China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

China’s High-Speed Railway: Netizens Praise Excellent Service

The personal account of one high-speed railway passenger went viral this week. His view: China’s high-speed railway staff should be praised more, as their service has become better than that of developed countries.

Published

9 years ago

November 11, 2015

Manya Koetse

One passenger posted his experiences with China’s high-speed railway on Sina Weibo this week, praising the good service of its station and train staff. The story became one of the top trending Weibo posts of the day, with many netizens agreeing with the man that China’s train services are high standing.

See the translation below for the full account of the man’s story.

[box] “A few days ago I went on a business trip to Tianjin. Halfway there, at the Jinan stop, I stepped out to stretch my legs. I may have been too distracted, because I did not even hear the whistle blow. As a result, I saw the train slowly picking up speed right beside me. It took me five seconds to realise that it was actually my train that was leaving. Inside was my luggage, my computer, my mobile, and my wallet.

I stood there for a bit before I became clear-headed: I was left at the train platform! I arrived at the service desk somewhat depressed, and explained my predicament to the staff. While I was telling my story, I felt the young woman behind the service desk scrutinising me with her eyes. She probably thought: this traveler looks quite normal, how could he be so stupid?

After she had heard my explanation, she asked me to wait and started to get in touch with the conductor of the train by calling internal inquiries. After she had traced down the number of the train manager, she explained the situation and handed me the phone. After they asked for my details, seat number and luggage, they told me they would take care of my things and hand them over to the staff at Beijing Station. Although I was going to Tianjin, the final stop of the train was Beijing.

I wanted to thank the staff after hanging up the phone. She told me to wait a bit, and again, helped me to get in touch with a conductor of the regular train service. Right then, a middle-aged woman came up to the service desk. She was crying so badly that she could barely speak. The staff asked her what the problem was, but not much came out. After a little while, when the woman had calmed down, we found out that her situation was quite simple: she had missed her train. According to what she told, she had already changed her train reservation twice, and missed it both times. The main reason was that it was her first time taking a high speed train, and she could not find the boarding gate.

The service staff seemed to relax after hearing the story. I understood why – when she first saw the woman crying like that, she probably thought there was something worse than just missing a train. This was easy to handle. The staff made another phone call and then looked at me, saying: “Hey mister, can I ask you for a favour?” I said: “I know, I can bring this lady to her train.” She said: “It won’t be such a hassle. You are on the same train, you just help her to your train.” That sounded even more easier.

As I was walking with the lady to the train, she kept repeating to herself: “I feel so useless, that is why I cried.” “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I said: “You only couldn’t find the train’s boarding gate, that’s all. Look at me, I frequently travel, and I suddenly found myself alone on a platform, having let the train go without me. Compared to you, I am the one who’s muddle-headed.” The woman smiled.

As we arrived at the train, the woman and I found the train manager. She already knew about the phonecall from the service desk, and understood our situation. I specifically explained that although my original destination was Tianjin, I needed to go to Beijing to pick up my luggage, and that if needed to, I would pay extra for my ticket. The conductor was a young woman, under the age of 28. She listened and wondered: “So why is your luggage not taken to Tianjin?” “This is what the conductor told me.” “Wait a bit,” she told me: “I will check for you.”

Then, after another set of procedures (inquiring the number, contacting the conductor) she told me: “Your luggage will be send directly to Tianjin, and the station staff will hand it over to you there.” She also comforted the woman, and told her not to worry at China’s high-speed rail station, where she could always just look for some staff to help out. She then advised us to sit in the dining car.

When we were nearing Tianjin, the conductor came up to me and said: “I’ll help you when getting off the train, to avoid you not being able to find any staff.” As we arrived and got off, a young man was waiting for us with my computer bag in one hand, and my funny thermos flask in the other.

The whole event was so warm. Every staff member had their own duty, and went beyond their responsibility. The conductor of the later train I took had no reason to reach out to me like that. She only had to ensure that I could go on and could get off the train. But she also considered that it would be inconvenient for me to go to Beijing, and she helped me to arrange it. It was very considerate service.

When I told my friend of my experiences afterwards, he told me to write it down. It’s good to praise our high speed railway staff; their service exceeds normal service and is at a high level. It is even better than that of developed countries. It’s very good. I have also experienced this kind of service on foreign airlines. I had missed my flight and got good service. The core value: trying to solve the passenger’s problems is no trouble.

This time, there was unexpected consideration and warmth, getting this kind of service in China for the first time.

[/box]

The story has been shared over 8700 times on Weibo.

