高少星·人因梦想而伟大

Maybe foreign people pay more attention to Baidu, because it is “Chinese Google”, but I think Tencent Inc. probably will be the greatest internet company in China.

(Tencent’s famous product ‘QQ’)

On 18 March 2008, Tencent issued its annual financial statement of 2008. Tencent has earned 1.04 billion US dollars this year, so it is still the top one company of income, profits and market value in China.

There has a catalog of Tencent’s business system on its website, it is divided seven parts: Instant Messaging Service, Online Media, Mobile&Telecommunica- tions Value-added Services, Interactive Entertainment Service, Internet Value-added Service, E-commerce and Online Advertising Service. However, as a common user, I made the picture below, that is Tencent’s products and services layout.

This picture’s right side is the core of Tencent. Essentially Tencent is a software company, it has great competitive strength on it, especially in communication field. QQ of Tencent is the No.1 instant messenger of China, even the earth. Then Tencent released TM to compete Microsoft’s MSN messenger. On the other side, enterprise also can own their IM server by RTX. Except IM services, Tencent acquired Foxmail to offer Email service, and acquired Heyyo to explore the market of VOIP. I think no one could challenge communication products with Tencent in the future.

Tencent also provided many desktop software to enhance their force and inflence to users. They covered user’s requirements of internet, office, mutil-media, entertainment and done them well.

Based on IM, Tencent’s connected users formed the largest social network of this world. Everyone has their individual space, blog, Email, and they can communicate each other and do something together through groups(most active and largest of China), BBS, Chatroom, etc.

Then, Tencent built web portal by taken the advantage of its huge number of users(Please look at the lefe side). Today, QQ.com(Tencent’s web portal) has the No.1 traffic in China, its page views and unique users of news channel are close to twice as Sina.com’s and Sohu’s news channel.

Tentent has a lot of advantages on wireless business. It offered SMS service of instant messenger at earlier years, and earned good money by selling pics, rings and other content for mobile users. Nowadays, most mobile users are happy to install tencent’s mobile software client to use IM service and get some information through QQ’s mobile portal or access their Qzone(space). China’s 3G service has been opened this year, Tencent definitely will be the one of the biggest winner.

Game is a mature way of monetizing. Tencent was a agent of several games before, but in recently years it develped more games by itself. Tencent also had a good harvest at e-Commerce field, the platform PAIPAI and online payment system growing well.

As a search engine, Tencent has no good fortune becasue Baidu is the No.1 search engine of China, it seems will be No.1 forever, just like Tencent is the NO.1 IM company.

In my opinion, Tencent will be the greatest internet company of China in the future, because it has a clearly, well-known architecture of product & service system, and now many products are more stronger, flexibility and then getting synergistic effect. In addition, Tencent’s culture also promote its growth maybe. The system encourage their staff to try something new and creative, they can put up with failures many times then close unsuccessful projects, I think all these features will help this company to gain great success.

Finally, Meizu M8 launched. It is more similar like Apple Iphone, but it is not popular like Iphone.

（The picture below from left to right is Meizu M8, HTC Diamond and Apple Iphone.）

In fact, Iphone is not a good mobile phone to Chinese. It’s beautiful, cool, but it is not practical. For example, people must copy mp3 files through itune, it is not convenient.

I think M8 has at least 3 big advantages than Iphone,? with a common USB line, you can:

Copy mp3 files from computer to phone then play them directly,? and it support many file types like APE, FLAC etc.
Copy AVI, MPG, even RMVB files from computer to phone directly then play them, it doesn’t need convert, and now it support subtitle display. It’s incredible, isn’t?
Get a 8G/16G moveable disk to store and access any files.
So, M8 is a strong mutil-media functional phone, but obviously it also has many problems, including:

The reaction is slower than Iphone because maybe it based on Windows CE.
It is hard to type words, dial phone number, and manage contacts. It is a general problem of all full touch screen phones.
Internet browser is very bad, Microsoft and Opera should assume responsibility for it.
Poor applications, Microsoft’s problem?
More important, M8 is totally copy from Iphone, it lost its own style and thinking, but Iphone also doesn’t fit for Chinese.
In my opinion, the last one is the key, a phone must has its own soul, doesn’t?

