The app provides free dancing tutorials for beginners, live streaming services, and well as a communication platform that allows users to connect with each other. Dancing groups can post information of their get-togethers, thereby inviting new members to join.

However, what has caught the most attention isn’t the app itself, but its users. As Tangdou explains, practitioners of public square dancing are usually women between 30 to 55 years of age who live in second and third tier cities. Given the name dama (大妈), these women are especially noteworthy because they are commonly in charge of their household budgets, and are charged with making family decisions on travel and leisure. In the past, dama have demonstrated their economical clout through gold and real estate buying sprees.

Through its app, Tangdou is able to reach some 80 to 100 million dama estimated to be public square dancing fans. And they’re already being targeted. On the Tangdou website that received 2.5 million visitors in September, users are innundated with a number of advertisements, currently the company’s biggest source of revenue. Tangdou has said it wants to offer e-commerce services to its clients in the future.

Public square dancing is a modern Chinese phenomenon inseparably associated with crowds of people in open squares dancing in unison to loud amplified music. Part exercise and part performance, the basic concept of public square dancing is to be simple enough to allow anyone to perform it, but is structured enough to serve as a display of grace and elegance.

Often referred to as “dancing aunties” or “dancing grannies”, these public square dancing dama have been involved in numerous conflicts over their hobby. At the same time, Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore publicy said she want to import this facet of China’s urban culture to Australia, prompting cries of ridicule from Chinese netizens.

Here’s a video of public square dancing from the Tangdou website:

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Hangzhou Xiongmai Technology said weak passwords utilized in its DVRs and security cameras allowed them to be commandeered as part of a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that shut down websites like Twitter, Paypal, and Spotify.

A malware called Mirai has been taking advantage of the security lapse in Xiongmai products, which have online capability often referred to as the Internet of Things. Mirai then uses this army of zombified Xiongmai products to overwhelm internet traffic with a deluge of information, thereby shutting them down.

“Mirai is a huge disaster for the Internet of Things,” Xiongmai said in an email to IDG News Service. “(We) have to admit that our products also suffered from hacker’s break-in and illegal use.”

Internet provider Level 3 Communications estimates that some 500,000 Xiongmai devices are infected with Mirai malware. Xiongmai is advising its customers to update the firmware to their products as well as change passwords and usernames in order to stop them from being hacked.

In March of last year, China was blamed for a massive DDoS attack that shut down coding website GitHub. Technology experts say the “Great Cannon” was responsible for redirecting ordinary internet traffic from Chinese search engine Baidu to turn it into a malicious DDoS attack.

The post Chinese Products Used in Massive DDoS Attack on US Websites appeared first on The Nanfang.

The first aerial drone mail delivery route has opened in China, offering faster mail service to villages located in the mountain ranges of Zhejiang Province. The inaugural flight successfully landed Monday in Qiguan Village, delivering mail to the village postmaster.

It takes half an hour to transport the mail 17 kilometers by land, however the completely-automated drone is able to complete the journey in just 15 minutes.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can transport up to five kilograms of freight at a maximum distance of 20 kilometers, costing just three yuan per kilogram. The new mail delivery route follows last year’s announcement by China’s military that it would monitor drone use more strictly in the country. Around the same time, China’s aviation authority announced tougher regulations on civilian drone use. So far, no other air routes for drone mail delivery have been announced.

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Can you go a day without cash in China? That’s what one German blogger wanted to know by spending an entire day in Hangzhou, host of the upcoming G20 summit, and the Chinese news was there to report it.

Thomas Dirksen, a Weibo blogger with some 140,000 followers and described as the “German version of Papi Jiang”, challenged himself to see if he could spend an entire day in Hangzhou without using any cash. Dirksen only used the Alipay mobile payment system to make purchases, and found that cashless systems were found throughout Hangzhou, used from everything from food stalls to bus fares.

The facts speak for the themselves: Alipay in supported by a majority of businesses and stores in Hangzhou that include 98 percent of taxis, 95 percent of supermarkets and convenience stores, and over half of the city’s 40,000 restaurants and eateries.

Dirksen has provided Chinese news media with a surplus of quotes and photographs to promote both Hangzhou and Alipay. Here, then, are some of the praise Dirksen had for the upcoming host of the G20 summit:

Truthfully speaking, I’m not willing to leave the house in Frankfurt unless I have money in my pocket. I’ve been to hundreds of cities in over 30 countries, and I have to say that Hangzhou is the world capital of mobile payments, for sure!

I’ve been to over 30 countries all over the world, but there isn’t a city that is as convenient as Hangzhou. Even if it’s a roadside shaobing stall, I can still pay with my mobile wallet.

Chinese have told me that you can use Alipay anywhere. At first I didn’t believe them, and yet now I’m eating a shaobing (paid with Alipay)!

While in Rome, do as the Romans do. All of my Chinese and foreign friends in China use mobile payments. Like me, they all enjoy the convenience of this payment method, so much so that using a mobile phone to take care of your financial needs isn’t even a novel thing anymore.

Even without any cash on hand, you can live an unfettered life in Hangzhou. What a surprise!

If you ask me where I learned all of this, it’s from recommendations given by my German and Chinese friends, as well as learning strategies from online forums! Today, I’m challenging myself to spend a day sightseeing without any cash. Before coming here, I did a lot of preparation. But if I were to do this in Germany, it’d be impossible!

Dirksen is a fluent Chinese-speaking graduate of Fudan University who has since married a Chinese woman. When asked how he views Chinese and what he hopes to achieve by learning it, Dirksen had this to say:

Chinese pronunciation and writing is very difficult. I will use all of my ‘primal force” to learn and assimilate myself into the Chinese lifestyle. I will also continue to introduce China to my German friends through better social discourse.

