The Geek Culture In China
Zhang, Peng
The past decade has witnessed a boom of geeks and geek culture in China. With the global resource relocation brought by the Internet to the world, Chinese geeks are no longer a minority hidden in the laboratory or library, who bury themselves with impractical knowledge. Thanks to the fast growth of internet and technology, they have found a new significance in Chinese society and a new approach to communicate with their country and the world, including Europe. As geeks began to influence more Chinese people, especially within their own age group, the mindset of China's young generation becomes aggressively open. The width and depth of this open mindset is unprecedented. The internet empowered the young people and made them brave, even reckless in certain circumstances. All in all, the emergence and boom of geek culture in China has created a major impact on social progress, from technology innovation to social and cultural thinking. Like Europe, the geeks in China will integrate and interact even further with the outside world, and some fundamental challenges they face are increasingly similar to their European counterparts.
 Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the second welcome. My name is Zhang Peng. I am the founder of Geek Park and it's my great pleasure to be here to have the chance to show you what Internet and the tech innovation has brought to Chinese community. And also we will as well as talk the geek group, why the geek group in China are so important for the future to come. And I think in the next 30 minutes you may see a China you have never been seen before. So stay with me, right? Everyone will have an image about China in your mind. For those who have never been to China before, maybe 20 years ago, someone who never been to China before, you will have some image like this, Oriental, ancient building. And maybe some image like this, many people riding bikes. But that's the past. Everybody knows the picture has been changed dramatically. So today we are like this. So you are familiar with that. We have so many luxury stores and crowd people in it. It's a global phenomenon. Maybe the picture is not taken in China, maybe in Europe or United States, I don't know. But it doesn't matter because the consumption power of China is so strong, so overwhelming. And you can also see this. It's very amazing building. And I'm proud to say it's only 800 meters from my home. And 10 years ago it's just a planting field. There's nothing there. But today you can see like a space station. Well, there are many Chinese emerging internet companies. And even some startups are moving in. And that makes it one of the many new business centers and new innovation centers in Beijing. And if you are a businessman, you should be familiar with this guy. His name is Jack Ma. And he's the founder and chairman of Alibaba. Last year he just had a remarkable IPO in New York, which did win the worldwide attention. And he is truly one of the most popular new business elites in China. But I think there are many people, many names you should also pay attention to. And like this one, his name is Lei Jun. He is the founder of Xiaomi. Xiaomi is a very young mobile device company. But he had made his value over $45 billion just in five years. It's amazing. And this young man, his name is Wang Xing. He is the founder and CEO of Meituan. Meituan is the biggest O2O company. That means he brings some offline services online and is reshaping the traditional service industry in China. And most people in China believe he will be next Jack Ma. And Meituan will be another Alibaba in the future. And this guy, his name is Alan Zhang. He is the creator of WeChat. Basically, or literally, everyone in China are using WeChat. And I know some people in Germany, they are using WeChat. Yeah, you use that. Yeah. So WeChat is not just a communication tool. It's a life. It's a new life you can, like a wormhole, to connect with cyberspace and the real world. So this man is really a digital hero in China. And people really love him. And those people, they are worth your attention not just because they are creating value and fortune, but also they are extraordinary innovators. And they have the ability to provide impressive product, not just for applications or services, but also something made in China. We are all familiar with old made in China. That means it's cheap, copied from somewhere. But you can see this is Xiaomi Feng. It's from the company Xiaomi. This smartphone is the most popular smartphone in Chinese market. It's only about $300. But you can see it's the world best Android phone. And this, is there anyone who is familiar with this DJI drones? Yeah. I know you guys are familiar with this. It's world class, right? It's the best of the world. And it's made in China and created in China. And I'm really proud of this product because it's original and it's world class and it's a new definition of created in China. And all this product, all these services, all these business are brought by those extraordinary ones. And those people are called geeks in China. It's very interesting because many of them are not engineers and some of them are not even know how to code at all. So when we talk about geek, traditionally we will have the image that like this old school image will be someone a little bit social awkward, but really smart guy and they are really good at coding or engineering. But in China, the definition of geeks somehow got transformed. And I think that's because in the past 10 years, something happened all over the world. Like this issue for World magazine, they talk about the geek power from Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg. The geek power have been rising for at least 10 years. And especially in China, the definition of geek are transformed from the weird people to some super cool people and very inspirational people and they can build some really beautiful product and they can do their business in their own way, not copying anyone. And like this guy is the founder of DJI. This world class drone was found by him and he wrote the code by himself. If you want to find someone to represent the Chinese geeks, he will be the one. And it's really young, it's born after 1980. So you can feel that there is a fever, the geek fever in China. That means everyone won't become a geek. I think that's that cannot happen in Europe, even in the United States. So what changed? 10 years ago, we got someone who had successful business in the internet industry, but we don't have the geek fever. But why today? I think the decisive variables which made the change is the Chinese economy booming up for decades. I don't need to show the figure, everybody knows China has been booming for decades. And what does that mean? That means the new generation, born after 1985, especially after 1990s, they grew up with the economy booming and the internet revolution. That means they both have the material wealth and the sufficient of information power. So that made this new generation more bold and curious and ambitious. And since making a living is not a problem, they want to make a wonderful life. They want to do something different. They want to create something. So that's why China is different now. It's not the old school image that China would like. So you're going to remember those young guys because they're productive one day, maybe change your life. And secondly, there are abundant inflow of capital in China. And just in 2014, there will be $16 billion invested in the internet industry. That's a lot of money and concentrate to a very small area and it's concentrate to e-commerce, mobile internet and financial services. And behind those capital, there are many of successful entrepreneurs. They are passing their DNA by investing the young generation and the new opportunities. So it's not hard