:: the latest CNNIC report was published today. Unlike previous reports, this edition also includes detailed statistics about the Hong Kong and Macau internet markets. Download the full report (Chinese only) as a PDF here, or as a MS Word document here. See below for a translated summary of the report’s more salient points. Unless otherwise noted, the data below represents averages across all demographics. For “deep dive” figures, see the original report – it’s rich with in-depth analysis and data slicing.

• 298 million netizens (the largest Internet market in the world…its unlikely this will ever change)
• 41.9% YoY increase in users (up from 210 million in January 2008)
• 22.6% penetration (i.e. 22.6% of China’s entire population is online), YoY increase from 16%; compared against global average of 21.9%; other leading markets (U.S. 72.5%, Japan 73.3%, Korean 70.7%)
• 90.6% of netizens access the Internet from a broadband connection (270 million netizens)
• 39.5% of netizens access the Internet from mobile phones (118 million netizens)
• 28.4% “rural” netizens (up from 25.1%)
• 71.6% “urban” netizens (down from 74.9%)
• 52.5% male, 47.5% female (compared to 57.2% male, 42.8 female in January 2008)
• age demographics: 0.4% under 10 (down from 0.8% YoY), 35.2% between 10 – 19 (up from 27.6% YoY), 31.5% between 20 – 29 (down from 38.1% YoY), 17.6% between 30 – 39 (down from 20.5% YoY), 9.6% between 40 – 49 (up from 8.1%), 4.2% between 50 – 59 (up from 3.3%), and 1.5% 60 or older (up from 1.4%)
• education levels: 5.4% with elementary or lower (down from 6.7% YoY), 28.0% with up to middle school (up from 21.1% YoY), 39.4% with up to high school or basic technical training (up from 36.0% YoY), 13.9% with advanced technical training (down from 18.7% YoY), 12.2% with a bachelors degree (down from 12.2% YoY), 1.0% with a masters degree or higher (down from 1.4% YoY)
• 5.5% of netizens (not including students) are unemployed, laid off, or have lost their jobs (down from 11.9% YoY)
• 2.3% of netizens are farmers, fisherman, laborers, etc.
• 2% of netizens are retired
• 6.4% of netizens are freelancers
• 7.3% of netizens run small personal businesses
• 2.0% of netizens industrial or service industry workers
• 2.6% of netizens are migrant workers
• 33.2% of netizens are students
• 10.3% of netizens work for the government or state / government-owned enterprises
• 4.5% of netizens are manager-level at enterprises / companies
• 15.0% of netizens are middle / junior-level at enterprises / companies
• 8.7% of netizens are technology professionals
• monthly income levels: 1.5% with zero income (down from 4.4% YoY), 26% make less than 500 RMB, 16.2% make between 500 – 1000 RMB, 16.0% make between 1000 – 1500 RMB, 13.8% make between 1501 – 2000 RMB, 13.7% make between 2001 – 3000 RMB, 8.0% make between 3000 – 5000 RMB, 2.9% make between 5000 – 8000 RMB, 1.9% make more than 8000 RMB
• there are 287.8 million Web sites registered in mainland China (compared to 150.4 in January of 2008)
• Web “age” vs. time online: netizens that have been using the Internet for 8 or more years spend 26.4 hours online a week; for 6 – 8 years, 19.9 hours a week; for 4 – 6 years, 16.2 hours a week; for 2 – 4 years, 13.8 hours a week; for 1 – 2 years, 12.4 hours a week; for less than 1 year, 12.7 hours a week
• overall time spent online (average): 16.6 hours a week (compared to 16.2 in January 2008)
• access points: 78.4% of netizens are getting online from home, 42.4% from Internet cafes, 20.7% from work / office, 11.3% from school, 2.7% from other public locales
• access devices: 89.4% of netizens are getting online with desktop computers, 27.8% with laptop computers, 39.5% with mobile phones (this will likely jump dramatically over the next 12 months with the introduction of 3G in China), 1.4% with PDAs / other handheld devices
• 39% of netizens can’t work or study without the Internet
• 59.1% of netizens feel that without the Internet their “entertainment life” would, uh, suck
• 69.3% of netizens feel “taking care of matters” with the help of the Internet reduces personal annoyances
• 61.8% of netizens say that they first learn of major news from the Internet
• 64.6% of netizens say that when they have questions / inquiries, will first turn to the Internet for answers
• 65.4% of netizens say they have met “many” new friends on the Internet
• 82.5% of netizens say the Internet has strengthened their relationships with friends
• 19.9% of netizens say they feel “more alone” since the advent of the Internet and their use of it
• 29% of netizens say they feel the Internet has taken away from time they would otherwise spend with their family
• 47.5% of netizens say they use real / honest information when filling out online registration forms
• 27.6% of netizens say they feel safe conducting business transactions online
• 41.9% of netizens say that the Internet is the main channel by which they express their opinions
• 76.9% of netizens say that since starting to use the Internet, they pay more attention to social matters / affairs / etc.
• 78.5% of netizens are accessing news media content online (up from 73.6% YoY)
• 68% of netizens are using search engines (down from 72.4% YoY)
• 18.6% of netizens are job-searching online (up from 10.4% YoY)
• 56.8% of netizens are using email (up from 56.5% YoY)
• 75.3% of netizens are using IM (down from 81.4% YoY)
• 54.3% of netizens have / own a blog (YoY numbers n/a)
• 35.2% of netizens (actively) update / maintain blogs (up from 23.5% YoY)
• 30.7% of netizens use BBS / discussion forums (YoY numbers n/a)
• 19.3% of netizens use social networking sites (YoY numbers n/a)
• 62.8% of netizens are gaming (up from 59.3% YoY)
• 83.7% of netizens are accessing music conent (presumably downloading) (down from 86.6% YoY)
• 67.7% of netizens are accessing Internet video content (down from 76.9% YoY), with the under 30 age demographic account for the bulk of this usage
• 24.8% of netizens engage in e-commerce (up from 22.1% YoY)
• 3.7% of netizens sell goods online (YoY number n/a)
• 17.6% of netizens are processing payment transaction online (up from 15.8% YoY)
• 5.6% of netizens make travel bookings online (YoY numbers n/a)
• 19.3% of netizens engage in online banking (up from 19.2% YoY)
• 11.4% of netizens are trading / buying / selling stocks online (down from 18.2% YoY)
• 16.5% of netizens engage in online education (down from 16.6% YoY)

