The seventh day of the trip was an eventful one to say the least. We went to a company that was called “Eastday.” This company is an e-commerce company that is very diverse, in the way that they run many online businesses. Less than two years ago, however, they were nothing more than a news website. With a vision to be profitable and to become modern, they converted their business into a multi-purpose one. Now they deal with art, news, bedding, and a plethora of other products.
Part of the reason why they were able to start up and grow so rapidly is because of the central government and its policies. It seems to be a recurring theme in most of the businesses we visit, that the central government has a positive role in the growth of each company. In this case, the central government offers provinces money to start websites because of the wide range of users they can attract, which, in the end, results in profit and more capital. What is special about Eastday is that they have diversified their business. They act as a financial service platform for people who are interested in buying paint. In addition, they even own jade mines in parts of the country. These jade mines help them acquire materials to make some of their products such as the world’s thinnest bowl. Another reason why they have been successful is because of a style they utilize called Online to Offline. This means that Eastday creates websites for many types of products, where people can browse freely, and then when they are ready to purchase these prospective buyers can go to the physical store locations. This is done to make both of their online and offline businesses successful and it has worked very well. They are one of the largest websites stationed in the city of Shanghai.
The fact that Eastday encourages local, small businesses rather than consume them is very inspiring for businesses back here in the United States. Here in the United States many large corporations and businesses seem to run many of the local businesses in our cities to the ground. They cannot compete with mega stores that sell literally everything. Eastday doesn’t believe in this concept because they realize how important it is to have local businesses and jobs in the city. If I were to describe them, I would say that they are the equivalent to Amazon in the way that they host items that are sold from physical stores.
The next lecturer that we had was a scholar on Islam in China. Many people wouldn’t even expect a country like China to have a sizable Muslim population, but they actually do. There are over 23 million Muslims in China, representing 1.8% percent of the population. To make a comparison, in the United States they represent less than 1% percent. Most of the Muslim population actually lives in the Northwestern regions, away from the major eastern cities. They also tend to live in close, small communities.
It is also important to mention that the government has been very diligent to protect the rights of these people over the years. Because of this, there are special schools, day cares, and places for Muslims to go to. There are even over 140 separate stores that sell food specialized for Muslims and special areas for Muslim funerals. An interesting fact, there are a total of 2000 beef noodle stores in Shanghai. The reason why this is relavent and important is because beef noodles were first created in China by a Muslim ethnic group called the Hui, so this food is very cultural to the Muslims in Shanghai.
While there are over 8 mosques located in the city, there is not enough places of worship for them. In a city of 24 million people this is to be expected. The locations of the mosques are also a large problem. Most of them are clumped together and are in areas that are not primarily Muslim. Because of this there are many “temporary” places of worship for these people. Technically speaking, temporary places of worship are illegal, but the government does not do much because they understand the precarious situation in which the Muslim population is in. For the last 10 years, the central and municipal government has actually studying these locations to aid in finding a resolution for temporary places of worship. Before the PRC was established, though, there were over 20 different mosques, but the cultural revolution led to the closure of such mosques.
As expected, there are some problems associated with this minority group in China. Many of them haven’t had any interaction with the outside world and as a result, they don’t have much of an education. A typical Muslim minority in China has only a junior high education. This is troubling because it puts them, as a whole, at a disadvantage in society. However, they do have a place in the government’s Communist Party.
Learning about both E-commerce and Islam in China was very fulfilling. It was eye opening to see that there are still companies in the world who value local businesses, not so much about expansionism. Eastday, in my opinion, runs by a great business model and I attribute that to their success. As for Islam in China, it is analogous to the situation of minorities here in the United States where many of the minorities in the country suffer from education and financial problems. I will say that this was yet another comparable situation that impelled me to think that maybe China is not that much different from the United States. Sure there are definitely cultural and governmental differences, but as humans we suffer from the same problems in the world.