to... There are so many Android investors in China. If you got a good idea and you got a workable demo, it's not hard to find a place like this. You can have a mini roadshow to all the Android investors and early stage investors. And even in every coffee house, you will find a lot of people talking about innovation, a new product. That couldn't happen. That didn't happen in 10 years ago. It's just happened in these five years. And certainly, and the most important thing is the whole country, the China, the whole country, are stepping into a new era of mobile internet. So that's changed a lot of things. That means everyone got connected. Everyone has smart devices and they can do a lot of things. And it even changed some industry's landscape. Like we have... The way we use our phones. In the old time, we use our phone like this. We talk to our friends. But today, since we... So many people are using WeChat. So we use the phone in China. We use it like this because we send the voice message to each other. And behind this behavior change is an industry landscape. In the old time, the telecommunication industry was dominated by the state-owned carriers like China Mobile, China Telecom. But today, I think it's belong to WeChat. They have more users than those state-owned carriers. And they make more money than them. I think it's very important that the mobile internet have the opportunity to make the private company into some area they cannot into before. And in addition to that, we can see some traditional industry, some conventional service industry. They are more and more connected to online world. In China now, you can actually... I talk too much. Actually, in China, you can order every service from dinner takeout, from Medicare, from... And you can home cleaning and even massage. You can ask this service to go to your home or your office. Just use the smartphone and application to send your command. And they will come. So the service industry in China are changing. And it's brought by mobile internet. And it's a new opportunity for everyone and for the young generation. So they have... We have to remember they have the bond with internet. So they think they can do business in different ways. So that's why China has so much opportunities for the young guys. So let's sum up a little bit. So we have a new generation with the spirit to explore. We have sufficient supply of capital with respect to entrepreneurship. And we also have a new horizon, new frontier brought by mobile internet. And we call that resource revolution. It's happening here because you can overcome a lot of limited by the resource using mobile internet. So this is the three key elements that why China local innovation are booming. When we talk about innovation in China, we have to face the fact that China used to have the image that we are copycat. It's true. There is a time that we copy a lot of things. And those global companies, they are already in China. But you have to see that they've already been in China for a while and they are not being influenced by government like Facebook or Google, which they are still outside the Great War. You know what I mean. They cannot enter China market. But those global giants are already in China for a while. But no one has a success business in China. Some of them have failed. And some of them are barely surviving in China. Well, when we talk about the IP issue, we talk about China will copy a lot of things. I have to be honest, the intellectual property issue will take some time to be solved. But we are on the red track. And we just don't want to miss the big picture because in China, there are many companies making huge success not by copying any of their foreign peers. They just because they understand the local needs and they had the innovative way to satisfy them. So that's why those companies are failing in China because they just copy themselves from the United States or Europe to China. So that's the problem. And in Chinese market is very unique. You need to have the ability to keep the innovation going and have the ability to evolve with the market. So if you want just copy some business model or some global experience into China, it's doomed to fail. Let's take an example for WeChat and WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a communication tool from day one to now. It's still a communication tool. But WeChat is a starting point, it's a notification system. It will tell you that you got an email. That's the first one. He just gave you a notification. But now he's evolved with like an undividable life companion for every Chinese people. And you got your friend circle in it. You work with your colleague by WeChat. And even many people build their business using WeChat. Because WeChat is a platform, it's an IO system that can help you to do some business online. So that's why WeChat is so popular in China and no one can compete with. Here's another example. And it's a pretty one. It's called May Yan camera. It's a company named May 2. Girls want to take some selfie and share to their friend circle and social network. And before they share the picture, they want to p.s. a little bit. And that will make their face softer. It's more beautiful, right? People love that. And it's not necessarily have to do with the face. And you can see some magical moment here. And pay attention to that. Here is a magic moment. So with one touch, you will have a slimmer figure, a more attractive body shape. Well, it's really good for the girls. Not really good for guys. Because you cannot trust them anymore. Well, this function is hardly a headache. It's hardly a headache. But it really understands people. So this function earns them over 1 million users in China. Which is amazing. And since in China, there are many Chinese companies, they are very good at discover opportunities and have the innovative way to create value. And there are the competition in domestic market are so intensive. So some Chinese companies are already thinking over, put their thought overseas. And they are ambition are going beyond China. So here's some company really doing a great job. And such as ApoS. They got their 100 million users just in eight months by provide some very small but very efficient and user friendly launcher for Android smartphone. I think there will be many Chinese companies and they will provide some product that not copy from their foreign peers but by themselves and go to the overseas market in the future. So we talk a lot about the value, the fortune those geeks have created and opportunity they have brought to the Chinese society. It seems like I'm keeping talking about business, not talk about the culture. Well, I have done that for a reason. It's just like five years ago when I first found the gig park. I have been a reporter and then editor in chief for the business magazine over 12 years. And I witnessed the rise of the new economy and the new generation of geeks in China. And I really admire them. And I thought their potential should be maximized. Their uniqueness should be appreciated for the society. And so we should help them with high end communication and help them to find experts and capitals and even some partnerships and we can help them to explore more efficiently. Well, and while we're doing that, there are another task we need to do. We need to break the wall from the gig culture to the mainstream culture. It cannot get more influence to the Chinese mainstream culture if they are only a subculture. So to make value, to create value, to have unique success, they have a great story and it can convince the Chinese mainstream to notice, to realize that those geeks are doing a lot of things good for the Chinese future. And we are very proud in the past five years. They are becoming the new sexy in China, which is quite different in Europe, I believe. So you can see their faces all over Chinese