Kristie LuStout and the CNN International “Spark” crew recently produced a series of episodes from mainland China. Kristie kept a blog throughout the trip. Snip:
China is a kingdom of geeks. There are more than 350 million mobile phone users here — that’s more than any other country. As for the Net, more than 100 million are plugged in, making China the second largest Internet market in the world.
Access to technology is cheap. A full desktop system from China’s Lenovo can be had for less than $500. And for those who can’t afford a PC, there’s more than two million cybercafés — or “wang ba” — across the country.
As a quick gauge of local “geekdom,” I randomly pulled aside a few locals walking in Beijing’s Wangfujing district to see what kind of gadgetry they had on them. One young woman showed me not one but two mobile phones in her handbag — a GSM phone that provides nationwide access, and a Xiao Ling Tong or Little Smart service that offers city-wide access at cheaper rates. A man unzipped all the pockets in his black nylon fisherman’s vest to reveal a cell phone, two digital cameras and a flash MP3 player.
Day 1: Back to Beijing. Day 2: The OCPC. Day 3: Money Metropolis. Day 4: Kingdom of geeks. (Disclaimer: I’m a regular guest on Kristie’s show, and she’s a longtime friend of BoingBoing from Mark’s paper-zine days!).