M8’s hardware is good and perform well, it need more and more applications to support user’s requirements. Meizu had published SDK for free developers earlier month, but today it hardly has any good applications yet. Good news is Meizu continued updating the OS rom frequently, then the phone’s performance is getting better and better.

Recently, it is said that Meizu has sold 50 thousand M8 phones per month, it’s not bad.

J.W, the CEO of Meizu, a young, passion and smart man, who announced that Meizu is going to develop M9 phone for 3G of China. Good luck for him and this chinese company.

It is my first time to go aboard for vacation, I think write it down in English will have special meaning and I dont care if here have many mistakes.

This trip spent me almost 21 days, and over 20 thousand RMB, because it include learning diving and pay for a guide. I’d like talk about this trip by some main topics below:

Bangkok
As capital of Thailand, this city looks old and poor, except its big and modern international airport. On the way from airport to khaoshan road by bus, I saw many poor and dirty house, it is for Thai masses. There have a little few high and new buildings, but Thai temples looked everywhere.

Khao Shan Road
Khao Shan road is a very famous place, maybe it is cheap for foreign backpackers. Here has many kinds of stores and hostels, and most western foreigners. The average price of hostel is about 120 RMB per day, but all the room is small and not good decorated.

When night coming, the street boiled. Western foreigners are everywhere: bars, 7-11, stores, and booths, everyday these activities are continued to 2 PM. or later.

Living
Thailand is convenient for chinese. At first, many ATM support china union pay, it means that you can take Thai money directly by your chinese bank card, and the fee is only 10 RMB per time, so you dont need take some cash or US dollars then exchange them in Thailand. BTW, the currency between RMB and Baht(Thai money)is about 1:4.5, it means you can get 4.5 baht by 1 RMB.

‘True Move’ seems the biggest and best operator in Thailand, I used its mobile phone SIM card, it is more cheaper than China mobile. I can make a oversea call by their IP phone number ‘00600′, it only cost 0.x RMB per minute, and Thai domestic call cheap more.

Many people wondering if Thai is cheaper than China, the answer is maybe. For example, Thai massage, fruits and room rent are cheaper than China, but some product like mobile phone, international brand clothes and some food are more expensive. And, western people will become little rich here, because the high exchange rate, but it is not same to chinese.

I had enjoyed very professional massage in Khaoshan road. Small store, very ordinary woman, but what is professional, it is! I cant describe what and how she done, but more comfortable proofed everything. And it is so cheap, only 30~40 RMB enough. I recommend Thai massage and foot massage, and notice that you should do it in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, maybe last one is the best.

Many fresh and cheap fruits is another reason for loving Thailand, it is too cheap, one piece 2 RMB, I tried pineapple and watermelon, the pineapple is very fresh and sweet, good taste without any acid, It is totally different from chinese.

Although ‘tom yum Goong’ soup taste good, you will sick if you eat it everyday. I think Thai food is just so so, most Thai food are same, they always mix pork, chicken, beef, shrimp and vegetables, add some sweet, spicy and acid sauce, the meal is odd and quick to tire. So lucky there also have pizza, Mcdonald’s, Subway and etc.

Some taxi drivers may let you dissatisfied, in China they called ‘black taxi driver’. Same as Thailand, they prefer to make a fixed price instead car’s counter, no doubt it will let you pay more money. Fortunately these drivers only stay close to the center street, you can get rid of them by walking a little far and then call a normal taxi. A interesting thing is, almost every taxi drivers or store seller seemed very like to speak two Thai-English phrases: ’same same’ , ‘up to you’.

