Like nails sticking out of would-be construction sites, China’s so-called ‘nail houses’ remain standing as long as their owners refuse to make way for development—sometimes becoming symbols of resistance. (via WSJ.com)
Facebook continues to dominate the worldwide picture with close to a billion monthly active users, but Chinese platforms take the remaining 4 of the top 5 slots. (via We Are Social)
Social media usage is up by an additional 240 million new users in 2012. (via We Are Social)
Homeowners Luo Baogen and his wife refused to allow the government to demolish their home in Wenling, Zhejiang province, China, claiming the relocation compensation offered would not be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding. So, adjacent neighboring homes were dismantled, and, bizarrely, the road was built around the intact home, leaving it as an island in a river of new asphalt.
China’s newest tourist attraction… a glass-bottomed walkway around a cliff face
On one side a sheer rock face, on the other a 4,000ft drop - and all to separate the brave traveller from a deadly plunge is a 3ft-wide, 2.5in thick walkway. Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, China.
"You can’t use Weibo to organize a social movement. Because as soon as you use the word ‘gather,’ the keyword would get picked up, and the warning would be sent to the local police station. So even before you gather at the restaurant, you’ll already have the police there. I call it Censorship 2.0."
- Chinese blogger and journalist Michael Anti | How Weibo Is Changing China
McMansions built on the roof of a mall in China. Wild. (via dailymail.co.uk)
Hong Kong’s High-Density Housing & Cramped Living Conditions
Hong Kong’s average housing prices is 12.6x the median annual household income, ranking first/highest in the world. As of 2011, 47.7% of Hong Kong city residents live in public apartments (government subsidized housing) or residences (government rent-controlled housing) because they are unable to purchase private housing. It’s per capita residential space is 12.8 square meters.
Xeroxed Village: Chinese Secretly Copy Austrian UNESCO Town
This isn’t the first time a Chinese firm has used a European place as inspiration. The Chinese city of Anting, some 30 kilometers from Shanghai, created a district designed to accommodate 20,000 residents called “German Town Anting.” Modelled after a typical mid-size German city by architecture firm Albert Speer & Partner, it includes Bauhaus style architecture and a fountain with statues of Goethe and Schiller.
Also near Shanghai are mini versions of Barcelona, Venice and the Scandinavian-inspired Nordic Town. The architectural plagiarisms are popular destinations among middle-class Chinese, even serving as backdrops for wedding photos.
In China, Social Networks Drive Conversation - eMarketer
Following or friending a brand was the second-most-popular activity on social networks, tied with sharing links.
Tag clouds? Interesting list.
DianDian (点点), which translates to “bit by bit”, is a new startup dubbed as the Tumblr clone of China. Its founder Jack Xu, is a “Genius in the Chinese Social Networking industry”.
Do you really deserve the title “genius” if you’re just a big ol’ copycat?
