Yifan started to learn a very compliciated sentence “Don’t talk” 不要说话, after he was only able to say baba, and mama for many months?)
Friends
Didn’t have the weekend gathering of my friends for a long time – few years? Work and Yifan took most of the time. Sometimes, I just glance at friends’ blog, and know they are travelling or changing job (not too much in recent months before the financial winter comes). I am fine with the current status. People change a lot when they get a baby (something attractive to him/her suddenly become not attractive any more, just like meat to a monk…)
The winter is beautiful. and my thoughts also become beautiful…
Yifan is Growing Up
Wendy and I felt the urgency to spend more time with Yifan these days. Yifan is growing up so quickly. Before we ever realized, Yifan started to walk, to talk (a little bit), and understand almost everything you say.
Yifan Walks
When was Yifan still not able to walk? He used to crawl from a room to another carefully, but not so quickly. For a day, all of a sudden, he stand up and started to walk by himself. Where I was at that time? I remember I am in my US trip at that time. I just thought: “What? How does it mean that the little boy can get to anywhere he wants (in the house) without my help?” Maybe the next question is, when the boy can go very very far away for work without even letting me know…
Yifan Talks
Yifan’s favorite word is “mama”, and “baba”. He looks like you and say “baba”, and “mama” so loudly, as if he wants everyone including neighbors to hear. He points to many things, like dustbin, street lights, and cats – anything he recognized and invites me to checkout the same thing. He feels very happy when I tell him the name of the objects.
Yifan Knows Many Things
Most of the things that you don’t expect him to understand, he understand. Now we can talk with him pretty similiar to talk with an adult.
One word he masters is “Hao” (means OK). With this word, suddenly it becomes a two way communication. He don’t know how to say “Bu Hao”, (No) yet, but that is good enough.
We ask him: “Let’s go to shopping mall, OK?” He says: “Hao”.
We ask: “Let’s buy a small yellow duck for you, OK?” He says: “Hao”.
We ask: “Let me put yourself in the shopping mall, and we go back home for dinner, OK?” He don’t know how to say “No”, but he knows he won’t say “Hao”. If he does not say “Hao”, that means no.
We are master of paraphrasing now. We just tried to turn almost everything into a yes or no question, and many of them, Yifan can understand.
Photo by Wendy Fan, in Xishan of Suzhou
More Time with Yifan? I Promise
I promise that I will grasp every minute with Yifan that I can spend. Most of the times, it may not always interesting, but happiness between a father and son happens during those “little moment”, and small things. A gesture, and a laughter will last for a long time in memory. I need to spend more time with Yifan, to watch him grow up, to watch him learn new things, and take care of him better. Yifan is such a adorable boy, and I need to be with him.
Summary of First Half of November
Since Oct, we are working six days a week, and after about one month. The result is wonderful. We finally reached breakeven point. This is not my first breakeven I have experienced, but it is such an important milestone, especially in this winter. I am happy that the team will feel very warm in the cold days ahead.
Personally, I didn’t have too much time on this blog. It is understandable, isn’t it? I don’t have too much touch with the city – I just feel I started a business trip in Shanghai. I mean I get disconnected from the city, and don’t feel that I am a citizen in this city.
I am still taking bus to work in the morning. I am taking taxi, or drive car back home.
The physical winter is also coming to Shanghai. The leaf of trees flys out of the tree, and you can see the streets of Shanghai are covered by yellow leaf. You know the winter is coming.
Yifan is doing great. He is now a cute boy, who can understand almost everything you say. I just regret that I don’t have enough time to spend with him. Many times, when I go back home, he is already asleep. Sweet sleep.
Life is a story. Everyone has different way to tell. Some times, when I read my friends’ blog, like Eric, Swing, Elfe… They are enjoying their travel, their hobby, and relaxed life. It is just different… I am happy that in my last 6 years of blogging, I have enough diversity in the life style I had experienced.
The best is yet to come…
CnBloggerCon in Guangzhou
This time, the China Blogger Conference is held in Guangzhou. Unlike the previous few conferences, i didn’t participate. One reason is Guangzhou is a little bit too far for me to get there, and to put it into my business schedule (especially weekends), the other reason is, it is not as attractive as it appeared to be.
The two factor combined, I am not going. Hope bloggers there have a nice party there.
Shanghai is Getting Colder
Shanghai enters winter.
It is colder and colder – welcome winter to Shanghai!