Baba qu naer? (meaning “Where are we going, Dad?”) A Korean-style reality show about Chinese celebrity dads spending 72 hours with their young children in the countryside has become China’s latest television sensation. Not only has the show been leading the ratings, but its verified account on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, has also garnered more than a million followers and upwards of nine million comments. Its three episodes so far have attracted nearly five million views on the country’s biggest video-sharing website Tudou.[1]

This Korean-style show enjoys a huge success in China. Why can it achieve such huge success?

This is because Korean dramas and entertainment programmes don’t conflict with Chinese culture and values.

While searching for a potential market, culture and religion are really important elements. Dad, where are we going emphasize family, friendship, love especially fatherly love which often describe as heavy as a mountain in Asian culture. Fatherly love is always implicit in China so it cannot easily be found.

Helping people realize fatherly love is the main theme of the show and it is also the reason that it is so popular. Aiming at touching people’s heart, who can get rid of it once starts watching?

Video 1: Dad, where are we going

Music Video: Dad, where are we going MV

Reference: [1] China’s most popular reality shows come from South Korea

The Oriental Pearl Tower, Pudong, Shanghai, China

“What is today’s housing price?” This question is asked as frequently as “How are you?” in Shanghai, one of the biggest city in China. The housing price has always been a heated topic not only in Shanghai, but also in many other big cities in China such as Beijing and Guangzhou.

On October 7, my classmate Alice posted a blog about the ridiculous housing price in Shanghai. Based on the potential growth of Shanghai in ten years, she argued that residential property prices in shanghai will still increase dramatically.

However I disagree with Alice opinion. From my point of view, the housing price in Shanghai will increase in a declining rate and reach its peak based on two reasons.

1.The politic in China decides that housing market is not a free market but a government intervention one. This restricts the price of housing increase dramatically.

2.In real estate in China some of the economic boom appears attributable to a bubble. The housing price in Shanghai has already overwhelmed its real value. If the housing price keeps increasing in a increasing rate, it will lead to economic bubble burst and thus the housing price will then drop tremendously.

After studying in UBC for several months, one of my friend told me on WeChat (a social media similar as Facebook) that she finally decided what she want to do in the future. “An entrepreneur!” She sent this to me, with a big smiling emotion. In Comm101 class we talked about entrepreneurs. A lot of students think an entrepreneur is the person that can take his/her own idea into reality and he/she is the one that can somehow change the world. However my classmate Ha Pham’s point of view towards entrepreneurs attracts my attention and I really appreciate her way of looking at entrepreneurs. The example of Judy Estrin she uses in her blog is really inspiring.

From my point of view, entrepreneurs are not the ones that can do whatever they want; instead, the social responsibility that they have sometimes force them to give up their ideas.  As Spider-Man motto says: “With Great Power comes Great Responsibility” Is it that cool to become an entrepreneur? I don’t think so.

Toms is introducing an effort that helps other businesses with a social purpose, Toms Marketplace. The online store, which will be introduced Tuesday, will feature more than 200 products from about 30 companies and charities.

(The Globe And Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/sustainability/toms-launches-hub-for-socially-conscious-goods/article15261786/)

Toms started in 2006 with what was then a novel idea: for every pair of shoes it sold, it would donate a pair to a child living in poverty. Along with donating more than 10 million pairs to date, the company spurred a trend of “buy one, give one” companies. This idea helped Toms gain a lot of good social reputation. Now, Toms come up with another idea, which I consider it a really good idea, that is, posting other companies or charities goods on its website.

With careful choice, the goods that are sold on Toms website, such as Yellow Leaf Hammocks and Stone and Cloth etc. are all, considered to be complement of Toms shoes.

Helping others is helping themselves. Toms knows this principle really well. By carrying on this idea, Toms are sure to win more positive social reputation, which can actually be regarded as a point of difference when similar items are available on the shelf.

Also, according to Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Toms, the complement of this idea can also draw men to the site. From here we can know that though Toms claimed to “help” other business, they just help the ones that do “help” themselves.

IT IS impossible to shop in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital… The roads are terrible; the traffic is crazy; the city has only a handful of shopping malls between 20m people; and when you get to a mall many of the branded products on sale are fake. Rich people go to New York or London to shop. “They have no other option,” says Mr Hodara.

(blog post on the Economics: http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2013/11/shopping-nigeria)

Nigeria, a country in the South Africa, with a population of more than 170 million, has a big trouble when it turns to daily shopping. Customers face terrible traffic, while the supermarket suffer a lot from the supply shortage. This is an opportunity for online shopping.

Comparing to the existing retails, online shopping has its significant advantage.

1. Less investment. Running online shops cuts the cost of renting a store and hiring staffs, which is a good way to accumulate profit.

2. Reduce the risk of supply shortage. With greater capacity, shop owners can adjust selling orientation according to the change of supply in time.

3. Board customers segment. Nigeria has a rapidly-growing economy and a population of 170m, most of them young. Young people always appeal to online shopping. Also Rich people who were focused to go to New York or London to shop is another big customer group.

However, the main problem of opening a online shop are, on one hand, as the blog post on Economics mentioned, that the warehouse is difficult to find. On the other hand, the security of the assets is also a big problem for owners who want to rend a warehouse in South Africa.