For one netizen, the story is familiar: “I am one of those people who is sleeping when getting on the train, and peeing when getting off the train. One time I went from Guangdong to Shilong, and I only woke up in Pingchang. As a result… a beautiful train manager reassuringly smiled at me, and made some phonecalls to arrange a train back. It gave me warm feeling reading this story. Thank you, China!”

“This reminds me of my neighbours,” one other commenter says: “The whole family went to the station to bring their daughter, who was going to study in Changsha, to the train. As the train departed, the whole family was on the train, and their daughter was still on the platform.”

China has opened its first high-speed railways (HSR) in October 2003, and has now built 10,000 miles (16093 km) of high-speed tracks within its borders (NBC). With HSR, it is now possible to travel the 819 miles (1318 km) from Beijing to Shanghai in 5 hours; a train journey that would have cost at least eight to ten hours only a couple of years ago.

– By Manya Koetse

Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

China Books & Literature

Why Chinese Publishers Are Boycotting the 618 Shopping Festival

Bookworms love to get a good deal on books, but when the deals are too good, it can actually harm the publishing industry.

Published

2 months ago

June 8, 2024

Ruixin Zhang

JD.com’s 618 shopping festival is driving down book prices to such an extent that it has prompted a boycott by Chinese publishers, who are concerned about the financial sustainability of their industry.

When June begins, promotional campaigns for China’s 618 Online Shopping Festival suddenly appear everywhere—it’s hard to ignore.

The 618 Festival is a product of China’s booming e-commerce culture. Taking place annually on June 18th, it is China’s largest mid-year shopping carnival. While Alibaba’s “Singles’ Day” shopping festival has been taking place on November 11th since 2009, the 618 Festival was launched by another Chinese e-commerce giant, JD.com (京东), to celebrate the company’s anniversary, boost its sales, and increase its brand value.

By now, other e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Pinduoduo have joined the 618 Festival, and it has turned into another major nationwide shopping spree event.

For many book lovers in China, 618 has become the perfect opportunity to stock up on books. In previous years, e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Dangdang (当当) would roll out tempting offers during the festival, such as “300 RMB ($41) off for every 500 RMB ($69) spent” or “50 RMB ($7) off for every 100 RMB ($13.8) spent.”

Starting in May, about a month before 618, the largest bookworm community group on the Douban platform, nicknamed “Buying Like Landsliding, Reading Like Silk Spinning” (买书如山倒，看书如抽丝), would start buzzing with activity, discussing book sales, comparing shopping lists, or sharing views about different issues.

Social media users share lists of which books to buy during the 618 shopping festivities.

This year, however, the mood within the group was different. Many members posted that before the 618 season began, books from various publishers were suddenly taken down from e-commerce platforms, disappearing from their online shopping carts. This unusual occurrence sparked discussions among book lovers, with speculations arising about a potential conflict between Chinese publishers and e-commerce platforms.

A joint statement posted in May provided clarity. According to Chinese media outlet The Paper (@澎湃新闻), eight publishers in Beijing and the Shanghai Publishing and Distribution Association, which represent 46 publishing units in Shanghai, issued a statement indicating they refuse to participate in this year’s 618 promotional campaign as proposed by JD.com.

The collective industry boycott has a clear motivation: during JD’s 618 promotional campaign, which offers all books at steep discounts (e.g., 60-70% off) for eight days, publishers lose money on each book sold. Meanwhile, JD.com continues to profit by forcing publishers to sell books at significantly reduced prices (e.g., 80% off). For many publishers, it is simply not sustainable to sell books at 20% of the original price.

One person who has openly spoken out against JD.com’s practices is Shen Haobo (沈浩波), founder and CEO of Chinese book publisher Motie Group (磨铁集团). Shen shared a post on WeChat Moments on May 31st, stating that Motie has completely stopped shipping to JD.com as it opposes the company’s low-price promotions. Shen said it felt like JD.com is “repeatedly rubbing our faces into the ground.”

Nevertheless, many netizens expressed confusion over the situation. Under the hashtag topic “Multiple Publishers Are Boycotting the 618 Book Promotions” (#多家出版社抵制618图书大促#), people complained about the relatively high cost of physical books.

With a single legitimate copy often costing 50-60 RMB ($7-$8.3), and children’s books often costing much more, many Chinese readers can only afford to buy books during big sales. They question the justification for these rising prices, as books used to be much more affordable.

Book blogger TaoLangGe (@陶朗歌) argues that for ordinary readers in China, the removal of discounted books is not good news. As consumers, most people are not concerned with the “life and death of the publishing industry” and naturally prefer cheaper books.

