QDaily in English
2310 completed translations from the archive. Articles retain their original publication dates.
Canned Food Once Stood for a Booming Food Industry. Why Has It Drifted Out of Your Life?
The rise of canned food is the best footnote to the consumerism born of America's postwar recovery. People poured themselves into work and had no time to cook, so big companies took over the job, supplying decent food to the people who were creating the wealth.
Why Have the Ads on Beijing Subway Line 14 All Gone Artsy?
It is a deliberate bid to stand out, a forced response to a far bigger rival, and, of course, a transplant of some traditions and know-how from Hong Kong's metro.
A Stirring History of Israel's Founding
A New York Times bestseller of the year, a pick on the best-books-of-the-year lists of Random House, The New York Times Book Review and The Economist, and the winner of the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and more.
Why Is Life So Hard for Today's Straight Guy? | QDaily Research Lab
Don't bother with your looks and you're a tasteless "straight man cancer" case; take a little care and your sexuality becomes a mystery. The world is wide, yet it has no room for an ordinary straight guy who is neither.
Bookstores Are Said to Be Recovering. Can an "Old-School" Chain Like Dazhong Bookstore Seize the Moment?
Dazhong Bookstore, once China's largest private bookstore chain, is still seen as a traditional bookshop, and it is struggling both to find a personality and to slim down its book stock.
"Treat Yourself a Little Better": Which Toothpaste Did You Choose?
Regular article
Walk Through M&O Asia at Singapore Design Week and Meet These Brands With Ideas
Another highlight of Singapore Design Week 2016 was Maison&Object Asia, the Asian edition of Maison&Object Paris, Europe's well-known design fair. Like M&O Paris, it centers on contemporary design, with exhibits spanning
Brands Keep Asking Us to Vote. What Are We Really Voting For?
Voting shows up in more and more marketing campaigns. Some, like user-generated content (UGC) and crowdsourcing projects, sound faintly "democratic." Others are pure stunts, or a bid for attention (come and see how everyone else voted).
NetEase Commenters: Public Intellectuals in a Corner | QDaily Anthropology
They care about politics and society, and they want to take a stand in their own way.
Doing Something for an Ethnic Craft Takes More Than Sentiment | 100 People With Ideas
Guizhou Dong cloth is a fabric colored with natural plant dyes, made by the Dong people of southeastern Guizhou — an ancient ethnic handicraft.
We Spent a Day Working in WeCom. Your Job May Soon Depend on It
Put simply, it's WeChat with the entertainment stripped out.
The Spring Festival rush is over. How did Didi end up driving 1.9 million people home?
Regular article
Ten Years On, Can a Remade *Super Girl* Make New Legends?
The audience has changed, the star-making model has changed, and even what people mean by "idol" has changed. How does *Super Girl* come back?
Working for a Company, or About to? These Shifts in This Year's Job Market Deserve Your Attention
Slower economic growth and companies and industries in transition have left the outlook for both hiring and pay raises rather gloomy
He Fathered Android, but Robots Were Always His First Love | A Curious Person
Without him, there would be no Android as we know it.
As the Rules Tighten, Which Internet TV Box Lets You Watch the Most? We Tested 1,560 Titles
Put simply, no box lets you watch everything.
It's Still the Same Chinese Super League, but the Sports Business Behind It Has Changed Completely
Big money pouring into Chinese football is taken as a sign of a boom. It is also, of course, taken as a sign of a bubble.
From Jiang Wen to Hou Hsiao-hsien to First-Time Directors, He Always Finds a Way to Shoot What They Want | 100 People With Ideas
*Crosscurrent* won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Cinematography) at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. We interviewed its cinematographer.
Why Do We Love "Cross-Species Romance"? | QDaily Anthropology
Regular article
Cardcaptor Sakura at 20: The Four Women Behind It and Their Commercial Magic
Ordinary article
After the New Rules, What Are China's Web Drama Makers Thinking?
Bottom lines, professional ethics, taboos: who, exactly, should answer for these grand questions?
Layoffs, a Building Sale and a Bet on Virtual Reality: Has HTC Bet Right This Time?
HTC Vive has won glowing reviews from the media and players. Now it faces the mass market.
Where Do All the Clothes You Don't Want Go?
Because we buy clothes more often, we also discard more of them. Getting rid of them is a headache for some people and a business for others, though not always a respectable one.
MUJI Is Done Being "Cold" in China, and Its New Store Says So
This four-month-old flagship store holds the key to MUJI's future in China.
Startups Losing Tens of Millions a Year Is Nothing New. So Where Does the Money Go?
Cheap food delivery, manicures, car rides... in the end, someone pays the bill.
