A shopkeeper of a Chinese traditional costumes fiddling with her mobile as she kills time. A few blocks away from Houhai, Beijing, where bars and restaurants bring bright lights until late. An interesting contrast between the lady poster next to the entrance.
Very powerful. Miner series by 宋朝 Song Chao, 2002. Cards from Beijing Artron Colour Printing Co., Ltd.
There is something stimulating about eating with hands. Here in Beijing, you can grab and eat lamb chops/legs, as the waitress provides you a plastic disposable glove.
This to my eyes quite a radical solution makes complete sense once you use it. You still eat the meat with your hands as the shape encourages you to, yet makes you worry less about your hand sanitary, or the grease on your hands that might prevent you from eating other dishes requiring chopsticks.
One wipe is from Japan, another from China. Which one do you think comes from which country?
Had this been 10 years ago, I would have said that the small one with Snoopy drawing is from Japan. After all, Japanese love to make everything small; they love cartoons, too. It was no doubt.
As some of you can tell from the text, it is in fact that Snoopy mini-wipe that comes from China. After all, it is China where SARS had a serious impact to their economy and hygienic practices, the market seems to have more variety than in Japan.
Speaking of drug store products, I am always curious what kind of products come with different flavors and scents. For instance in France, I am always amazed by the countless lineup of shower gel, with so many different scents. Here in Beijing, I found out that sanitary napkins come with Aloe Vera and Green Tea scent.
The brand Watson’s is a pharmaceutical giant originally from Hong Kong, with 8,800 retail stores in Asia. And of course, none of them in Japan.
What is in English called as Emergency Exit in Japan. The sign reads 非常口 which means equivalent of the English term.
But how about this one? The same function called 安全出口, translates as Safety Exit. Beijing, China.
In both languages, Chinese characters are used to describe the functionality. Yet the end result is very different, as one highlights that the door should be used in case of emergency, while the other emphasizes the result of using it.
But the important message is this: The terms applied to describe things, features, or services, sufficiently differs by the region or the country; and when you do not make the extra effort and simply translates but fails to localize, it is noticed at once. This is what makes localization effort so much more challenging when you are developing any global product.
Looking back the times in Nokia, where localization people dealt with at least a hundred languages, I gained a huge respect to them. In particular when you are tapping into a new market, you are at the frontier and not many people within the company know about the culture or the language. In some cases, you might not even have a competitor, or even if you have one, might not be much of a hint. You might have a great feature which could be attractive, but it will be up to your skills and network which would make the feature translates into a language. What a job.
My expertise lies in user experience, not in localization. But as a part of my work, I used to check dozens of Asian language inputs on phone. It was always a fascinating and humble experience, as we received feedback from native speakers. I hope as the market grows, the device improved to speak better languages, too.
When it concern the safety of children, warning signs are provided in multiple languages. The image above, from a slide placed in a playground in Tokyo, and below, from a public charging station in Beijing airport.
Inside the Forbidden City, Beijing. People identify their groups with hats and customized flags.
Together with the red walls, I find the scene overwhelmingly red. How in reality do people identify their group, if from far far away?
In Ditan Park, Beijing. In many parks here in China, you find retired people demonstrate their skills in music, calligraphy, and dancing. Expression on their faces show confidence and accomplishment though general attitude for performance may be casual.
Although I hear retired people in Japan also become engaged in communal activities learning different forms of art, the outcome of the learning itself seems to be for their eyes or to the closed ones only. As a general public, you hardly have occasions to see people perform singing or calligraphy, in the way Beijingers do in the park.
Apart from the performance itself, which often collects crowds and initiates conversations with passers-by, the simple fact that the society’s older generations being so lively and cheerful definitely have an positive effect on the society.
Nice handwriting seems indeed important in the culture. Text your name to a number and you will receive an improvised signature as MMS. The outcome? The advertisement claims you should impress girls as you sign your name.
The service is definitely interesting but makes me wonder, how are those signatures produced? Are they automated, which surely will involve some technical solutions, or done by hand of their staffs individually? Something to find out during my next visit when my phone is within the network.
The number of convenience stores are increasing in large cities like Shanghai, however, not as fast as the industry expected when it comes to other cities in China. Although capital, Beijing is not an exception.
The photo shows a typical kiosk that you’d find on almost every street corner in Beijing. They offer ice cream, cold drinks, prepaid phone cards, and occasionally hot snacks, which resembles to a crepe but with chopped herbs and tasty sauce. Unlike convenience stores they are typically run independently.
Convenience store chains are trying to adapt and expand, it us interesting to see what elements they change and what not.