If anything more should be included or if anyone spots an errors in my translation, please let me know in the comments section. Thanks.

[UPDATE: for a more robust English translation of the entire CNNIC report, link here]

// AjS

:: the text below was shared with 56minus1 via an inner-office email (original source here, h/t JM & BO’K); U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s election day victory speech translated into “半白化文,” a version of Chinese between the classical and modern-day script, probably closer to the former. Click for English transcripts of the speech, and for videos.

芝城父老，别来无恙，

余尝闻世人有疑，不知当今美利坚凡事皆可成就耶？开国先贤之志方岿然于世耶？民主之伟力不减于昔年耶？凡存诸疑者，今夕当可释然。

今夕之释然，皆蒙美利坚民众之协力——学塾祠庙之外，市井乡野之间，万千父老心焦似焚，苦待竟日，愿献一票之力。其中，平生未尝涉国事者，数亦不少，而今有此义举，皆因一念不衰——今夫天下，非同既往，愿发吁天之声，必成动地之势。

今夕之释然，皆仰吾国同胞之齐心——何谈贫富老幼之差、党社宗族之异，惶论发肤肌体之别、志趣爱恶之分。吾国既以“合众”为名，吾辈则更无疏离之意，红蓝二党并肩而立，数十邦州挽手相合，无分你我，共称一家，昂然于世，齐声一呼，天下乃有此释然。

今夕之释然，皆因愤懑者之镇静，忧惧者之勇气，犹疑者之笃定——平素世间种种，消磨其志向，溃灭其梦想，而值此风云之际，除旧更新，当仁不让，倾力而动乾坤者，更何人哉！

俟之诚久，其志弥坚。幸天地明察，乃有今日，乃有此刻，乃有此一选举，乃有我亿万美利坚大好国民——吾邦之大变革，方得自兹而始也！

顷接参议员麦君凯恩电，虽未得晤，幸有一谈，其言谆谆，其意诚诚，鄙人感佩之 至。选战期内，麦君劳碌几重，奔波几许，皆为国家计。诸般求索，时日良多，皆非余所能及。于国于民之惊人牺牲，亦非庸庸如吾辈者所可想见。以麦君之胆魄襟 怀，能为吾邦所用，实国家之幸，万民之幸也。前途漫漫，其事未竟，余所盼瞩由衷者，唯共麦凯恩君、佩林君，及诸贤士比肩，会吾等之绵力，成吾邦之大业。