Even a Company as Legendary as SF Express Is Headed for Trouble If It Doesn't Change
If SF Express doesn't go public soon, it will be in danger
The Trading-Up Era: Every Time You Pay, You Vote for the Life You Choose
This series looks at how brands and consumers have changed in a China that is "trading up," and what each side has tried. This is the opening piece.
If Customer Service That Can't Solve Your Problem Is a Paper Tiger, What Does Good "New-Era" Customer Service Look Like?
It's all about communicating more efficiently — and once robots step in, the humans' job gets more complicated.
Why Are Chinese Companies Racing, Even in Groups, to Advertise in Times Square?
For them, the symbolism of Times Square matters far more than any real return on investment.
Huayi Brothers Keeps Straying From Its Day Job. Is It a Film Company, or Something Else?
Regular article
Did Pizza Hut Stop Trying, or Did We Change?
Pizza Hut was once China's idea of upscale Western dining. How did it end up where it is today?
Great Nordic Furniture You (Probably) Can't Afford
Every weekend, QDaily picks a theme and goes looking for great design for you.
This Museum Wanted to Show Performance Art, So It Brought In a Weird Band | 100 People With Ideas
But the curator soon realized: "The performance is only a way to lead the audience into their art world."
Apple vs. the US Government: 10 Questions You May Be Asking
So far, of Silicon Valley's biggest tech giants, Facebook, Twitter and Google have all sided with Apple.
Apple Pay's First Day: We Tried It at 37 Stores
At most stores, customers ended up training the staff, a job Apple and UnionPay had left undone.
The Rules of Modern Business Come From His Three Innovations 80 Years Ago | A Curious Person
This year marks 50 years since the death of Alfred Sloan. At 48, this management genius took over General Motors.
Every Video Site Wants to Be the TV Network of the Internet Age. Netflix Shows What That Takes
Video sites want to become TV networks that carry everything. Here is what Netflix, the furthest along, has run into.
Airbnb's Business in China Keeps Growing. Are Its Users Who It Thinks They Are?
Everyone bends the Airbnb model to suit themselves, whether they want to make friends, find a good-value room, or build a business.
The Grammys Went to the Same Famous Names Again, and People Still Love Watching
The 58th Grammy Awards wrapped up today. Another year, another show that people enjoy but find nothing new in.
Even a Merger of the Toy Industry's Two Biggest Companies May Not Change Much
Mattel and Hasbro have many product lines; Lego has one way to play. Why did Lego win?
At 15, How Wikipedia Became the Symbol of Knowledge | QDaily Business History
Ordinary article
Back at Work, Back in Your Cubicle — But Do You Know Where This Kind of Office Came From? | QDaily Business History
Let's talk about the history of its rise and fall.
Renren Meiju Wants to Build a Community Business. Nostalgia Won't Take It Far
Any community that draws users with content runs into a chicken-and-egg problem.
"Full of Gong Energy" Is Now the Label for Fashionable Young Women. How Popular Is It? | QDaily Anthropology
Born from "danmei" (boys' love fiction), the term carries values that are more women's own, and it is cooler, which makes it easier to turn into a consumer trend.
Lisa Ono Is Singing on Valentine's Day Again, but People Don't Love Her Like They Used To
Has the singer been overexposed, or has the whole "small and fresh" style of consumption gone out of fashion?
Where Have China's Disabled People Gone? | Elephant Guild
Why do you so rarely see disabled people on China's streets, and why are the few you do see usually begging? Why does China have so few baby-care rooms? Why does Chinese society seem so cold and cruel next to the way developed countries accommodate their most vulnerable?
Which Part of China Produces the Toughest Fighters? | Elephant Guild
Why do Northeasterners top nearly every ranking of China's best fighters? If "fighting strength" is real, what does it depend on? And which part of China really deserves to be called a "fighting nation"?
Same Captive TV Audience, Different Ads: How China's Spring Festival Gala and America's Super Bowl Compare
We compared brand marketing during China's Spring Festival Gala and the American Super Bowl, and found some interesting things.
What Timeless Classics Reveal About Design | 14 Rules of Good Design
Time erases most designs. The ones that survive it, still solve the problem best and stay in our memory, must owe their appeal to the design itself, not to a passing fashion. You can never catch up with fashion, but if you set aside trends and aim for the best solution, the design is unlikely to go far wrong.
Why Does Pinyin Never Quite Work? | Daxiang Gonghui
The odd spelling rules of Hanyu Pinyin, the romanization Chinese people use every day, keep causing embarrassment. Why, for example, does Beijing have two English spellings, Peking and Beijing, while Shanghai has only one?
What Changed Advertising, TV Broadcasting, and America's Sports Culture All at Once?
A game you may still know almost nothing about: the Super Bowl. Calling it "America's Spring Festival Gala" only scratches the surface.
