Virtual China: Google's new digs in Beijing

About Virtual China

ABOUT THE BLOG:
Virtual China is an exploration of virtual experiences and environments in and about China. The topic is also the primary research area for the Institute for the Future's Asia Focus Program in 2006. IFTF is an independent, nonprofit strategic research group with more than 35 years of forecasting experience based in Palo Alto, CA.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Lyn Jeffery is a cultural anthropologist and Research Director at the Insitute for the Future, where she leads its Asia Focus Program.
Jason Li is currently a design research intern at Adaptive Path. He previously worked at IFTF & Microsoft Research Asia, and recently graduated from Brown University.
Nan Yang is a freelancer in Shanghai whose many projects include part-time Mandarin teacher at MandarinShanghai.com, assistant for Eric Eldred from Creative Commons, translating manager for gOFFICE, translator for MeMedia, member of Social Brain Foundation, and author of 1idea1day.com. She is also passionate to take part in small and innovative seminars in Shanghai.
EMAIL THE AUTHORS:
Lyn Jeffrey
Jason Li
Nan Yang

About Asia Focus

In response to the great need for foresight about Asia, IFTF has launched the Asia Focus Program. Asia Focus research topics are large-scale, under-explored areas from which unexpected futures will emerge. It is part of IFTF's flagship program, the Ten-Year Forecast Program, which provides a broad scan of the environment and is a leading source of foresight for a vangard of business, government, and nonprofit organizations.

About the Institute for the Future

The Institute for the Future is an independent nonprofit research group. We work with organizations of all kinds to help them make better, more informed decisions about the future. We provide the foresight to create insights that lead to action. We take an explicitly global approach to strategic planning, linking macro trends to local issues in such areas as technology and society, health and health care, and global business trends.

September 11, 2006

Google's new digs in Beijing

Want to know what Google looks like in China? The company moved into their own building in the Qinghua Science Park in northwest Beijing last week, as documented on Flickr by Hong Bo, or Keso, founder and editor of China's wellknown IT community Donews; and by blogger and cultural commentator Flypig. The photos kind of say it all. It's a vibrant bunch of people who are pretty happy to where they are...and who get treated really, really well with the expectation that they'll perform superlatively. Google China looks like it has done a great job of importing all the elements of an environment that supports creative work at Google US. It's the other stuff that's the hardest, of course: Building a new kind of mainland Chinese creativity and ingenuity, one that extends beyond the Silicon-Valley-esque products and practices coming from Google headquarters and produces real value in the Chinese context.

Here's Keso looking like a geek rock star, which he kind of is:

Li Kaifu greets the ceremonial dragon:

They do things that "Googlers" do (Google + ren, or 人, the Mandarin word for "person", = Googler).
play fussball...

get massaged...

worship superheroes...

The coolest t-shirt of the week...

Keso points out in his blog post that despite not having any officially "Chinese" design elements, Googlers themselves provided some of their own such as red lanterns, propaganda posters, and calligraphic renderings of the character for "search".

Posted by Lyn Jeffery on September 11, 2006 at 07:59 AM in Blogs, Commerce, Design, Photos, Search | Permalink

Comments

Everyone should have self-respect, self-confidence, independence, or is the slave. But self-esteem, self-confidence is lighter than complacent, independent not arc

Posted by: Nike Shox Rivalry | September 17, 2010 at 06:33 PM

It is a pity that google has to abandon China. I know that there is a huge web search company there that it is even bigger that Google on China.

Posted by: Generic Viagra | March 22, 2011 at 11:15 AM

If I can have my cubicle everything that I want to. I probably do the same. I would bring my action figure collection and my videos games.

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