乔君拜登，亦吾所感铭至深者也。竞选之业，艰险不足与外人道，幸有乔君之辅佐，其诚天可鉴之。乔君其人，素言恳辞切，意笃情真，盖尝经斯兰克顿街乡邻之提命，饱聆特拉华州父老之晤教也。他日余既登总统之位，乔君必当副之。

拙荆米氏，追随鄙人凡一十六年，既为爱侣，更为挚友，既为吾阖家之基石，又乃余终生之至爱。鄙人尝自忖度，倘无贤妻若此，今朝阔论高谈于此处者，不知何人矣！

小女萨沙、玛丽，余素深喜之。昔日为父尝与汝等言，此番选战若得一胜，愿购小犬一头相赠，待阖家乔迁总统府邸之日，偕汝等同进吾宅。今当胜负已出，既有一诺在前，必自践行不欺也。

祖母大人虽已仙逝，料必有灵在天，俯察人寰，想应颔首开颜矣。吾奥巴马氏列祖列宗，亦当如是。今日今时，此情此景，鄙人追思之心，乌鸟之情，曷其有极！唯生死陌路，仙凡有别，虽怀反哺之心，而无答报之门也！

至若玛雅、艾玛二姐妹，以及吾家诸同胞，所惠我者，亦属良多，久沐恩德，此当拜谢。

大卫•普劳夫君，大卫•阿克塞罗德君，一为鄙人竞选事务之经理，一为鄙人国事韬略之智囊。余尝自喟叹，左右谋士，余所仰赖者，皆亘古未见之贤才。普阿二君，则更此中之翘楚。区区不才，有何德能，可得膀臂若此？当此功成之际，感荷之心，亦自拳拳。

至于鄙人铭之肺腑，须臾不敢忘怀者，则诸位也。盖今日鄙人之胜绩，实诸位之胜绩，鄙人之荣光，实诸位之荣光！

余素朴陋，虽有参选之心，并无必胜之志。谋事之初，银资乏匮，从者寥寥；起事之地，皆蔽寓荒斋，不在高阁；成事之基，无非寻常百姓，涓滴之献。

今日之胜，有赖一众热血青年，抛其家，别其室，不辞其苦，不计其酬，矻矻于此——“国中青年爱国之心已泯”之谬论，今可休矣！今日之胜，有赖壮志未已之诸前辈，无惧寒暑，行走奔波，劝说民众。今日之胜，乃数百万美利坚民众之胜，察其意，皆属踊跃为国，观其行，处处谨严有序，足堪告慰二百年前开国之先贤——民有、民治、民享之政体，未尝动摇也！

嗟夫！此实诸位之功也！

余知诸君之意非在此一选举，亦非在鄙人一身。盖瞻前路之艰辛，益知此任非同小可也。虽今夕欢贺于此，而明朝酒醒，大患仍自当前，不容有怠——两地烽烟熊熊而起，四海之内纷纷而乱，金融业界惶惶而不得宁。

是夜，饮宴笙歌之声不绝于耳，而异邦大漠群山中，吾国大好青年，兀自苦戍边塞， 惝恍竟夜，性命尚未得安。吾国千万庶民，为人父母者，兀自惴惴难眠，所忧者，乃房宅所贷、病患之费、抚育之资也。至若吾国能源之耗，百业之兴，庠序之教， 攻伐之术，怀远之道，亦皆吾等忡忡挂怀者也。

渺渺乎其远，如不可达，危危乎其高，若不可攀。朝夕岁月，焉得成就？余不揣愚钝，愿以四载韶华，付诸此业，胜算何如虽不可知，然昂扬必胜之奇志，成就伟业之壮怀，平生未之有也。君子一诺，其重何如，此地今夕，愿斗胆发一狂言——吾辈既在，其事必成！

