Blog Power
The blog is no longer a new concept for Chinese people. Quite the opposite, if you don’t know what a blog is, you are going to get laughed at. Such is the speed with which China changes. It is estimated that a new personal Chinese blog is created every 5.8 seconds. That’s a lot of blogs.
A paper on Chinese blogger development by Tsinghua University Media Professor Fang Xindong predicted in 2005 that the number of blogs would reach 16 million by the year 2006. But in fact the phenomenon, then just beginning, caught on like a wildfire, and by mid-2007 there were 60 million blogs, with the 100 million mark expected to be passed by the end of this year. Around 70% of bloggers are estimated to be aged from 16 to 40 years old and 52% of them are from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. That leaves a huge amount of room for growth as the blog phenomenon spreads to the second and third tier cities and beyond into the countryside.
As opposed to chat rooms, blogs are a place where people can display their lifestyle choices. Regardless of whether there is feedback or no feedback from the great ocean of Internet readers out there, a blog at the very least is an open diary, a place where a person can exist in suspension between worlds both virtual and real.
It is a means of stress release and a please to show off one’s personality. It is a world that is both secret and open where a person can be an actor or be totally honest. It can be a world that is totally self-created. It is an escape from daily life and work, allowing a person to escape into a new world that is totally controlled by the blogger. Writing a blog, and also reading other people’s blogs, is a time of release, imagination, confidence-building and general happiness.
There are good commercial reasons for writing a blog as well. Movie stars are writing blogs and young writers have their own blogs. There is Muzi Mei’s sexy blog, and Furong Jiejie’s narcissistic blog … whether they attract admiration or criticism, they are the focus of attention from the public.
The bottom line is that the blog has suddenly become the most powerful online media in this new 21st century.

Man Spa
A spa is no longer just a place for women. Spas throughout the country have suddenly realized that there is no reason at all to abandon half the population of China, and the fastest-growing sector of the spa business by far is the male spa. Once upon a time, Chinese men used to go to public baths with their friends and business partners to relax and to talk. Now, the 21st century Chinese man has found that the spa is the ideal place for them to resolve their stress problems.
“Middle-aged men are the group that carries the biggest responsibility in China,” said Sheng Jianxin, the East China Marketing director of Yi Ren Jing Medical Company. He is 40 years old, so he should know. “My generation faces pressure in terms of both career and income. Every Chinese person expects and hopes that by the time they reach my age range they are middle class at least. Yes, I am middle class, I have a house and a car. But behind that, we have to work hard to maintain the position, and keep studying in order to absorb the new information along with younger people. At the same time, we have to play the role of good father and husband at home, and visit grandparents regularly to be their good son. We have heavy responsibilities and we have to always face each challenge with full energy.”

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