Internet cafes to be more regulated

[Mick]

Just like America, everything will be a chain, franchise or merger.

Pretty soon, the entire globe will be working for WalMart.

[warpedbored]

hmmm that would certainly solve their ilegal alien workers problem,

[keelec]

Just like America, everything will be a chain, franchise or merger.

Pretty soon, the entire globe will be working for WalMart.

Everything in Walmart is already made in China..... I don't see why they couldn't also import their checker's and janitors????

 

I have loved the small businesses that I have seen in Europe and Russia, although going to a dozen stores for a single shopping trip can be a hassle. Of course, Russia has the "small businessman" down to an art.... It is not uncommon to see a person sitting on the curb with a single gallon of milk for sale!!!!

 

I hope China doesn't work too hard to kill off the charm of the small businesses.

 

---- Clifford -----

[Mick]

Just like America, everything will be a chain, franchise or merger.

Pretty soon, the entire globe will be working for WalMart.

Everything in Walmart is already made in China..... I don't see why they couldn't also import their checker's and janitors????

 

I have loved the small businesses that I have seen in Europe and Russia, although going to a dozen stores for a single shopping trip can be a hassle. Of course, Russia has the "small businessman" down to an art.... It is not uncommon to see a person sitting on the curb with a single gallon of milk for sale!!!!

 

I hope China doesn't work too hard to kill off the charm of the small businesses.

 

---- Clifford -----

I too enjoyed the many small businesses in China. I imagine they are there to stay. However, chains are growing. My earlier comment about WalMart was not so far fetched. During the five years I lived in China, WalMart opened stores in many cities, including the one where I lived. They soon drove several smaller, locally owned department stores out of business. Still, the best prices and bargains were to be found in the small, storefront operations. Also, at the smaller places you could haggle to get a lower price. At WalMart, you couldn't do this of course. Yet business at the WalMarts are booming. The one in Shantou is flanked on the left by a KFC outlet and on the right by a McDonalds. Pizza Hut was just going in on the second floor.

[owenkrout]

Actually there are only two internet "pipelines" into China, or at least that was the count a year ago. Both were undersea cables. The government controls both and does occassionally shut down access when they feel the need to do so. Satellite dishes are illegal for the Chinese citizens, sot that route is out unless they are well connected enough. They have an aggressive filtering policy and literally have internet police to monitor what people are accessing but the shear volume overwhelms the system and things still manage to get through, at least for a short time. I used to be able to get through to Western news sources that were not approved, but only for a short time before the proxy address would be discovered and blocked. Of course new ones constantly came back. Certain very popular sites where very aggressively blocked based on that sites address as it came into the country. The Voice of America for instance was particularly difficult to reach. Oddly enough, a few like the Kansas City Star newpaper where just as aggressively blocked. What is blocked or allowed can change overnight as the political winds change.

[Mick]

Owen is right. Things get blocked and then unblocked and then blocked again. I recall about a year ago, the Google search engine was blocked for awhile. Really caused me problems at the time because that is the engine I was using for research I was doing. They finally released the block but it was a major inconvenience.