逶迤坎坷，份内之事。异见争端，料必有之。国中之政府，谅非无所不能者。余所秉 承不移者，唯忠信矣。倘有危难于前，必无欺瞒于世。诸君言论臧否，纵悖逆相左之议，余必当洗耳以聆。于此之外，更当恳请诸君，不吝心血，致力报效，以振吾 美利坚重兴之业。余亦别无他想，唯盼吾侪协力，延继吾国既肇二百二十一年之大统，汇涓滴之力，而成万世之业。

昔年冬日，余有志于斯，投身此业，屈指算来，倏然近二载矣。当此秋夜，追思反 省，仍无溃退逃亡之意。选战之胜，无非一役之功，余梦寐所思矢志所求者，非在乎此。溯源究本，此役之胜，不过革世变时一大好良机耳。倘止步于斯，垂手而 待，或无诸君倾力相援，则壮志丰功，无非泡影，诸般梦想，终必虚妄。

爱国之心，报国之念，吾人固有之，然逢今日之世，此心此念亦当一变——吾辈各执己业，益当各竭其力，各尽其命，非但为一己之利，而更期普世之荣。今岁，金融业界动荡多舛，细审观之，当可以之为鉴——实业之损，亦是金融之伤。可知，既在邦域之内，吾辈荣辱休戚，皆相与共矣！

党争纷纭，阴谋卑鄙，愚鲁无知，皆腐蚀清白、惑乱政局之弊也，其缘由已久，余今愿与诸君协力，共灭除之。昔年曾有此郡先贤，执共和党之帜，而掌总统府之权。自强独立，自由统一等信念，皆斯人之所倡，亦吾辈之所宗。

今岁选战，吾民主党人幸有一胜，然谦逊和合之心未尝少减。余素信服者，乃山河破碎之际，林肯总统之言——“既是至亲，终不为敌。虽弩张剑拔，而血脉未尝断，情义不少减。”

固然，仍有四方志士，不为鄙人所动，另有高明之选。虽终悭此一票之缘，然诸君高论，余亦声声在耳，字字在心。倘能得诸君之援手，鄙人幸甚。他日待余总而统之，亦必不另眼以待也。

吾邦民众，散居天下，各安其命，而其志一也。吾邦鼎盛之势，今已乍现锋芒。

至于心怀叵测，与世人为仇、与天下为敌者，吾邦猛志常在，彼等必取灭亡。心思纯良，久慕大同者，吾辈当倾力以助，鼎力相援。犹疑未定，不知吾自由之邦兴衰如何者，吾辈愿以今日盛况以告之——美利坚之所以谓之“美”者，非刀兵之强，金银之众，实民主、自由、机遇、梦想之美也！

天自有道，地自有德，恩赋吾邦无上异禀——无他，唯变而已矣。美利坚变革不怠，合众国日趋尽善。当以过往先贤之伟绩，助吾侪今日之雄心，开子孙万世之辉光。

今岁选战，多开亘古之先，屡传千秋佳话。感我至深者，亚特兰大之老妪安•尼克松•库帕也——库氏之一票，于数百万美利坚民众之选票无异，其所以引人称奇者，其人今岁高龄一百有六矣。

当其父辈之时，天道不彰，黑人为奴。库氏其生也不逢时，汽车尚不行于道，飞机未曾起于空，库氏既属黑人，又系女流，票选一事，概无瓜葛。

今日今时，回溯库氏百岁之涯，但见吾邦先贤屡败屡战，且退且进，悲欣交集，甘苦杂陈。幸而正道存焉，壮志存焉，曰：吾辈既在，无所不能。

万马齐喑，其事堪哀，吾邦女界怒而起，愤而争，苦战不歇，历数十载。幸哉库氏，以百岁之高龄，终得亲见女流自立于世，重获天赋之权——吾辈既在，无所不能！

当百业萧条，国人绝望哀鸣之际，库氏亲见吾美利坚出旷世之新政，挽狂澜于既倒，扶大厦之将倾，退畏惧之势，扶奋勇之心，终至人各有位，民心乃安——吾辈既在，无所不能！

当吾国良港遭袭，天下桀纣当道，暴政肆虐之时，库氏亲见豪杰群起，民主不衰——吾辈既在，无所不能！

蒙哥马利公车之罢辍，伯明翰城黑人之群起，塞尔玛城血雨腥风之事，库氏般般亲历。更曾亲聆亚特兰大传教之士振臂登高之呼——“吾等必胜！”诚哉斯言！吾辈既在，无所不能！

俟科学昌明于世，创想通贯一时，既登广寒之阙，又溃柏林之墙。洋洋乎！有百年如是，乃见今岁选战中，库氏之一票。浩浩兮！一百零六载交锋更迭，方有美利坚今日之变革——吾辈既在，无所不能！