Great Design Often Looks Strange at First | 14 Rules of Good Design
This Spring Festival, we unpack the 14 intriguing claims about good design that Paul Graham makes in *Hackers & Painters*.
Before New Year's Eve, a Look at 15 Super Bowl Ads: America's "Spring Festival Gala"
In the US, the NFL's annual championship game, the Super Bowl, draws every bit as much excitement as China's "Spring Festival Gala." Since 2006, Super Bowl viewership has set a new record almost every year. Last year's game drew an average of 114 million viewers, peaking at 120 million, which means that,
What These Minimalist Classics Reveal About Great Design | 14 Rules for Good Design
This Spring Festival, we unpack 14 intriguing claims about good design that Paul Graham makes in *Hackers & Painters*.
Weibo and Twitter Are Copying Each Other Again to Survive. Will It Win You Back?
Regular article
Wanda, You Don't Have to Be an Internet Company | Top 15 Annual Report
Some companies in this world provide basic services. They never become the talk of the town, but bubbles never toss them up and down either.
What's the Secret Behind Siemens's 169 Years of Survival? | QDaily Business History
QDaily Business History looks at companies with long histories that have survived to this day — what they got right, and what they got wrong.
Chevrolet Is Betting Its Next Five Years on One Car. Will It Pay Off?
Chevrolet has no shortage of ambition or marketing instinct, and the Malibu XL now rolling out may be what carries its image beyond young, entry-level buyers to its whole lineup.
He Rounded Up 12 Musicians and One Big Company to Revive a Music Project That Died Young | 100 People With Ideas
"He probably doesn't even realize it himself, but he's already built out the whole upstream of the industry chain."
Today, Google Overtook Apple to Become the World's Most Valuable Company
What drives Alphabet's growth is still not Google's little siblings
Who Can Challenge Nike at the Top of Its Game? | Top 15 Annual Report
We Shop All Year, but E-Commerce's Real Showdown Is Over "New Year Goods"
You may already be drowning in e-commerce New Year sales. And yes, this shopping festival is even more ferocious than Singles' Day ("Double 11") and Black Friday.
While Everyone Else Talked About Ecosystems, Tencent Quietly Built a Walled Garden | Top 15 Annual Report
WeChat is the net that catches us all
How Big Can a Literary Youth's Hotel Business Get?
Huajiantang, which began as an inn in Lijiang, now has 17 locations across China. Its hotels are not cheap, and not always the most comfortable, but guests find in them a certain "petit-bourgeois charm."
Xiaomi Stood Where the Wind Should Blow — But in 2015 No Wind Came | Top 15 Annual Report
Smartphone sales fell short of expectations, and the smart-hardware bets failed to become the next big trend. What does 2016 hold for Xiaomi?
When an Anxious Serial Entrepreneur Meets a Zhihu Star
After *Chuangyejia*, *Luoji Siwei*, *Guaijie* and other projects, Shen Yin seems to have lost his sense of what life is for. Can a psychological counselor help him find it again?
iPhone Growth Has Hit Its Ceiling — and Apple Now Has to Learn Something New | Top 15 Annual Report
Apple has released its 2015 sales figures.
China's Box Office Hit 44.07 Billion Yuan. Not All of It Is Worth Celebrating
We would do well to look more calmly at the easily overlooked worries hidden behind the "good-looking" numbers.
He Has Covered Tech for 39 Years, and What Still Surprises Him Most Is That Starting a Company Became a Way of Life
2016 marks the 39th year that New York Times reporter John Markoff has covered technology.
How Japanese Boy Band SMAP Became a 25-Year Miracle | QDaily Business History
Ordinary article
Can a Company Born on Taobao Start a Revolution in Physical Stores? | QDaily's New Companies of the Year
Yinman is hardly new. One of the most successful brands on Taobao, it is now close to going public. What we want to know is how it is moving offline in an unusual way, and how big this business can really get.
How Britain Became "Fuguo," the Fujoshi's Promised Land | QDaily Anthropology
When men become a consumer product.
The Artist Behind Beats' Year of the Monkey Headphones Draws a Lavish Fantasy World
James Jean likes to offset whatever looks beautiful with the eerie and the absurd. His work comes from life and memory, he says, but in the end it is the inner spirit of art that drives him to create.
In New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, and London, We Found Four Faces of Starbucks | Top 15 Annual Report
A cross-border review
Hollywood Looks More and More Like the Chinese Market: Blockbusters Decide Everything, and Creativity Runs Thin
Yet the truth is that blockbusters do not decide everything. The big-budget, big-return blockbuster model has done Hollywood more and more harm, and its 2015 results show it best.