magazines, some business magazines, and even that's a fashion magazine. That's Mr. Leijun and Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. So you can see they're quite different. That means we have done a very good job. And that means those geeks are shaping, reshaping the understanding of success. In the past, Chinese people are really a mayor who can make most money, most fortune. But today, they appreciate those people who are making a very beautiful product and they are making the positive change to the society, even to the world. So let's make them the new sexy. So that's the key culture have got some impact to the Chinese society. And second one, like Mr. Hu Yong have talked about, so we believe technology is technology that can really phrase people and information is power. Well, those geeks are using internet and tech innovation to help people to be connected and they help them to empower them with the power of information. In China, there are many cases that can prove even an ordinary people is nobody, but he got a chance to express his opinion and that will become a key topic for the whole society. I have something in the past happened for me. This is a Weibo like Chinese treat. I have treated three years ago. My colleague, they have honeymoon in Greek. Well, they were robbed in Greek on the street. They have nothing, not credit card and not cash. They cannot even make to their hotel. So they call the Chinese embassy seeking for help. But unfortunately, we don't have those kind of emergency protocol for this situation. So the embassy cannot help them. So at that time, they are desperate. So they tweet something that seeking for help in Weibo. And that was, that is a time, a Chinese company, a name is Huawei. I think many people are familiar with Huawei. Huawei stand up and they give them help and make sure they can catch their trip and they can safely go back to China. So I tweet something to say, thank for Huawei. I don't mean to criticize the Chinese government that we don't have the system to help those kind of people. But when I tweet this, it's Weibo, it's out of control. So you can see there are over 30,000, 32,000 retweets. And at first, people are thanking Huawei as a great company. We should send them. And then people are talking about why don't we have a system to help those people? Should we have a discussion for that? So, and this is really touched for the government. And the government are rethinking their policy for the emergency protocol to help Chinese citizens overseas. Well, we also, the information is power and they make, they are pushing the Chinese society more equal, open and transparent as well. And in the meantime, we have more and more common value to outside the world. This is two major online video websites in China. They all have a channel for TV show, overseas TV show. So we got House of Cards. And also we got the Game of, Game of Swoom. Basically everything popular in the western world, they will be popular in China. So if you put the young generation, the teenager, together, Chinese teenager, European teenager, US teenager, they basically the same. They all look into their smartphone and they all have their own world. So I think if they can have the same entertainment in the future, they will be more have more common value. So it's on the way. I think we all hope China will become a better country, a greater country in the way to be more open and connecting to the world. And I think with those geeks help, the future is promising. So finally we can say hello to the world. And this is five years ago, the first one. The first one, we don't have a place for our gathering. We borrowed from some big company, it's basement. We only have six people in every gathering. And as you can see, it's very subculture gathering. And this is Gig Park 2015. And this January, every January we will have a Gig Park Innovation Festival. And this year we have two day session and over 70 speaker and over 10,000 people to our festival. So you can see the gig culture really got popular in China. And that's very different from other country. Well, when we organize those gatherings, those conferences and festivals, we are not just invited those gig heroes that we have talking about. It's also these guys, Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, and Steve Wozniak, and even Elon Musk is coming to China. And this is the first time he comes to China and has public speech. And he comes to Gig Park and talks to the Chinese geeks. Because they believe those geeks understand China. They believe those geeks have great influence for the whole society. So that's why those Chinese geeks are so important. So that's my final slide. I think you may have familiar this. It's remodified from a very famous painting. And it's really not a picture, it's a painting. It's a fan of Gig Park as a gift. And he said, those geeks should lead the people to a better world. And they hope Gig Park will assist them to achieve this goal. And I think, and I really hope those Chinese geeks can bring you a new China, a new China more open, more connecting to the world. And we can find more friends in the United States, in Europe. And I think today's speech will be a very good start. If everyone interested about China, what's happening in China, and want to find some interesting gig friends in China, feel free to contact with us. And it's my very first time English speech. Really, it's my very first time. I'm so glad I have the time with you. So that's all from me because I have taken more time as I supposed to be. So thank you very much. And ladies and gentlemen, welcome you to China..
 Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the second welcome. My name is Zhang Peng.  I am the founder of Geek Park and it's my great pleasure to be here to have the chance  to show you what Internet and the tech innovation has brought to Chinese community. And also  we will as well as talk the geek group, why the geek group in China are so important for  the future to come. And I think in the next 30 minutes you may see a China you have never  been seen before. So stay with me, right? Everyone will have an image about China in  your mind. For those who have never been to China before, maybe 20 years ago, someone  who never been to China before, you will have some image like this, Oriental, ancient building.  And maybe some image like this, many people riding bikes. But that's the past. Everybody  knows the picture has been changed dramatically. So today we are like this. So you are familiar  with that. We have so many luxury stores and crowd people in it. It's a global phenomenon.  Maybe the picture is not taken in China, maybe in Europe or United States, I don't know. But  it doesn't matter because the consumption power of China is so strong, so overwhelming.  And you can also see this. It's very amazing building. And I'm proud to say it's only 800  meters from my home. And 10 years ago it's just a planting field. There's nothing there.  But today you can see like a space station. Well, there are many Chinese emerging internet  companies. And even some startups are moving in. And that makes it one of the many new  business centers and new innovation centers in Beijing. And if you are a businessman,  you should be familiar with this guy. His name is Jack Ma. And he's the founder and  chairman of Alibaba. Last year he just had a remarkable IPO in New York, which did win  the worldwide attention. And he is truly one of the most popular new business elites in  China. But I think there are many people, many names you should also pay attention to. And  like this one, his name is Lei Jun. He is the founder of Xiaomi. Xiaomi is a very young  mobile device company. But he had made his value over $45 billion just in five years.  