How A Social Profile Can Land You A Job!

How did I get my job as a content developer? Not my degree in Medical Biotechnology. Not my Diploma in Mandarin but the blog that I wrote while in China got me a job. Living in a world, the internet-era, it is increasingly important for a person to have a social media standing. For example, a friend of mine graduated in a course in journalism and the first few questions her boss asked her whether she was on LinkedIn and if she had an active Twitter profile.

Today, YouTubers have a career earning much more than what they could have with their degrees. Take for instance, Jenna Marbles who cries every now and then with her degree wrapped around her arms, all in good humour. With millions of subscribers and fans all over the world, Jenna Marbles is doing great. All thanks to YouTube. Similarly Superwoman, Ray William Johnson, have made a brand for themselves. Each one unique bringing their own charm in front of the camera, mostly from the comforts of their homes. Social profiles not just on YouTube, but on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram- People can not get enough of people. Jennyandteets2 aka Jason Bigg's wife is keeping me busy laughing every now and then with her posts on her newborns- absolutely hilarious. She even recorded herself in labour- in the hospital-about the deliver. Now, she's happily breastfeeding and joking about her new parenting ways.

There's one other person in this list who made it big for themselves, all thanks to her ever growing subscribers and fans, and again, from all over the world. Michelle Phan. With millions of fans and hundreds of make-up tutorial videos in her bag, she went for her dreams and started her own make-up line. Now, that's brilliant. Bringing us back to- social profile. Except the obvious thriving YouTube channel, she currently has her own website which goes by her name (something I'm looking in for myself, as well), Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, G+ to name the top few.

I started blogging out of sheer attempt to let my opinion out there- somewhere in the matrix of the massive virtual world of the internet. After sticking to blogging a bit more regularly, and finding myself in the middle of an alien community in Beijing, I slowly see the impact my articles have made in building my own profile internationally. This community isn't confined to blogs- it stretches out to all social media giants.  This connectivity makes it even more exciting because it leaves the possibilities endless. Swinging from writing travel logs to international relations to philosophical existence, I'm enjoying writing more than ever before. I' not quite sure how many of my fans are out there, but I want you all to know that I'm coming out with my own website soon, featuring all my blogs. I hope you're excited, because I can't contain my happiness. :)

Laowai's Losing Charm

Here is an interesting article about the falling number of marriages between the Chinese natives to foreigners.

http://online.thatsmags.com/post/laowai-losing-their-charm-foreign-marriages-fall-by-11-in-china

Re-Reado!

Re-introducing to you Reado- India’s first website that offers Digital Download.  

As mentioned in my earlier post "Traveler's Must-Have", Audiobooks are not only convenient to carry anywhere or to download, but if you’re lucky they go that extra mile to give the listener a more personalized feeling by narrating the book in their voice.

Reado.com

From bestsellers to Children’s literature to Management essentials- Reado is one stop shop for the Audiobooks you’re looking for. There’s a new feature on the Reado site for “Free Audiobooks” from where, as the name suggests, you can download free audiobooks consisting of classics by the likes of Mark Twain and Lewis Carroll.

Navigating through Reado’s newly done homepage, you’ll find yourself eager to try this thing of the future. Reado has given its website a refreshing makeover making it appealing to any person because the layout is simple yet so effective. It has a flawless look and easy to navigate plus the content is well written. The modern design is very consistent throughout all of the pages.

What’s more is that once you buy an Audiobook- it’s yours forever!

All you need to do is login to your Reado account and download the Audiobook from your personal library. You can download your Audio Books as many times as you like, for life. Enjoy these exciting features and enter the world of tomorrow, get your hands on an Audiobook NOW! No matter how you're travelling, you'll always have time for your favorite author, or the new bestseller. No more excuses!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Take A Seat: China Is Bringing The Future To You

Although according to the economist China says 2014 trade growth may lag last year's rate, there is so much the Chinese are looking forward to adding to their wow list in 2014. 

More Magnificent Architecture

As part of an ambitious development plan, a new district is being constructed in the city China’s Hunan Province, and its focal point will be a sinuous, Mobius strip-style pedestrian bridge that arcs over Meixi Lake. With a span of 490ft (150metres) and a height of 79ft (24metres), the undulating bridge incorporates a variety of routes at different levels and its looped design also references traditional Chinese knots, which are used in decorative Chinese folk art. Conceived by Amsterdam-based firm Next Architects, the Changsha bridge is one of a number of confirmed and proposed distinctive bridges this year. 

More Shopping

SkyMall is mostly a catalog of the utterly useless and completely extravagant that we may pull out of the seat pocket in front of us when we're cruising at 36,000 feet, out of sheer boredom. And it just so happens that the Chinese are adding fairly low priced cars, at around 100,000 yuan ($16,000) to that list. Although there is a small percentage that does, it's still rare to buy a car without first taking it for a test drive.

For Chinese consumers, who are just becoming accustomed to the thought of owning personal vehicles, the percentage may be significantly higher.

Particularly interesting is the fact that flight attendants will be educated about the details of each model. Passengers may even qualify for discounts, just for buying in the sky, all to encourage passengers to purchase.

Traveler's Must-Have!

It is often said that nothing compares to the essence of old books from the library, or the feeling of crisp pages sliding through your fingers-  but in our time and age, where one device holds everything from your calendar, calculator, camera to numerous songs and movies, carrying a book around can seem like more than a task. The ultimate solution for travelers; doesn't matter how you’re travelling- via bus, train, car or even a plane, Audiobooks are the solution you've been looking for.

I remember my first audiobook, Tina Fey's Bossy Pants, her autobiographical comedy book; which I got my hands on as soon as I could, completing my duties of being her beloved fan ever since I started watching 30 Rock. Listening instead of reading has its own perks, specially when the author speaks in their own voice. It almost appears to be more of a coffee date with your favorite author who is speaking to you, the reader, directly; such audiobooks take the reader to the next level of personal touch.

