.CN - some FACTS FYI

**Anthony Ng** · 12-16-2002, 04:27 AM

Although I usually identify myself as a Canadian, my parents remain Chinese

And I guess I'm in a MUCH BETTER position to comment on .CN with my extensive knowledge about China (the country) and Chinese (the language).

FACT 1: beatz is correct in pointing out that MOST Chinese don't speak or write English at all. HOWEVER, don't forget that there are 1.3 billion Chinese and even 5% of that is more than Canada and Australia combined and rivals UK and Germany.

FACT 2: Similarly, the on-line population there has already exceeded 50 million and may easily go over the U.S. in a few years' time to say the least. HOWEVER, the majority of these web surfers (incl. regulars) are browsing Chinese websites (although they are used to typing English alpha-numeric characters as URLs).

FACT 3: Chinese do not speak OUR English. Just as we have accents in spoken English (incl. the so-called "General American" accent), there are different Englishes from Australia, UK and India, etc. Even English-speaking Chinese in China know words like "car", "sex" or even "kentucky" (courtesy of 700+ KFC restaurants in China) better than "hardcore" or "celebrity". AND this is also the reason why NUMBER (e.g. 163.net) and Pinyin (i.e. Romanization of Chinese, e.g. sohu.com) sites are SO popular there.

FACT 4: China is a fairly developed country. They have dozens of really HUGH metropolises that are comparable to Texas and Seattle, not to mention Shanghai. I'm not just talking about population but also infrastructure. Living standards (not prices) in the cities are higher than many of their European counterparts in Portugal and Spain, for example. It is also for the same reason that the Internet is quite developed over there. And guess what: there are cybersquatters like us (check out http://www.eachnic.com/club/ if you are able to read Chinese; a couple of them actually frequent here as well), and they are the people who know what exactly is a GOOD name for the Chinese.

My advice is: do more thorough research before you jump (either aboard or off the ship). Personally, I have NOT registered any .com.cn because I know that most of the good names are already gone BEFORE the launch. (Not even nameslave.com.cn: they won't get it, different cultures!) Oh by the way, haven't I told you that third-level .CN domain names have already been in use for a loooong time in China?

**Wot** · 12-16-2002, 06:17 AM

Thanks for the info, I am married to a chinese lady and lived in HK for many years. She reads, writes and computes in both Mandarin and Cantonese.

I think the answer is basically what you said, if the name is right go for it but even prior to lift off there were not many good ones available. There are definite possibilities if you get the right one.

I think, I hope , I have got a cracker but still waiting for confirmation, I have had confirmation from the registrar, and my money has been taken, but I will wait to see whois first.

Anybody know when that will go live?

**Anthony Ng** · 12-16-2002, 08:34 AM

Which registrar are you using? Dotster's cnauctions.com says it will notify "winners: on 12/23/02 ...

**dvdrip** · 12-16-2002, 08:39 AM

BulkRegister send me results on the 15th.

**TrafficMonsterRRR** · 12-16-2002, 09:35 AM

Originally posted by dotus
Anybody know when that will go live?

If you mean the xxx.cn names, they went live on DEC 15th, ie yesterday. Still think there are some names to be picked up IMO.

**TrafficMonsterRRR** · 12-16-2002, 09:45 AM

Originally posted by nameslave
....
My advice is: do more thorough research before you jump (either aboard or off the ship). Personally, I have NOT registered any .com.cn because I know that most of the good names are already gone BEFORE the launch. (Not even nameslave.com.cn: they won't get it, different cultures!) Oh by the way, haven't I told you that third-level .CN domain names have already been in use for a loooong time in China?

Thank you for the excellent points nameslave!
I have to agree with you that thinking of the Chinese as English-resistant or a culture unforgiving of western influence is wrong.

China is not only an economic power but is a very likely "internet capital" in the future. One only needs to look at the rapid progress in this area. Why be so egocentric if you are not Chinese? (--- I am not Chinese but I have worked with some who are and I know scholars who have travelled to China to gauge culturally-sensitive business opportinities.)

Food for thought!

**fizz** · 12-16-2002, 10:09 AM

Thanks for your fantastic insights nameslave. I also am not going for any .com.cn names, but I plan to visit China within the next five years

**izopod** · 12-16-2002, 11:15 AM

Originally posted by TrafficMonsterRRR

Thank you for the excellent points nameslave!
I have to agree with you that thinking of the Chinese as English-resistant or a culture unforgiving of western influence is wrong.

I hope my comments about .com.cn didn't come across as though the Chinese are "English Resistant". I was merely trying to state that what we believe are "good names" are something very different to the Chinese.

I spent a lot of time over in Korea and Japan. Never got a chance to go to China. If I did, I'd want to see the great wall. I have the utmost respect for the asian community as well as their language. Which is why I was saying it would be laughable to think we'd be able to convert 1 billion chinese to the roman character set. Yes, they have to type in .cn or .com, but so do we. Too me .com is jibberish if you think about it. It's not a word, but an abbreviation of commericial. The stuff BEFORE the dot is what is important to me as a english speaking person. Just as it is to the chinese.

izopod

**domainAddict** · 12-16-2002, 11:33 AM

Originally posted by izopod

I hope my comments about .com.cn didn't come across as though the Chinese are "English Resistant". I was merely trying to state that what we believe are "good names" are something very different to the Chinese.

I spent a lot of time over in Korea and Japan. Never got a chance to go to China. If I did, I want to see the great wall. I have the utmost respect for the asian community as well as their language. Which is why I was saying it would be laughable to think we'd be able to convert 1 billion chinese to the roman character set. Yes, they have to type in .cn or .com, but so do we. Too me .com is jibberish if you think about it. It's not a word, but an abbreviation of commericial. The stuff BEFORE the dot is what is important to me as a english speaking person. Just as it is to the chinese.

izopod

No need to convert anyone! They are already adjusted, just like rest of the world. Afterall, as I said - 80% of internet is based on english language. English is considered international, if you want it or not! Whoever is surfing the net, and looking for relevant information wont get far without knowledge of English. In my country kids have to learn english in school already in 2nd grade as I recall from my little cousin, and thats at age of 8 or so.. At age of 14 (end of 8th grade) most of them have enough knowledge to make a decent conversation and to surf web problem free. Im sure all the world will follow this system, since knowledge of english language is crucial nowadays - as much in business as in personal relations..

**Anthony Ng** · 12-16-2002, 12:58 PM

>domainAddict: 80% of internet is based on english language

That WAS true a few years back. Unfortunately, it is NOT the case any more now. Just like their Japanese and German counterparts, MOST Chinese websites are in Chinese. You might want to look up the numbers yourself, but I guess non-English websites would easlily add up to far more than 20% in total.

Moreover, China has a HUGH domestic market that allows her the luxury to develop her own Internet ... in Chinese; and that's what they are doing RIGHT NOW!

**MarkMitford** · 12-16-2002, 03:48 PM

Nameslave: interesting thread/information, thanks.

Winners at cnauctions.com should be notified today.

We put the 23rd up on the site because there were small problems at the registry after the launch that we thought would take them longer to fix. We didn't want to charge anyone's card and confirm the registration until everything was completed and working at the registry. They got their act together and made all the fixes today so we are in the process of charging cards now.

Mark......