It's amazing. And this young man, his name is Wang Xing. He is the founder and CEO of  Meituan. Meituan is the biggest O2O company. That means he brings some offline services  online and is reshaping the traditional service industry in China. And most people in China  believe he will be next Jack Ma. And Meituan will be another Alibaba in the future. And  this guy, his name is Alan Zhang. He is the creator of WeChat. Basically, or literally,  everyone in China are using WeChat. And I know some people in Germany, they are using  WeChat. Yeah, you use that. Yeah. So WeChat is not just a communication tool. It's a  life. It's a new life you can, like a wormhole, to connect with cyberspace and the real world.  So this man is really a digital hero in China. And people really love him. And those people,  they are worth your attention not just because they are creating value and fortune, but also  they are extraordinary innovators. And they have the ability to provide impressive product,  not just for applications or services, but also something made in China. We are all familiar  with old made in China. That means it's cheap, copied from somewhere. But you can see this  is Xiaomi Feng. It's from the company Xiaomi. This smartphone is the most popular smartphone  in Chinese market. It's only about $300. But you can see it's the world best Android phone.  And this, is there anyone who is familiar with this DJI drones? Yeah. I know you guys  are familiar with this. It's world class, right? It's the best of the world. And it's  made in China and created in China. And I'm really proud of this product because it's  original and it's world class and it's a new definition of created in China. And all this  product, all these services, all these business are brought by those extraordinary ones. And  those people are called geeks in China. It's very interesting because many of them are not engineers  and some of them are not even know how to code at all. So when we talk about geek,  traditionally we will have the image that like this old school image will be someone  a little bit social awkward, but really smart guy and they are really good at coding or engineering.  But in China, the definition of geeks somehow got transformed. And I think that's because in the  past 10 years, something happened all over the world. Like this issue for World magazine,  they talk about the geek power from Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg. The geek power have been rising  for at least 10 years. And especially in China, the definition of geek are transformed from  the weird people to some super cool people and very inspirational people and they can build some  really beautiful product and they can do their business in their own way, not copying anyone.  And like this guy is the founder of DJI. This world class drone was found by him and he  wrote the code by himself. If you want to find someone to represent the Chinese geeks, he will  be the one. And it's really young, it's born after 1980. So you can feel that there is a  fever, the geek fever in China. That means everyone won't become a geek. I think that's  that cannot happen in Europe, even in the United States. So what changed? 10 years ago, we got  someone who had successful business in the internet industry, but we don't have the geek  fever. But why today? I think the decisive variables which made the change is the Chinese  economy booming up for decades. I don't need to show the figure, everybody knows China has been  booming for decades. And what does that mean? That means the new generation, born after 1985,  especially after 1990s, they grew up with the economy booming and the internet revolution.  That means they both have the material wealth and the sufficient of information power. So that  made this new generation more bold and curious and ambitious. And since making a living is not  a problem, they want to make a wonderful life. They want to do something different. They want  to create something. So that's why China is different now. It's not the old school image  that China would like. So you're going to remember those young guys because they're  productive one day, maybe change your life. And secondly, there are abundant inflow of capital  in China. And just in 2014, there will be $16 billion invested in the internet industry.  That's a lot of money and concentrate to a very small area and it's concentrate to  e-commerce, mobile internet and financial services. And behind those capital, there are many of  successful entrepreneurs. They are passing their DNA by investing the young generation  and the new opportunities. So it's not hard to... There are so many Android investors in China.  If you got a good idea and you got a workable demo, it's not hard to find a place like this.  You can have a mini roadshow to all the Android investors and early stage investors.  And even in every coffee house, you will find a lot of people talking about innovation, a new product.  That couldn't happen. That didn't happen in 10 years ago. It's just happened in these five years.  And certainly, and the most important thing is the whole country, the China, the whole country,  are stepping into a new era of mobile internet. So that's changed a lot of things. That means  everyone got connected. Everyone has smart devices and they can do a lot of things. And it even changed  some industry's landscape. Like we have... The way we use our phones. In the old time,  we use our phone like this. We talk to our friends. But today, since we... So many people are using  WeChat. So we use the phone in China. We use it like this because we send the voice message  to each other. And behind this behavior change is an industry landscape. In the old time,  the telecommunication industry was dominated by the state-owned carriers like China Mobile,  China Telecom. But today, I think it's belong to WeChat. They have more users than those state-owned  carriers. And they make more money than them. I think it's very important that the mobile  internet have the opportunity to make the private company into some area they cannot into before.  And in addition to that, we can see some traditional industry, some conventional service industry.  They are more and more connected to online world. In China now, you can actually...  I talk too much. Actually, in China, you can order every service from dinner takeout,  from Medicare, from... And you can home cleaning and even massage. You can ask this service to go to  your home or your office. Just use the smartphone and application to send your command. And they  will come. So the service industry in China are changing. And it's brought by mobile internet.  And it's a new opportunity for everyone and for the young generation. So they have...  We have to remember they have the bond with internet. So they think they can do business  in different ways. So that's why China has so much opportunities for the young guys.  So let's sum up a little bit. So we have a new generation with the spirit to explore. We have  sufficient supply of capital with respect to entrepreneurship. And we also have a new horizon,  new frontier brought by mobile internet. And we call that resource revolution. It's happening here  because you can overcome a lot of limited by the resource using mobile internet. So this is the  three key elements that why China local innovation are booming. When we talk about innovation in  China, we have to face the fact that China used to have the image that we are copycat. It's true.  There is a time that we copy a lot of things. And those global companies, they are already in  China. But you have to see that they've already been in China for a while and they are not being  influenced by government like Facebook or Google, which they are still outside the Great War.  