• Audiobooks are completely hassle-free; 
• Easy to Carry
• Convenient download to your laptop, tablet, phone, etc.
• Have a more Personal effect on the reader; the Author's voice

Although the growing industry is about USD 7 billion worldwide, Audiobooks were as good as being non-existent in India until Reado, Think Ink Media Inc. launched at the World Book Fair 2012 New Delhi, and bought with it the concept of digital download prior to which Reado was involved in production and distribution of physical CDs. 
Reado has recognized the change in content consumption patterns and is now making its content available digitally direct to phones, MP3 and other music players making listening to audio books more convenient and easier. Partnering with some of the biggest names in publishing like Penguin, Hachette, Harvard Business Review and Brilliance, Reado has successfully managed to create a market for audio books in India. Reado happens to be the first website that offers Digital Download.

Reado is a user-friendly site, fun to use. Having bought my first audiobook (Great Minds of Science) from this site today, I am truly excited to listen to it. After all, as Reado puts it, the future of reading is listening.

Do The Chinese Really Eat Insects?

This is to answer that one question you always had about the Chinese. 

To answer this question, yes even though eating insects is a taboo in most societies, it dates back thousands of years. Not only do the Chinese but a lot of south Asian countries like Korea and Thailand including North, Central and South America; and Africa, Australia and New Zealand enjoy ingesting insects.

I come from a culture where we more or less kill insects to protect ourselves and not because we want to eat them. It’s a cultural difference and perspective that’s hard to step away from.

Your typical sights and smells in Wangfujing, Beijing

While researching on the consumption of insects or entomophagy, it came to me as a surprise that the main consumer for these creepy guys is, in fact, Thailand and not China. Grasshoppers, centipedes, various bug larvae, silkworms, multiple creepy giant cockroach lookalikes fall into the list of bugs humans consume. 

Other unusual food consumed includes seahorses, scorpions, even animal body parts like snakehead soup, duck feet marinated in blood, solidified duck blood, pork lungs, peacock and pig face. Banquet specialties include cow’s lung soaked in chili sauce, goose stomachs, fish lips with celery, goat’s feet tendons in wheat noodles, shark’s stomach soup, chicken-feet soup, monkey’s head, ox forehead, turtle casserole, pigeon brain, deer ligament and snake venom, lily bulbs and deer’s penis… you know where I’m going with this.

What came as a bigger shock was that even though people blame the rapid rate of urbanization and industrialization for China’s pollution problems and water shortages, few recognize that meat industries are to be equally blamed. Livestock produces more greenhouse gasses on the planet than all automobiles and other forms of transportation combined. China’s meat consumption per capita has nearly quadrupled over the past 30 years to an estimated 71 million tons per year. And if China’s meat consumption doesn't slow down, the environmental consequences could be disastrous.

So is there anything in the world that can gross the Chinese? 

Believe it or not, many regard eating cheese or butter as disgusting; they consider eating a plain cooked steak as primitive and unappetizing and find the French custom of eating snails to be strange.

[Images from Flickr]
[sources: http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=146]

Welcome To Haze-ing

Beijing is one of the most famous cities in the world but unfortunately also infamous for its unhealthy pollution levels. The city has been trying to clear its act up especially since the Olympics, which was an important time for China's image as a host country.

October, 2013, Chaoyang district in the afternoon, Beijing

A short back-story: In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics and to fulfill promises to clean up the city's air, according to the Wikipedia, nearly 17 billion USD was spent. Beijing implemented a number of air improvement schemes for the duration of the Games, including halting work at all construction sites, closing many factories in Beijing permanently, temporarily shutting industry in neighboring regions, closing some gas stations, and cutting motor traffic by half, reducing bus and subway fares, opening new subway lines, and banning high-emission vehicles.

But more recently in January 2013, measurements showed levels of air pollution, as measured by the density of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in size – higher than the maximum 755mcg the US Embassy's equipment can measure (40 times above what the World Health Organization deems safe). You can see the Air pollution measurements on the Chinese website as well.

What’s more?

It is of no secret that the government regularly uses cloud-seeding- a method to increase the likelihood of rain showers in the region to clear the air prior to large events by altering the microphysical processes within the cloud (read: every Sunday).

People that come here from all over the world experience difficulty in breathing, skin conditions, hair-fall issues, teary eyes, and so on. Living in Beijing comes with getting used to air purifiers, mouth masks, and waking up to smoggy and hence, very gloomy mornings. The intensity of this situation is so serious that even wealthy locals are planning to move to other countries like the United States and Europe, after acquiring the respective country’s citizenship.

Meanwhile, there are several ways to keep yourself informed of the Beijing Air quality; not only through websites but even twitter, mobile apps, even calling the local authority. All we can hope for is that Beijing sets more rigid rules in the future that limit factories and vehicles from contributing to the hazardous pollution level not only in Beijing but throughout China, for the betterment of the locals along with the rest of us.

Also Check out: China's Smog As Seen From Space.

High Rent Prices In Wudaokou

Picture taken near Golden towers, walking distance from BLCU, Wudaokou

Guest Blog in Living A Dream in China

Beijing is one of THE most happening capitals in the whole world. Living here you are bound to come across people from all over the world. I recently wrote a Guest Blog in Living a Dream in China on the few types of people that you can easily find sitting right next to you. 

Do check it out: Guest Blog in Living a Dream in China

1. I Want To Study In China

2. I Never Want To Grow Old

3. I’m Looking For A Good Time

4. Business with China

5. When In China, do as the Chinese do

Google images

Ganbei to you, China!