转眼兴亡过手，而今迈步从头。追昔抚今，不禁扪心而问——俟再历百年岁月，倘吾等后辈儿孙，亦有得享高寿如库氏者，复可见何等之变数？吾辈今日之功，他年可得而见之乎？

所谓天命时运，莫过于此——当为吾邦万民造安身立命之业，为吾辈儿孙启各显雄才之门，为寰宇各国创太平静好之世，为吾等壮志赋千秋不灭之元神。吾邦立国之本，必将光耀于天下。万千同胞，当如一人，一息尚存，梦想不灭。纵有世人旁观在侧，而疑窦生焉，吾辈亦当以千秋不易之训共答之曰——吾辈既在，无所不能！

拜谢诸君。愿天佑吾民，天佑吾邦。

:: as a follow up to a post from a couple months ago, here is “part 2″ of what is likely to become a 56minus1 series on Chinese Internet slang / “netspeak.”

Chinese netizens enjoy playing with language. They make up new words, insert alphabetic and numerical abbreviations between the Chinese characters in their posts, and trade catchphrases with wild abandon. However, to “outsiders,” conversations full of obscure acronyms, ancient characters, and allusions to pop Chinese culture can be quite difficult to follow. Below are some more examples of vocabulary that will help you understand what Chinese netizens are really talking about.

label: the test-bowl tribe  考碗族  [pronounced: kao wan zu] ::
Chinese media has been abuzz with reports of the record number of applicants for the annual civil service exams this year. These people are known as “考碗族,” a new term that brings together “exam” 考试 (kaoshi), “iron rice bowl” 铁饭碗 (tie fanwan), and the suffix 族 (zu) that’s often used for groups of people. The result describes a group of people competing for a stable job. The rice bowl need not be iron; these days there are bronze, silver, and gold rice bowls, corresponding to the different levels of government. This Xici blog post uses many of the terms. The 族 suffix is quite productive and appears in informal terms for car-owners 汽车族 (qiche zu), people who spend all their salary every month 月光族 (yueguang zu), and people with obsessive interests in a particular subject 宅族 (zhai zu). This last term has changed from its original meaning: it was borrowed from Japanese otaku, but the Chinese term has 宅, “house” (in Japanese it’s written phonetically as おたく), making the word apply more to people whose obsessiveness with video games and animation leads them to seldom emerge from their homes.

extended meaning: corruption  腐败  [pronounced: fubai] ::
Literal meaning: corruption. But due to one of the most visible signs of corruption in China being the lavish misuse of public funds by officials looking to give themselves and their cronies a good time, it’s now a verb meaning “to indulge.” This can range from dining at pricey restaurants to going out to KTV, to going off on a holiday. In this blog post, the author writes, “Next time you’re in Hangzhou, let me take you out to fubai.”

transliteration: dirty  得体  [pronounced: deti] ::
Literal meaning: appropriate, in good taste. Its pronunciation, “deti,” sounds like the English word “dirty,” and describes someone who’s not as pure and chaste as they look. The contrast between the two meanings has been remarked on in jokes in the past, but the current usage seems to stem from the song “Dirty” by Lee-hom Wang (王力宏). In this blog post, the author consciously puns on the word in a description of her house. In other contexts it may be hard to figure out which meaning the writer intends, so it will be interesting to see how long the word lasts.

extended meaning: to blacken  黑  [pronounced: hei] ::
The word “black” is often used to describe corrupt, illegal, or malicious activity. This season, it gained a new use as a verb: to be blackened. After an automatic update from Microsoft, the Windows XP desktop background was turned black on pirated copies of the OS. Netizens reacted immediately by complaining about being “blackened,” and creative types began creating black desktop backgrounds of their own that mocked Microsoft’s anti-piracy effort. This Douban thread is full of uses of 黑 as a verb, and is titled “Have you been blackened today?”

labels: the phoenix and the peacock  凤凰男 / 孔雀女  [pronounced: fenghuang nan and kongque nv respectively] ::
A “phoenix” is a man whose rural family places all their hopes and dreams in him, sending him through school and then to the big city. When he’s successful, he becomes a “golden phoenix that rises from the mountains.” This long-standing image has been paired with the “peacock,” a spoiled city girl whose had it easy her whole life. The two terms are often used as a shorthand for the problems that young people from different backgrounds face in their interactions in China’s cities. This Tianya thread, “Don’t take a peacock for a wife,” uses both terms in its discussion of relationships.