You know what I mean. They cannot enter China market. But those global giants are already in  China for a while. But no one has a success business in China. Some of them have failed. And  some of them are barely surviving in China. Well, when we talk about the IP issue, we talk about  China will copy a lot of things. I have to be honest, the intellectual property issue will take  some time to be solved. But we are on the red track. And we just don't want to miss the big picture  because in China, there are many companies making huge success not by copying any of their foreign  peers. They just because they understand the local needs and they had the innovative way to  satisfy them. So that's why those companies are failing in China because they just copy  themselves from the United States or Europe to China. So that's the problem. And in Chinese  market is very unique. You need to have the ability to keep the innovation going and have  the ability to evolve with the market. So if you want just copy some business model or some global  experience into China, it's doomed to fail. Let's take an example for WeChat and WhatsApp.  WhatsApp is a communication tool from day one to now. It's still a communication tool. But WeChat  is a starting point, it's a notification system. It will tell you that you got an email. That's  the first one. He just gave you a notification. But now he's evolved with like an undividable  life companion for every Chinese people. And you got your friend circle in it. You work with your  colleague by WeChat. And even many people build their business using WeChat. Because WeChat is  a platform, it's an IO system that can help you to do some business online. So that's why  WeChat is so popular in China and no one can compete with. Here's another example. And it's a pretty  one. It's called May Yan camera. It's a company named May 2. Girls want to take some selfie and  share to their friend circle and social network. And before they share the picture, they want to  p.s. a little bit. And that will make their face softer. It's more beautiful, right? People love  that. And it's not necessarily have to do with the face. And you can see some magical moment here.  And pay attention to that. Here is a magic moment. So with one touch, you will have a slimmer  figure, a more attractive body shape. Well, it's really good for the girls. Not really good for  guys. Because you cannot trust them anymore. Well, this function is hardly a headache. It's  hardly a headache. But it really understands people. So this function earns them over 1 million  users in China. Which is amazing. And since in China, there are many Chinese companies, they are  very good at discover opportunities and have the innovative way to create value. And there are  the competition in domestic market are so intensive. So some Chinese companies are already  thinking over, put their thought overseas. And they are ambition are going beyond China. So here's  some company really doing a great job. And such as ApoS. They got their 100 million users just  in eight months by provide some very small but very efficient and user friendly launcher for  Android smartphone. I think there will be many Chinese companies and they will provide some  product that not copy from their foreign peers but by themselves and go to the overseas market  in the future. So we talk a lot about the value, the fortune those geeks have created and opportunity  they have brought to the Chinese society. It seems like I'm keeping talking about business,  not talk about the culture. Well, I have done that for a reason. It's just like five years ago  when I first found the gig park. I have been a reporter and then editor in chief for the  business magazine over 12 years. And I witnessed the rise of the new economy and the new generation  of geeks in China. And I really admire them. And I thought their potential should be maximized.  Their uniqueness should be appreciated for the society. And so we should help them with high  end communication and help them to find experts and capitals and even some partnerships and we  can help them to explore more efficiently. Well, and while we're doing that, there are another task  we need to do. We need to break the wall from the gig culture to the mainstream culture. It cannot  get more influence to the Chinese mainstream culture if they are only a subculture.  So to make value, to create value, to have unique success, they have a great story and  it can convince the Chinese mainstream to notice, to realize that those geeks are doing a lot of  things good for the Chinese future. And we are very proud in the past five years. They are becoming  the new sexy in China, which is quite different in Europe, I believe. So you can see their faces all  over Chinese magazines, some business magazines, and even that's a fashion magazine. That's Mr.  Leijun and Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. So you can see they're quite different.  That means we have done a very good job. And that means those geeks are shaping,  reshaping the understanding of success. In the past, Chinese people are really a mayor who can make  most money, most fortune. But today, they appreciate those people who are making a very beautiful  product and they are making the positive change to the society, even to the world. So let's make  them the new sexy. So that's the key culture have got some impact to the Chinese society.  And second one, like Mr. Hu Yong have talked about, so we believe technology is technology  that can really phrase people and information is power. Well, those geeks are using internet and  tech innovation to help people to be connected and they help them to empower them with the power of  information. In China, there are many cases that can prove even an ordinary people is nobody,  but he got a chance to express his opinion and that will become a key topic for the whole society.  I have something in the past happened for me. This is a Weibo like Chinese treat. I have  treated three years ago. My colleague, they have honeymoon in Greek. Well, they were robbed in  Greek on the street. They have nothing, not credit card and not cash. They cannot even  make to their hotel. So they call the Chinese embassy seeking for help. But unfortunately, we don't  have those kind of emergency protocol for this situation. So the embassy cannot help them.  So at that time, they are desperate. So they tweet something that seeking for help in Weibo.  And that was, that is a time, a Chinese company, a name is Huawei. I think many people  are familiar with Huawei. Huawei stand up and they give them help and make sure they can catch their  trip and they can safely go back to China. So I tweet something to say, thank for Huawei.  I don't mean to criticize the Chinese government that we don't have the system to help those kind  of people. But when I tweet this, it's Weibo, it's out of control. So you can see there are over  30,000, 32,000 retweets. And at first, people are thanking Huawei as a great company. We should  send them. And then people are talking about why don't we have a system to help those people?  Should we have a discussion for that? So, and this is really touched for the government.  And the government are rethinking their policy for the emergency protocol to help Chinese citizens  overseas. Well, we also, the information is power and they make, they are pushing the Chinese society  more equal, open and transparent as well. And in the meantime, we have more and more common value  to outside the world. This is two major online video websites in China. They all have a channel  for TV show, overseas TV show. So we got House of Cards. And also we got the Game of, Game of  Swoom. Basically everything popular in the western world, they will be popular in China. So if you put the young generation, the teenager, together, Chinese teenager, European teenager, US teenager, they basically the same. They all look into their smartphone and they all have their own world. So I think if they can have the same entertainment in the future, they will be more  have more common value. So it's on the way. I think we all hope China will become a better country, a greater country in the way to be more open and connecting to the world. And I think with those geeks help, the future is promising. So finally we can say hello to the world.  