As usual, we round off our S3 Newsletter with a few articles that aren’t so closely related to S3’s business world.
On this occasion, we conclude our list of the 10 most notable Chinese companies and continue with our list focusing on the 10 most popular hobbies in China, this time highlighting the next most eye-catching modern hobby.
Top 10 Chinese companies
Having highlighted the key aspects of BYD (automotive), Kweichow Moutai (alcoholic beverages), Tencent (internet and video games), the Sinopec/PetroChina duo (energy), ICBC (banking), China Mobile (mobile networks), Huawei (mobile devices), DiDi (ride-sharing) and DJI (drones), we round off this list with the undisputed king of e-commerce: Alibaba.
Alibaba Group is a Chinese technology conglomerate founded in 1999 in Hangzhou by Jack Ma, a former English teacher who, together with a small group of partners, initially created a B2B platform to connect Chinese manufacturers with international buyers.
Over time, the company evolved to become one of the world’s largest digital ecosystems, integrating multiple key brands and services such as Alibaba.com (wholesale), Taobao (C2C marketplace), Tmall (B2C platform for brands), AliExpress (international retail) and Alibaba Cloud, amongst others.
The visionary leadership of Jack Ma, born in 1964 in Hangzhou, was instrumental in transforming a small start-up into a global e-commerce giant, with significant diversification into areas such as fintech, logistics and digital technology.
Top 10 most popular hobbies in China
Once again, we’ll be taking a closer look at the daily lives of Chinese people, finding out what they get up to when they’re not working, studying or spending time with their families.
Having covered traditional hobbies – such as calligraphy, mahjong, practising tai chi and tea culture – as well as some modern ones (table tennis and karaoke), let’s move on to the next one!
In China, dance plays an important role as a form of leisure, cultural expression and socialising, and is not limited solely to older people. The phenomenon of square dancing (guangchang wu), which is a common sight in public squares in towns and cities, is one of the most popular activities, characterised by simple group choreographies set to modern or traditional music.
However, there is a wide variety of styles: from urban dance forms such as hip-hop and K-pop dance covers among young people, to more artistic disciplines such as contemporary dance, ballet and traditional Chinese dance.
This wide variety reflects a dynamic culture in which dancing is both a leisure activity and a means of physical wellbeing and social connection, shared by different generations and across urban and rural contexts.