The 48 Transformations of Coca-Cola's Era Slogans Over 130 Years | QDaily Business History
The adventures of the high priest of happiness
Can Apple Reinvent the Personal Computer Again? It Now Depends on This Man
Regular article
Uniqlo, Let's Talk: Five Things You May Need to Rethink in China | Top 15 Annual Report
The Director of the Play *Fayuan Temple, Beijing* Says Her Plays Are All About Grand Things | 100 People With Ideas
The theater director behind *The Field of Life and Death*, *Green Snake*, and *Fayuan Temple, Beijing* files herself under "mainstream," a word she says stands for a standard of aesthetics and a standard of content. But things may be more complicated than that.
Don't Underestimate the Scooters on the Street: They Hold the Future of Human Transport
Regular article
Amazon Built Its Name on "One-Click." In China's Cross-Border Shopping Boom, It Moved Too Slow | Top 15 Annual Report
Amazon China had an edge in helping Chinese shoppers buy from abroad that JD.com and Tmall could never match. But its hands were tied.
China's Filmmakers All Want to Sell Merchandise on the Side. How Are They Doing?
Chinese studios lag in design, manufacturing, distribution and logistics, but the main reason their film merchandise flops is that the films aren't good enough.
How Many Companies Changed Their Logos Last Year, and Why
Nearly 20 of them, it turns out
Has Hollywood Outgrown the Tough Guy? No. It Just Asks More of a "Man"
Superheroes set the tough-guy standard for a new generation. We still expect them to be strong enough to save the world, but muscle is no longer enough: they must master cutting-edge technology and have charm, wit and a clear head, and they must respect women. What makes a "man" stopped being a matter of looks long ago.
In 2015, McDonald's Kept Making New Enemies | Top 15 Annual Report
A growing list of formidable rivals — and itself.
Autonomous Driving Is Here. Which Technologies Made Cars Smart? | CES 2016
More than a century after its invention, the car is finally becoming a computer on wheels
Update: *The Last Night of Kangxi Coming* Has Aired, and This Time It Really Is Goodbye
Since Cai Kangyong announced the end on Weibo in October 2015, Kangxi has run one countdown special after another, bringing back the stars the show made famous. Its most popular regulars sat down together to talk about how their lives had changed over 12 years, and to retell the gossip the show had told again and again.
McDonald's Ambition and Anxiety Are Hidden in 50-Plus Years of Packaging Redesigns | QDaily Business History
What its packaging looks like tells you what its strategy is — and how the business is doing.
How Does the “Water Army” Work, and How Does It Turn a Film or TV Show into a “Hit”? | QDaily Anthropology
This is the classic story of a market where everyone does wrong and, in the end, the standards are lost.
Meilishuo and Mogujie Are Merging. How Has the Shopping-Guide Business Changed?
Two companies that grew up in China's peculiar e-commerce environment: can one merger shake them out of the boom they once enjoyed?
This Company Deserves Attention, and Not Just for *Nirvana in Fire* and *The Disguiser* | QDaily's New Companies of the Year
Daylight Entertainment, a new company built by a veteran team, has given a crew of skilled makers of serious drama some charm and some young, fresh stories. In doing so it has changed how people see traditional film and TV producers, and has slightly raised what they expect from Chinese television.
The 31 Most Distinctive Product Designs at the World's Biggest Consumer Electronics Show | CES 2016
Not all of them are sensible, but every one is new.
How Did *Go Princess Go* Get So Addictive? We Asked Its Producer
"It's like eating fried stinky tofu or Musang King durian: you just can't stop."
China's Film Market Is Growing Up Fast. We Should Keep a Wary Eye on It | QDaily Annual Box Office
This market isn't as good as it looks, but it isn't that bad either.
Intel Gave a Dozen or So Answers About Your Life Over the Next Two Years. Will They Hold Up? | CES 2016
Regular article
Three Questions IKEA China Needs to Take Seriously | Top 15 Annual Reports
A belated e-commerce push, a restaurant that may be stealing the show, and the struggle to stay young
Behind a Seemingly Friendly New Year Season, a "Cold War" Among Film Companies
Using their own cinema chains, ticketing-app subsidies, huge paid previews, waiving their box office share in breach of industry rules: film companies will try almost anything to win the New Year season.
A Fashionable Crowd Arrives at Shanghai Railway Station
Starting in November 2015, more than 3,000 employees from WPP's 26 Shanghai companies moved, batch by batch, into Dabang Collaboration Plaza on Hengfeng Road, near Shanghai Railway Station. That is no small thing.
Uber Showed China You Don't Have to Wait for Policy to Disrupt the Taxi | QDaily Company of the Year
Cheap private-car rides have finally given us some hope of fixing a hailing problem that has dragged on for more than twenty years. But the change did not come easily.