And this is five years ago, the first one. The first one, we don't have a place for our gathering. We borrowed from some big company, it's basement. We only have six people in every gathering. And as you can see, it's very subculture gathering.  And this is Gig Park 2015. And this January, every January we will have a Gig Park Innovation Festival. And this year we have two day session and over 70 speaker and over 10,000 people to our festival. So you can see the gig culture really got popular in China.  And that's very different from other country. Well, when we organize those gatherings, those conferences and festivals, we are not just invited those gig heroes that we have talking about. It's also these guys, Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, and Steve Wozniak, and even Elon Musk is coming to China.  And this is the first time he comes to China and has public speech. And he comes to Gig Park and talks to the Chinese geeks. Because they believe those geeks understand China. They believe those geeks have great influence for the whole society. So that's why those Chinese geeks are so important.  So that's my final slide. I think you may have familiar this. It's remodified from a very famous painting. And it's really not a picture, it's a painting. It's a fan of Gig Park as a gift. And he said, those geeks should lead the people to a better world.  And they hope Gig Park will assist them to achieve this goal. And I think, and I really hope those Chinese geeks can bring you a new China, a new China more open, more connecting to the world. And we can find more friends in the United States, in Europe.  And I think today's speech will be a very good start. If everyone interested about China, what's happening in China, and want to find some interesting gig friends in China, feel free to contact with us. And it's my very first time English speech. Really, it's my very first time.  I'm so glad I have the time with you. So that's all from me because I have taken more time as I supposed to be. So thank you very much. And ladies and gentlemen, welcome you to China. .
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Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the second welcome. My name is Zhang Peng. I am the founder of Geek Park and it's my great pleasure to be here to have the chance to show you what Internet and the tech innovation has brought to Chinese community. And also we will as well as talk the geek group, why the geek group in China are so important for the future to come. And I think in the next 30 minutes you may see a China you have never been seen before. So stay with me, right? Everyone will have an image about China in your mind. For those who have never been to China before, maybe 20 years ago, someone who never been to China before, you will have some image like this, Oriental, ancient building. And maybe some image like this, many people riding bikes. But that's the past. Everybody knows the picture has been changed dramatically. So today we are like this. So you are familiar with that. We have so many luxury stores and crowd people in it. It's a global phenomenon. Maybe the picture is not taken in China, maybe in Europe or United States, I don't know. But it doesn't matter because the consumption power of China is so strong, so overwhelming. And you can also see this. It's very amazing building. And I'm proud to say it's only 800 meters from my home. And 10 years ago it's just a planting field. There's nothing there. But today you can see like a space station. Well, there are many Chinese emerging internet companies. And even some startups are moving in. And that makes it one of the many new business centers and new innovation centers in Beijing. And if you are a businessman, you should be familiar with this guy. His name is Jack Ma. And he's the founder and chairman of Alibaba. Last year he just had a remarkable IPO in New York, which did win the worldwide attention. And he is truly one of the most popular new business elites in China. But I think there are many people, many names you should also pay attention to. And like this one, his name is Lei Jun. He is the founder of Xiaomi. Xiaomi is a very young mobile device company. But he had made his value over $45 billion just in five years. It's amazing. And this young man, his name is Wang Xing. He is the founder and CEO of Meituan. Meituan is the biggest O2O company. That means he brings some offline services online and is reshaping the traditional service industry in China. And most people in China believe he will be next Jack Ma. And Meituan will be another Alibaba in the future. And this guy, his name is Alan Zhang. He is the creator of WeChat. Basically, or literally, everyone in China are using WeChat. And I know some people in Germany, they are using WeChat. Yeah, you use that. Yeah. So WeChat is not just a communication tool. It's a life. It's a new life you can, like a wormhole, to connect with cyberspace and the real world. So this man is really a digital hero in China. And people really love him. And those people, they are worth your attention not just because they are creating value and fortune, but also they are extraordinary innovators. And they have the ability to provide impressive product, not just for applications or services, but also something made in China. We are all familiar with old made in China. That means it's cheap, copied from somewhere. But you can see this is Xiaomi Feng. It's from the company Xiaomi. This smartphone is the most popular smartphone in Chinese market. It's only about $300. But you can see it's the world best Android phone. And this, is there anyone who is familiar with this DJI drones? Yeah. I know you guys are familiar with this. It's world class, right? It's the best of the world. And it's made in China and created in China. And I'm really proud of this product because it's original and it's world class and it's a new definition of created in China. And all this product, all these services, all these business are brought by those extraordinary ones. And those people are called geeks in China. It's very interesting because many of them are not engineers and some of them are not even know how to code at all. So when we talk about geek, traditionally we will have the image that like this old school image will be someone a little bit social awkward, but really smart guy and they are really good at coding or engineering. But in China, the definition of geeks somehow got transformed. And I think that's because in the past 10 years, something happened all over the world. Like this issue for World magazine, they talk about the geek power from Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg. The geek power have been rising for at least 10 years. And especially in China, the definition of geek are transformed from the weird people to some super cool people and very inspirational people and they can build some really beautiful product and they can do their business in their own way, not copying anyone. And like this guy is the founder of DJI. This world class drone was found by him and he wrote the code by himself. If you want to find someone to represent the Chinese geeks, he will be the one. And it's really young, it's born after 1980. So you can feel that there is a fever, the geek fever in China. That means everyone won't become a geek. I think that's that cannot happen in Europe, even in the United States. So what changed? 