However, industry insiders argue that a “price war” on books may not truly benefit buyers in the end, as it is actually driving up the prices as a forced response to the frequent discount promotions by e-commerce platforms.

China News (@中国新闻网) interviewed publisher San Shi (三石), who noted that people’s expectations of book prices can be easily influenced by promotional activities, leading to a subconscious belief that purchasing books at such low prices is normal. Publishers, therefore, feel compelled to reduce costs and adopt price competition to attract buyers. However, the space for cost reduction in paper and printing is limited.

Eventually, this pressure could affect the quality and layout of books, including their binding, design, and editing. In the long run, if a vicious cycle develops, it would be detrimental to the production and publication of high-quality books, ultimately disappointing book lovers who will struggle to find the books they want, in the format they prefer.

This debate temporarily resolved with JD.com’s compromise. According to The Paper, JD.com has started to abandon its previous strategy of offering extreme discounts across all book categories. Publishers now have a certain degree of autonomy, able to decide the types of books and discount rates for platform promotions.

While most previously delisted books have returned for sale, JD.com’s silence on their official social media channels leaves people worried about the future of China’s publishing industry in an era dominated by e-commerce platforms, especially at a time when online shops and livestreamers keep competing over who has the best book deals, hyping up promotional campaigns like ‘9.9 RMB ($1.4) per book with free shipping’ to ‘1 RMB ($0.15) books.’

This year’s developments surrounding the publishing industry and 618 has led to some discussions that have created more awareness among Chinese consumers about the true price of books. “I was planning to bulk buy books this year,” one commenter wrote: “But then I looked at my bookshelf and saw that some of last year’s books haven’t even been unwrapped yet.”

Another commenter wrote: “Although I’m just an ordinary reader, I still feel very sad about this situation. It’s reasonable to say that lower prices are good for readers, but what I see is an unfavorable outlook for publishers and the book market. If this continues, no one will want to work in this industry, and for readers who do not like e-books and only prefer physical books, this is definitely not a good thing at all!”

By Ruixin Zhang, edited with further input by Manya Koetse

Follow @whatsonweibo

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Chinese Sun Protection Fashion: Move over Facekini, Here’s the Peek-a-Boo Polo

From facekini to no-face hoodie: China’s anti-tan fashion continues to evolve.

Published

2 months ago

June 6, 2024

Manya Koetse

It has been ten years since the Chinese “facekini”—a head garment worn by Chinese ‘aunties’ at the beach or swimming pool to prevent sunburn—went international.

Although the facekini’s debut in French fashion magazines did not lead to an international craze, it did turn the term “facekini” (脸基尼), coined in 2012, into an internationally recognized word.

The facekini went viral in 2014.

In recent years, China has seen a rise in anti-tan, sun-protection garments. More than just preventing sunburn, these garments aim to prevent any tanning at all, helping Chinese women—and some men—maintain as pale a complexion as possible, as fair skin is deemed aesthetically ideal.

As temperatures are soaring across China, online fashion stores on Taobao and other platforms are offering all kinds of fashion solutions to prevent the skin, mainly the face, from being exposed to the sun.

One of these solutions is the reversed no-face sun protection hoodie, or the ‘peek-a-boo polo,’ a dress shirt with a reverse hoodie featuring eye holes and a zipper for the mouth area.

This sun-protective garment is available in various sizes and models, with some inspired by or made by the Japanese NOTHOMME brand. These garments can be worn in two ways—hoodie front or hoodie back. Prices range from 100 to 280 yuan ($13-$38) per shirt/jacket.

The no-face hoodie sun protection shirt is sold in various colors and variations on Chinese e-commerce sites.

Some shops on Taobao joke about the extreme sun-protective fashion, writing: “During the day, you don’t know which one is your wife. At night they’ll return to normal and you’ll see it’s your wife.”

On Xiaohongshu, fashion commenters note how Chinese sun protective clothing has become more extreme over the past few years, with “sunburn protection warriors” (防晒战士) thinking of all kinds of solutions to avoid a tan.

Although there are many jokes surrounding China’s “sun protection warriors,” some people believe they are taking it too far, even comparing them to Muslim women dressed in burqas.

Image shared on Weibo by @TA们叫我董小姐, comparing pretty girls before (left) and nowadays (right), also labeled “sunscreen terrorists.”

Some Xiaohongshu influencers argue that instead of wrapping themselves up like mummies, people should pay more attention to the UV index, suggesting that applying sunscreen and using a parasol or hat usually offers enough protection.

By Manya Koetse, with contributions by Miranda Barnes

Follow @whatsonweibo