Sex
I visited three red-light districts in Thailand. Two of them in Bangkok and one is called ‘patpong’, it has 4 streets, for sex show, commercialized sex, gay and lesbian. I was not go into the bar because I was scared, really. When you see many many ladies dancing then wave to you and say welcome, you dont know what will be happened, especially you dont who is she or he.

Another red-light districts in Bangkok is called ‘huai khwang’, here has many beautiful and suggestive banners, and offer body massage service. Body massage including two steps, first is lady help you bathing, and second you two make love. Before that, you should pick up your favorite girl in the lobby, some ladies are inside a glass room, others outside, waiter said whom outside are good because they are part time, who knows.

In the daytime, ‘patong’ street In Phuket island is a very normal street, only few people walking and some bars have no customer. But when dark coming, here have many many people and only about sex. Here also have sex show and ‘go go bar’(some ladies in it and you can pick anyone away). The numbers of visitors, ladies, and that kind of atmosphere, all better than patpong.

Some people are interested in lady boy. In Thailand, lady boy is regard as third gender, they are equal with others. In my opinion, though I dont like them, but lady boy is really poor. I saw a lady boy show when I sat outside the bar, the lady boy fished its penis out when the music playing ‘I’m not a girl’, funny and sad. So, the work of most lady boy is sex show or other dancing show, and they aslo support sex service. They like say hello to asian, someone told me japanese is their customer, because japanese cant identify they are lady boys.

Diving
I learned diving in ‘khao tao’, a small island, it spent me 7 days and about 5000 RMB. Finally I got PADI open water and adventure open water certified, so in future I can dive 30 meters deep and do night diving and etc.

The course is very hard and painful to me, it need do many tasks and practices underwater, even in swiming pool I also felt nervous, maybe I had bad body condition those days. I suspended my AOW(adventure open water) course because my ear had some problem, they ached because I had not do good pressure balance underwater. Frank talk, I panicked at deep diving course, I thought I was dying when I went down 26 meters deep underwater, my coach swam so fast and I cant catch her, then I felt my heart beat violently and I was afraid I would shock, then I decide to quit this course and go up, and you know, so I can write this blog now.

I’d say diving is a most interesting thing, underwater you can see many kinds of fishes and coral, so close even you can touch them, weightlessness feeling and many other reasons let you like diving.

Thai boxing
Yes, I also tried Thai boxing. I bought 3 times for learning but I quit after second time.

First time, I flowed down the most sweat in my life, and second time, my sweat is 3 times more than first. How terrible it is! Even I cant do rope skipping for 5 minutes!
It’s ok, I’ll come back!

Bangkok, Khao Tao, Khao Samui, Phuket, Phang Nga
Above is my trip map, Phuket is the best of all, because Phuket almost has everything: beautiful beach, delicious food, comfortable and cheap hotel, many foreign girls, hot red-light district, and many entertainment places.

Khao Tao is only for divers;At Khao Samui you can have a rest, but it is all(I tried jet-ski there); Phang Nga is a tourist attractions, people can go there by ship; If have beach, more new buildings and a little cheap, maybe Bangkok is prefect.

Others
It seemed Japan and Thai have very good relationship, in Thai cities, 95 percent cars are made in Japan, Toyota is most, second is Honda. I remembered, Thai driver must seat down the right side, they drive along left side, it is more unaccustomed to chinese and other country people.??

And, 7-11 is everywhere, I never see so many 7-11, 3~5 7-11 stores are in the same street, even though the street is short.

In a massage store I thumbed through the guestbook, about 80 percent guests come from Australia, maybe it same as entire tourists of Thailand. Asia tourists, what I had seen most is singaporean, and t
hen are japanese, korean and chinese, absolutely this is related to chinese holiday.

Many foreigners stayed in Thailand for many years, working or living, So many Thai learn English for their business. You can see English menu, post, newspaper and everything everywhere. But many Thai speaking Thai-English and have Thai accent, it is hard to know what is it. I asked a England guy, could he identify Thai people say ‘3′ ? He said no, because the Thai’s pronunciation of ‘3′ is similar like ‘tree’.