http://www.cheskin.com/blog/perspectives/ en-us http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/001050.html It seems that the power of the current financial crisis is hitting every corner of the world, including China. The country's economic growth slowed to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, dragging down the annual rate to a seven-year low of 9 percent. About 20 million of China's... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2009-02-27T15:26:32-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/001017.html It's 8:08pm on August 8th, 2008. Beijing's Olympic opening ceremony caught the attention of the world. People are equating the opening ceremony to China's debutante. China is indeed showing herself to the world but at the same time, she's also showing her people their own country.... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2008-08-12T13:11:58-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000999.html Conversations about design in China are popping up in different places and channels more frequently in the recent years. The most recent exposure I had with the topic was at the China Design Now exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The exhibition uses three coastal cities -... Cynthia Chan 2008-05-01T09:36:18-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000983.html Fielding projects during the holidays is not something we do very frequently but this year, I had the honor to conduct a series of ethnographies in Shanghai and Beijing during the last week of December. Even though Christmas is not an official holiday in China, it has successfully became one... Emerging Markets Cynthia Chan 2008-01-02T17:13:15-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000954.html Shanghai is one of the legs of Live Earth concert series today (July.7.07.) The 24-hour Live Earth concert series, promoting global warming awareness, is scheduled to begin in Sydney, Australia on July 7, 2007 and continue across all seven continents with events in Tokyo, Shanghai, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, and... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2007-07-06T19:26:03-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000914.html As Denise introduced in her earlier blog , we recently boarded an eye-opening journey to China via online social networks. China kick starts our initiative to further understand youth culture in several emerging markets around the world. We conducted the first of two rounds of digital ethnographies with several young... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2007-03-20T15:30:44-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000869.html Shopping has always been a public experience in China. Traditionally, it involved colorful, open-air markets with fresh meat, produce, and wares for customers who had to bargain hard. The decades under Mao’s Communism saw dreary stores providing few choices, and clerks with no incentive to sell. But all that has... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2007-01-02T10:48:25-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000867.html Since the market reforms of the late 1970’s, China has gained a global reputation for mass production of cheap, often low-quality, consumer goods. No one expects this massive market of fakes to disappear suddenly or for the country’s manufacturing to be on par with that of Germany overnight, but China... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2006-12-15T14:30:08-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000849.html The economic and developmental changes transforming China on a daily basis have created a new demographic familiar to most Western countries but new to China. This new segment of society is the middle class. The notion of middle class in China did not really emerge until the mid-to-late 1990’s, and... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2006-08-24T11:43:37-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000845.html A phrase as commonly heard as “hello everyone” may have greater meanings than what it is trying to convey in different contexts or in different cultures. Our friend Gordon Gray, from Beijing China Liaison, has an interesting perspective with a similar phrase he heard over and over again in China.... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2006-07-26T13:44:51-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000844.html Ask any young Chinese what they want to be and you’re likely to hear them explain that they are not sure yet, but they want lives that express their personalities and their individual uniqueness. This might not be surprising coming from a New Yorker or young person living in London,... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2006-07-12T13:58:32-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000838.html One hot afternoon in May, I was attracted to the crowd as I stepped into the New World Department Store on Nanjing Road. The much-fascinated crowd was mesmerized by the closeness between them and international stars Yao Ming and David Beckham. Flashes went non-stop from their digital cameras and camera... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2006-06-28T15:37:35-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000834.html I flew into Pudong around 6:30 PM yesterday night. Everywhere I looked were signs of the World Cup--even though it's taking place thousands of miles away in Germany. As we landed, I saw planes from Lufthansa and Emirates decorated with the World Cup decal. The nose of the Lufthansa plane... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2006-06-11T22:22:53-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000801.html Tokyo, a forever exciting and energetic city, fascinates me in different ways. Aside from sashimi and authentic shabu shabu, its technology wows me all the time. Technology is advancing at full speed every single minute in a wide range of areas, including consumer electronics, robotics, automobiles, etc.... Consumer Technology Cynthia Chan 2006-02-13T15:47:42-08:00 http://www.cheskin.com/blog/blog/archives/000795.html Li Yuchun made the TIMEAsia list of “heroes” for 2005. Li was the winner for the “Super Girl’s Voice” (an American Idol-type singing contest) held in August 2005. The show drew in the largest audience in the history of Chinese TV. Li, some says, didn’t top other contestants with her... China Markets Cynthia Chan 2006-01-31T13:49:12-08:00