10 years ago, we got someone who had successful business in the internet industry, but we don't have the geek fever. But why today? I think the decisive variables which made the change is the Chinese economy booming up for decades. I don't need to show the figure, everybody knows China has been booming for decades. And what does that mean? That means the new generation, born after 1985, especially after 1990s, they grew up with the economy booming and the internet revolution. That means they both have the material wealth and the sufficient of information power. So that made this new generation more bold and curious and ambitious. And since making a living is not a problem, they want to make a wonderful life. They want to do something different. They want to create something. So that's why China is different now. It's not the old school image that China would like. So you're going to remember those young guys because they're productive one day, maybe change your life. And secondly, there are abundant inflow of capital in China. And just in 2014, there will be $16 billion invested in the internet industry. That's a lot of money and concentrate to a very small area and it's concentrate to e-commerce, mobile internet and financial services. And behind those capital, there are many of successful entrepreneurs. They are passing their DNA by investing the young generation and the new opportunities. So it's not hard to... There are so many Android investors in China. If you got a good idea and you got a workable demo, it's not hard to find a place like this. You can have a mini roadshow to all the Android investors and early stage investors. And even in every coffee house, you will find a lot of people talking about innovation, a new product. That couldn't happen. That didn't happen in 10 years ago. It's just happened in these five years. And certainly, and the most important thing is the whole country, the China, the whole country, are stepping into a new era of mobile internet. So that's changed a lot of things. That means everyone got connected. Everyone has smart devices and they can do a lot of things. And it even changed some industry's landscape. Like we have... The way we use our phones. In the old time, we use our phone like this. We talk to our friends. But today, since we... So many people are using WeChat. So we use the phone in China. We use it like this because we send the voice message to each other. And behind this behavior change is an industry landscape. In the old time, the telecommunication industry was dominated by the state-owned carriers like China Mobile, China Telecom. But today, I think it's belong to WeChat. They have more users than those state-owned carriers. And they make more money than them. I think it's very important that the mobile internet have the opportunity to make the private company into some area they cannot into before. And in addition to that, we can see some traditional industry, some conventional service industry. They are more and more connected to online world. In China now, you can actually... I talk too much. Actually, in China, you can order every service from dinner takeout, from Medicare, from... And you can home cleaning and even massage. You can ask this service to go to your home or your office. Just use the smartphone and application to send your command. And they will come. So the service industry in China are changing. And it's brought by mobile internet. And it's a new opportunity for everyone and for the young generation. So they have... We have to remember they have the bond with internet. So they think they can do business in different ways. So that's why China has so much opportunities for the young guys. So let's sum up a little bit. So we have a new generation with the spirit to explore. We have sufficient supply of capital with respect to entrepreneurship. And we also have a new horizon, new frontier brought by mobile internet. And we call that resource revolution. It's happening here because you can overcome a lot of limited by the resource using mobile internet. So this is the three key elements that why China local innovation are booming. When we talk about innovation in China, we have to face the fact that China used to have the image that we are copycat. It's true. There is a time that we copy a lot of things. And those global companies, they are already in China. But you have to see that they've already been in China for a while and they are not being influenced by government like Facebook or Google, which they are still outside the Great War. You know what I mean. They cannot enter China market. But those global giants are already in China for a while. But no one has a success business in China. Some of them have failed. And some of them are barely surviving in China. Well, when we talk about the IP issue, we talk about China will copy a lot of things. I have to be honest, the intellectual property issue will take some time to be solved. But we are on the red track. And we just don't want to miss the big picture because in China, there are many companies making huge success not by copying any of their foreign peers. They just because they understand the local needs and they had the innovative way to satisfy them. So that's why those companies are failing in China because they just copy themselves from the United States or Europe to China. So that's the problem. And in Chinese market is very unique. You need to have the ability to keep the innovation going and have the ability to evolve with the market. So if you want just copy some business model or some global experience into China, it's doomed to fail. Let's take an example for WeChat and WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a communication tool from day one to now. It's still a communication tool. But WeChat is a starting point, it's a notification system. It will tell you that you got an email. That's the first one. He just gave you a notification. But now he's evolved with like an undividable life companion for every Chinese people. And you got your friend circle in it. You work with your colleague by WeChat. And even many people build their business using WeChat. Because WeChat is a platform, it's an IO system that can help you to do some business online. So that's why WeChat is so popular in China and no one can compete with. Here's another example. And it's a pretty one. It's called May Yan camera. It's a company named May 2. Girls want to take some selfie and share to their friend circle and social network. And before they share the picture, they want to p.s. a little bit. And that will make their face softer. It's more beautiful, right? People love that. And it's not necessarily have to do with the face. And you can see some magical moment here. And pay attention to that. Here is a magic moment. So with one touch, you will have a slimmer figure, a more attractive body shape. Well, it's really good for the girls. Not really good for guys. Because you cannot trust them anymore. Well, this function is hardly a headache. It's hardly a headache. But it really understands people. So this function earns them over 1 million users in China. Which is amazing. And since in China, there are many Chinese companies, they are very good at discover opportunities and have the innovative way to create value. And there are the competition in domestic market are so intensive. So some Chinese companies are already thinking over, put their thought overseas. And they are ambition are going beyond China. So here's some company really doing a great job. And such as ApoS. They got their 100 million users just in eight months by provide some very small but very efficient and user friendly launcher for Android smartphone. I think there will be many Chinese companies and they will provide some product that not copy from their foreign peers but by themselves and go to the overseas market in the future. So we talk a lot about the value, the fortune those geeks have created and opportunity they have brought to the Chinese society. It seems like I'm keeping