// AjS

[Friday 5 is the product of my work at Edelman Digital (China). Link here for the full Friday 5 archive. If you'd like to be added to the bilingual (English & Chinese) Friday 5 email distribution list, please send me an email at: adam DOT schokora AT edelman DOT com.]

:: much has been made of China’s hundreds of millions of internet users (253 million according to the last official count)…but, how to understand what they really think? There are many ways to do this, the best of which is a full-on qualitative / quantitative analysis of related Internet word of mouth conversations, but for a quick and dirty read on netizen sentiment, preferences, etc., one such way is with online surveys.

Included below is a “top 5″ review of online survey sites in China. Some of these services simply replicate traditional survey models; others use new technologies to take advantage of Chinese netizens’ tendency to redistribute content in order to reach a wider survey base.

1) Askform

Easy redistribution: AskForm differs from most survey sites in that it provides Flash survey widgets, allowing users to copy and paste AskForm’s widget code for easy embedding in blog and BBS posts. Ease of use in creating surveys: when users create surveys, AskForm makes use of user tags to identify matching surveys in its database, greatly simplifying the survey creation process. The site makes heavy use of AJAX for fast, responsive mouse-based survey creation. Open platform: AskForm follows the trend of openness and interoperability with an open API and the promise of more applications using its platform, making it attractive for commercial and individual use. Personal data center: AskForm will soon introduce a unique reporting module that will present and automatically update all survey data gathered, making user review of data significantly easier. Unfriendly user interface. Reportedly AskForm is working to change this.

2) Taidu8

One of the oldest names in the field, Taidu8 (formerly Data100) is a mainstay of Chinese online survey sites. Large library of surveys. Taidu8 has amassed a large collection of corporate and non-corporate surveys through its years in operation. “PK” Topics: one of the site’s more popular functionalities, “PK” topics (PK is gamer-speak for “player kill”), similar to “Hot / Not” polls in the Anglophone blogosphere, pose users with two choices. Respondents are then pitted against one another, with one side ‘winning’ or losing.’ (An example would be tinyurl.com/6cchy5 ). Paid surveys: for some of the corporate surveys, users can receive money or prizes as compensation for participating. However, Flash embedding of surveys is not an option. Flash is preferable to JavaScript embedding as many BBSes and blog platforms don’t support the use of ’script’ tags. The survey creation process is somewhat complicated.

3) WeZuo

WeZuo pitches itself as an enterprise-level survey, evaluation, and voting system. Distinguishes between polls and evaluations: survey creators can create two types of surveys; there is definitely a certain market space for user evaluations. Attractive page design: the light green page design is fairly comfortable and easy on the eyes. Richer pagination options: WeZuo distinguishes itself by providing the option to split surveys across multiple pages and set up landing pages with notes for respondents. Flash embedding is not an option; this likely has an impact on respondent enthusiasm. While WeZuo remains free, it has already posted pricing information for different user levels.

4) ZhiJiZhiBi

Offers a fairly systematic system of categorization, allowing users to easily find the category to which their survey belongs. Has its own user promotions area, and registered users are presented with an ‘upgrades’ system, increasing ’stickiness’ and user activity. Virtually no survey export or embedding functionality, other than survey URLs. Page design needs to be improved; overly flashy design on survey sites creates a distinct impression of unprofessionalism.

5) SoJump

Clean site design – which appears to have been copied from blogcn, right down to the user registration panel. The survey functionality doesn’t support any browsers other than IE at the moment. The site has adopted some of the more popular Web 2.0 functionalities, including tagging. There is apparently no survey export or embedding functionality. In addition, the survey design is fairly run-of-the-mill, with the standard textbox and radio button widgets rather than custom CSS-styled widgets.

// AjS