Chinese Students Abroad: A Mixed Reality Study

We are currently conducting research on how Chinese students in the San Francisco Bay Area use the Internet and mobile phones to become comfortable living in a new environment. The research includes a virtual ethnography of popular Chinese language bulletin boards, interviews with Chinese students, and journals that document behavior and feelings. Please click on the Flickr link to the left to view some images of our research process. Findings will be available by Fall 2007.

Downloads

• Comparison of Chinese and American use of real photos as online avatars – 2007 (600k pdf)
• Mobile China and jaredResearch web stats – 2007 (76k pdf)
• Global Trends Sketch – 2006 (620k pdf)
• More downloads

Blogs

• Danwei.org – Media, advertising and urban life in China
• The China Beat – Blogging how the East is Read
• More blog links

Articles

• In China, New Year Gives a Big Boost to Text Messaging –Chinese send 15.2 billion text messages during New Year, 46% increase over previous year, part of "thumb economy" worth $5 billion to China Mobile and China Unicom in 2006, Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2007
• Mobile phone advertising: will datamatrix codes work? –Ogilvey Shanghai talks up a Chinese verison of Japan's QR codes for mobile marketing, Danwei, February 5, 2007
• More article links

Language & Arts

• Chinesepod – Learn Mandarin with podcasts
• Beijing Tokyo Art Projects – Gallery in Dashanzi Art District, Beijingi
• More language & arts links

Mobile Technology

• ZTE – China's largest listed telecom manufacturer
• Huawei – Chinese telecom with over one billion global customers
• More mobile technology links

Product Design

• UPA China – User-centered design organization
• Small Surfaces – A site about design for mobile technology
• More product design links

Research Centers

• Microsoft Research Asia – Advanced research lab
• Kids' Informal Learning with Digital Media – An ethnographic investigation of innovative knowledge cultures, UC-Berkeley School of Information Management Systems
• More research center links

Books

• Mobile Media Bibliography – Extensive social science bibliography by Nalini Kotamraju, University of California at Berkeley
• Modern China Bibliography – Extensive social science bibliography by Genevieve Bell PhD, Director, Domestic Designs and Technologies Research, Intel
• More book links