talking about business, not talk about the culture. Well, I have done that for a reason. It's just like five years ago when I first found the gig park. I have been a reporter and then editor in chief for the business magazine over 12 years. And I witnessed the rise of the new economy and the new generation of geeks in China. And I really admire them. And I thought their potential should be maximized. Their uniqueness should be appreciated for the society. And so we should help them with high end communication and help them to find experts and capitals and even some partnerships and we can help them to explore more efficiently. Well, and while we're doing that, there are another task we need to do. We need to break the wall from the gig culture to the mainstream culture. It cannot get more influence to the Chinese mainstream culture if they are only a subculture. So to make value, to create value, to have unique success, they have a great story and it can convince the Chinese mainstream to notice, to realize that those geeks are doing a lot of things good for the Chinese future. And we are very proud in the past five years. They are becoming the new sexy in China, which is quite different in Europe, I believe. So you can see their faces all over Chinese magazines, some business magazines, and even that's a fashion magazine. That's Mr. Leijun and Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. So you can see they're quite different. That means we have done a very good job. And that means those geeks are shaping, reshaping the understanding of success. In the past, Chinese people are really a mayor who can make most money, most fortune. But today, they appreciate those people who are making a very beautiful product and they are making the positive change to the society, even to the world. So let's make them the new sexy. So that's the key culture have got some impact to the Chinese society. And second one, like Mr. Hu Yong have talked about, so we believe technology is technology that can really phrase people and information is power. Well, those geeks are using internet and tech innovation to help people to be connected and they help them to empower them with the power of information. In China, there are many cases that can prove even an ordinary people is nobody, but he got a chance to express his opinion and that will become a key topic for the whole society. I have something in the past happened for me. This is a Weibo like Chinese treat. I have treated three years ago. My colleague, they have honeymoon in Greek. Well, they were robbed in Greek on the street. They have nothing, not credit card and not cash. They cannot even make to their hotel. So they call the Chinese embassy seeking for help. But unfortunately, we don't have those kind of emergency protocol for this situation. So the embassy cannot help them. So at that time, they are desperate. So they tweet something that seeking for help in Weibo. And that was, that is a time, a Chinese company, a name is Huawei. I think many people are familiar with Huawei. Huawei stand up and they give them help and make sure they can catch their trip and they can safely go back to China. So I tweet something to say, thank for Huawei. I don't mean to criticize the Chinese government that we don't have the system to help those kind of people. But when I tweet this, it's Weibo, it's out of control. So you can see there are over 30,000, 32,000 retweets. And at first, people are thanking Huawei as a great company. We should send them. And then people are talking about why don't we have a system to help those people? Should we have a discussion for that? So, and this is really touched for the government. And the government are rethinking their policy for the emergency protocol to help Chinese citizens overseas. Well, we also, the information is power and they make, they are pushing the Chinese society more equal, open and transparent as well. And in the meantime, we have more and more common value to outside the world. This is two major online video websites in China. They all have a channel for TV show, overseas TV show. So we got House of Cards. And also we got the Game of, Game of Swoom. Basically everything popular in the western world, they will be popular in China. So if you put the young generation, the teenager, together, Chinese teenager, European teenager, US teenager, they basically the same. They all look into their smartphone and they all have their own world. So I think if they can have the same entertainment in the future, they will be more have more common value. So it's on the way. I think we all hope China will become a better country, a greater country in the way to be more open and connecting to the world. And I think with those geeks help, the future is promising. So finally we can say hello to the world. And this is five years ago, the first one. The first one, we don't have a place for our gathering. We borrowed from some big company, it's basement. We only have six people in every gathering. And as you can see, it's very subculture gathering. And this is Gig Park 2015. And this January, every January we will have a Gig Park Innovation Festival. And this year we have two day session and over 70 speaker and over 10,000 people to our festival. So you can see the gig culture really got popular in China. And that's very different from other country. Well, when we organize those gatherings, those conferences and festivals, we are not just invited those gig heroes that we have talking about. It's also these guys, Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, and Steve Wozniak, and even Elon Musk is coming to China. And this is the first time he comes to China and has public speech. And he comes to Gig Park and talks to the Chinese geeks. Because they believe those geeks understand China. They believe those geeks have great influence for the whole society. So that's why those Chinese geeks are so important. So that's my final slide. I think you may have familiar this. It's remodified from a very famous painting. And it's really not a picture, it's a painting. It's a fan of Gig Park as a gift. And he said, those geeks should lead the people to a better world. And they hope Gig Park will assist them to achieve this goal. And I think, and I really hope those Chinese geeks can bring you a new China, a new China more open, more connecting to the world. And we can find more friends in the United States, in Europe. And I think today's speech will be a very good start. If everyone interested about China, what's happening in China, and want to find some interesting gig friends in China, feel free to contact with us. And it's my very first time English speech. Really, it's my very first time. I'm so glad I have the time with you. So that's all from me because I have taken more time as I supposed to be. So thank you very much. And ladies and gentlemen, welcome you to China..
you what Internet and the tech innovation has anyone who is familiar with this DJI drones? world. And it's made in China and created in engineers and some of them are not even know how definition of geek are transformed from the weird to represent the Chinese geeks, he will be the thing is the whole country, the China, the whole overcome a lot of limited by the resource using themselves from the United States or Europe to to their friend circle and social network. And created and opportunity they have brought to the economy and the new generation of geeks in China. influence to the Chinese mainstream culture if is technology that can really phrase people and internet and tech innovation to help people to be whole society. I have something in the past value to outside the world. This is two major if you put the young generation, the teenager, together, Chinese teenager, European teenager, US into their smartphone and they all have their own bring you a new China, a new China more open,