Kai Lukoff

Kai too has entered the ranks of the gainfully employed! Last week, I started working at a small internet startup in Shanghai called BloggerInsight as a Market Research Analyst. We do market intelligence by crowd sourcing opinions from bloggers. In short, Western clients (web businesses) pay us to answer their questions about the Chinese market. We create an internal forum for bloggers to provide analysis, the best of which we package into a report for the client. In turn, we compensate the bloggers for their contributions. It works because Western firms cannot connect to the grassroots web community (particularly in China) while bloggers struggle to monetize their expertise.  <End Press Release> Continue reading →

One year into my self-inflicted exile, my family came out to visit for three weeks. The timing was perfect: I had just concluded my year of Chinese studies JiaoTong University and since returning to Shanghai have just started working at an internet startup (which will be the topic of my next post). My family and I shared wonderful travels through Shanghai, Guilin, Hong Kong, and Bali. See photos!

Shanghai
My parents are not city people and had low expectations for Shanghai. Fortunately, we were able to exceed them. My father had imagined China as more of a police state (based on his travels to Russia, and other former Soviet-bloc nations), while my mother appreciated a window into my local life here:

• Dinner my Chinese friends, at which we introduced them to fortune cookies, which are never offered in Chinese Chinese restaurants.
• The $1 麻辣 (numbing spicy) soup restaurant I frequent.
• Neighborhood scenes of men strolling the streets in pajamas accompanied by the evening sounds of Chinese instruments.

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Jimmy and I decided to explore, which always foreshadows good times. We had no destination or plan, except for a desire to find rural China. It was by far my best trip yet.

Frankly, I’d been disappointed in my previous travels in China. My travels had all, with the lone exception of Wuyishan (see earlier entry), been to major cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou). I’m sick of sites that are so packed shoulder-to-shoulder, full of large tourist groups with flags and loudspeakers. Nor am I a fan of artificial nature (lakes, gardens, and concrete “rock” formations, “supplemented” by chirpy music emanating from speakers). Part of the problem is also that I cannot always appreciate the historical and cultural significance of sites, and the English explanations are poor.

But most Chinese and I also have different ideas about what makes for good travels. Even the tourist information center found it hysterical that we wanted to go to a rural place, one without too many people: “What is there to do there? Besides, that’s simply not safe, what will you eat?” Others advised us: “But that town is so small! Go to Yiwu, there are so many people there, even black ones!” Continue reading →

Over the Chinese Spring Festival (mid-January to mid-February, Emily, Chloé, and Kai (Team ECK) frolicked in Thailand and Laos. See photos!

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The Cast of Characters
Emily is a cheery, clever girl from London, who will occasionally burst into song and produce photo slide shows. Luxembourg is home to Europe’s second largest petrol station and Chloé Kayser. While Emily and I are more organized than not, Chloé is off the charts, so served as the de facto trip mother. When Emily located her sleeping bag one freezing morning, I wondered why Chloé was so happy, to which she replied, “We’re a team. If one of us is cold, we’re all cold.” Our team bonded fast. Continue reading →