25 Blogs Chinese Advertisers Should Read

SHANGHAI (AdAgeChina.com) -- Blogging has become a national obsession in China, with over 50 million Chinese regularly contributing to local blog sites. A handful of these sites are written in English, and provide a fascinating perspective on a country that is changing quickly. Below, we've identified 25 blogs that can serve as a great resource for marketers in China. This special report is a follow up to an earlier report published by Ad Age China, "25 China Experts You Should Follow on Twitter." 1. Access Asia (www.accessasia.co.uk), a U.K.-based company providing market intelligence about Greater China, publishes a snarky weekly update reflecting relevant business, economic and political issues. Recent post: The Great Proletarian Outdoors Revolution! Well Great, if Perhaps Not That Much Outdoors, Or Very Proletarian. 2. Ray Ally, executive director, brand consultancy at Landor Associates in Beijing, writes a blog about art, branding, communication and design called X-RAY China (www.rayally.com), brought to life with plenty of photos and videos. Recent post: CCTV Makes a Splash 3. Aimee Barnes, a writer, researcher and strategist based in New York, publishes interviews with expatriate entrepreneurs, Chinese business professionals and other innovative thinkers on her personal blog at www.aimeebarnes.com. Recent post: Interview with Casey Wilson, Co-Founder of Wokai 4. Richard Burger calls his Peking Duck blog (www.pekingduck.org) "a hybrid of personal journal, dilettantish punditry, pseudo-philosophy." We call it a great read that generates healthy debates in the comments section. Recent post: Report on the October 1 parade from Beijing 5. Changing Asias (changingasias.blogspot.com) is the mouthpiece of Hong Kong-based WPP Group agency Bates 141, and offers timely research and insights into Asia's consumer markets, with a focus on China. Recent post: Are we seeing a new style of leadership in China business? 6. What's in the Chinese press? Check ChinaSMACK (www.chinasmack.com), a collection of translated content from Chinese-language news sources. It provides a good idea of what's spreading across China's major BBS forums and social networking sites. ChinaSMACK is our favorite Chinese news site, but there are similar services offering English translations of Chinese newspaper articles, such as EastSouthWestNorth (www.zonaeuropa.com/weblog.htm), another favorite with expats, and China Hush (www.chinahush.com). Recent post: 'Happy Farms' Game Destroys Chinese Jobs, Relationships 7. Launched in early 2008 by Kenneth Pomeranz and Jeffrey Wasserstrom, The China Beat (www.thechinabeat.org) provides context and criticism on contemporary China from China scholars and journalists. There's not much light reading on this site but the academic approach pays off. Recent post: The Curious Case of Jia Junpeng, or The Power of Symbolic Appropriation in Chinese Cyberspace 8. A China resident since 1999, Stan Abrams offers commentary about China's legal system, economy and business practices in China Hearsay (www.chinahearsay.com) Recent post: More Consumer Complaints About Credit Card Practices 9. For updates on China's enormous and expanding net culture, read the China IWOM blog (www.seeisee.com/sam) written by Sam Flemming, co-founder and CEO of CIC, an internet word-of-mouth research and consulting firm in China. Recent post: The Birth of New Entertainment Ways 10. China Law Blog (www.chinalawblog.com) focuses on business law in China through posts that are direct and entertaining. The blog is written by Dan Harris, an international lawyer based in the U.S. and Steve Dickinson, an international lawyer based in China, both of whom work for law firm Harris & Moure. Recent post: The China Joint Venture. It's BACK!!! 11. Created by the University of Hong Kong's Journalism & Media Studies Centre, China Media Project (cmp.hku.hk) offers news and analysis about China's media industry, including regulations and new media trends. Recent post: Shenzhen's new media rules: is anyone paying attention? 12. Stay current on youth trends with a blog produced by the brand-youth connection consultancy China Youthology (chinayouthology.com), in English and in Chinese. Recent post: An Interview with Ray Lei: A One-Man Animation Film Studio 13. Thomas Crampton, Ogilvy PR's Hong Kong-based director of 360 digital influence in Asia-Pacific, writes about social media in China and the rest of Asia. His site (www.thomascrampton.com) features top names thanks to the contacts of this former International Herald Tribune correspondent. Recent post: China Youth: More Friends Online Than Offline 14. A must-read among China's advertising community, Danwei.com (www.danwei.org) covers China's media, advertising and urban life in China with wit and healthy cynicism. Recent post: Former CCTV anchor arrested for fraud 15. The Atlantic's correspondent in Beijing, James Fallows, brings decades of experience to his blog (jamesfallows.theatlantic.com) covering business, political and cultural issues. He is easily one of the best social commentators in China today. Recent post: Doing Business in China: Kissing in Public 16. Thomas D. Gorman has a bilingual blog on the Fortune China web site (app.fortunechina.com/weblog/?16), under the pen name "Sibuxiang." Most posts are anecdotes and photos from his early travels in China in the 1970s, providing a vivid picture of life in China during that era, a reminder of how far China has come, and still needs to go. Recent post: Ding Dong, The Gang is Gone! 17. William Moss, a self-described "spin doctor" based in Beijing is the creator of one of China's most popular blogs, Imagethief (news.imagethief.com), which covers that country's public relations, media, technology and pop culture. Recent post: The only version of China's National Day Parade you need to watch http://news.imagethief.com/blogs/china/archive/2009/10/02/the-only-version-of-china-s-national-day-parade-you-need-to-watch.aspx 18. IP Dragon (ipdragon.blogspot.com) is dedicated to gathering and sharing information about intellectual property in China, a murky area since government officials have been slow to crack down on piracy. Recent post: IPR Challenges in Geely-Ford Talks About Volvo 19. Malcolm Moore pens blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/malcolmmoore, an entertaining description about his experiences in China as the Telegraph's Shanghai correspondent. Recent post:I was bribed at a Chinese banquet 20. NeochaEDGE (edge.neocha.com) showcases leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China, in both English and Chinese. The site is edited by Adam Schokora, strategist for Edelman's digital division in Shanghai. Recent post: A chat with blueprint, a digital creative collective 21. Pacific Epoch's Chinese blog (www.jlmpacificepoch.com) provides commentary on Chinese technology, media and telecommunications industry. Recent post: Sephora Beats Sa Sa in Mainland Market 22. Find out everything a business needs to know about China in Managing the Dragon (managingthedragon.com) a blog by Jack Perkowski, author of a book by the same title. This straight-forward American, a veteran of Wall Street who moved to China in the early 1990s, provides an insider's view of China, its many peculiarities and working practices. Recent post: The NBA in China 23. Track the most popular and bizarre videos spreading through China with Youku Buzz (buzz.youku.com) a daily newsletter published by Youku.com, one of China's top online video-sharing sites. Recent post: Liu Xiang's Back: Photo finish in Shanghai 24. David Wolf, a corporate communications and marketing strategist living and working in Beijing since 1995, is the voice behind Silicon Hutong (siliconhutong.typepad.com), a blog about "technology beyond I.T., media beyond moguls, telecoms beyond voice and China beyond cliches." Recent post: Afghanistan 2009 = China 1945 25. Zhongnanhai is a blog portal (www.zhongnanhaiblog.com) that serves English-speaking readers seeking news, information, analysis, and opinion about China. Recent post: China's no-name giants move to build a brand For more blogs about China, check out China Blog List (www.chinabloglist.org). Return to the Ad Age China home page here

25 Blogs Chinese Advertisers Should Read

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