The post Foreign Blogger Goes Cashless for a Day, Using Only Alipay appeared first on The Nanfang.

Introduced on a trial basis, 200 WiFi hotspots have been created around the palace. It is expected to be available in the Palace Museum’s exhibition halls, rest and dining areas.

Visitors can log into “PalaceMuseum-WiFi” using their WeChat accounts, or through mobile message verification.With the introduction of WiFi, the museum hopes to provide visitors with better access to its exhibitions and creative cultural products, as well as engage visitors in interactive games and treasure hunt activities.

In July, the Palace Museum announced it will partner with Tencent to create a video game for mobile phones that will introduce Chinese culture to a wider audience.

Also earlier this year, the Palace Museum opened up several sections of the Forbidden City that had been off-limits to visitors since 1925.

Despite a desire to bring The Forbidden City into the 21-Century, the 600 year-old drainage system put on a bit of show last month in its ability to handle Beijing’s torrential rains which caused flooding elsewhere in the capital.

The post Even Beijing’s Historic Forbidden City is Getting WiFi appeared first on The Nanfang.

“An in-cabin wireless charger for mobile devices is very likely to be a standard feature in cars in future,” said Wang Zhe, Chief Executive of Beijing InvisPower Technology Co. Ltd.

Brilliance Auto Group and JAC Motors Co. Ltd. are among the Chinese automotive makers that have ordered in-cabin charging modules from InvisPower.

Cadillac, Jeep, Lexus, BMW and Audi are among Western car makers that already offer the feature in their vehicles.

“At present, foreign automakers tend to employ the products of our foreign rivals. But we are now challenging them with our reliability, quality, as well as the cost advantage,” Wang said.

Cars are the third most popular location for consumers to charge their phone, after their homes and workplaces.

Despite the convenience that wireless charging provides, several technological obstacles have prevented mainstream acceptance. At present, wireless charging devices suffer from distance limitations, low efficiency, incompatible technology standards, and public concerns over radiation.

In-cabin charging modules could lead to further development of wireless charging technology, including wireless charging stations for electric cars — both stationary and while traveling on specially-equipped “charging lanes”.

“If the technology manages to achieve a breakthrough first in the automotive industry, it will likely see faster growth and wider commercial application later,” said Zhang Lu, a technology analyst at Huatai Securities Co. Ltd.

As of February 2016, there are 1.28 billion registered mobile phone users in China.

The post Wireless Mobile Phone Chargers Coming To Chinese-Made Cars appeared first on The Nanfang.

Despite no official release in China, the hashtag #PokemonGo has been used 330 million times on Sina Weibo, with users sharing tips on how to access the game on third-party software and virtual private networks (VPNs).

Previous reports have said Pokemon Go relies on Google Maps servers in order to direct its users through GPS coordinates. Google internet services have largely been unavailable to Chinese users since it was blocked in 2011.

Much of the speculation suggesting an imminent Chinese release comes after the deletion of a post on the official Pokemon Go Facebook page, stating that the game would not be available in China. Nintendo is also applying for the game’s trademarks in China.

The augmented reality video game was given a limited release so far in Australia, New Zealand, and USA on July 16. Since then, Pokemon Go has almost surpassed Twitter’s record for daily active users on Android, and has substantially raised Nintendo’s share price.

Some Chinese critics are concerned about the game’s security risks. Pokemon Go collects vast amounts of information about its users, and requires permission to access the user’s camera, contacts, GPS location, and SD card contents. As the Daily Beast reports, game developer Niantic has the right to collect user information and hand it over to law enforcement, sell it, share it with third parties, and/or store it overseas. Even if the developer can be trusted, security experts worry that user information will become a target for hackers.

“In China, the major security issue related to Pokemon Go is that the third-party distributor will very likely add backdoor Trojan horse viruses to the installation package, which gives remote access to your smartphones,” said Wang Biao, an internet security expert.

The post Pokemon Go a Sensation in China Despite No Official Release appeared first on The Nanfang.

Pokemon fans in China have reported a number of issues with the game, which relies on Google map servers to point out locations, something that is largely inaccessible to most of the Chinese public due to Chinese internet blocking protocols. Sixth Tone reports that some Chinese players have installed the game but have yet to see a single Pokemon.

Players in northeast Liaoning and northwest Xinjiang have said they are able to play without any issues, while others are reporting success through the use of a “decrypted” version of the game.

Based on the long-running Japanese franchise, in Pokemon Go players act as monster trainers out to catch their elusive prey. Players search out real-world locations, and find the pocket monsters by following map directions to then capture them using their mobile phone cameras.

As a result of the issues with Pokemon Go, many fans are downloading City Spirit Go, a game which shares so many similarities with Pokemon, that many are under the mistaken belief it is a “Chinese version” of the Pokemon game. City Spirit Go is also a mobile phone game where players scout real-world locations to find and capture their prey.

City Spirit Go launched just prior to release of Pokemon Go. The Chinese knock-off is currently the top-ranked free download in China’s Apple App store.

Here’s more photos of what City Spirit Go looks like:

The post Pokemon Replaced With Top-Selling Chinese Knock-Off appeared first on The Nanfang.

Called “Geta” as in “Get a car”, the self-automated system will fetch or park your car within two minutes. Developed by Shenzhen-based Yeefung Techonology, the robot parking system is expected to be widely available by October.

Here’s how Geta works: drivers arrive at the parking garage and park their cars on an elevated rack. After exiting the vehicle, a robot will lift up the car, and deliver it to its parking space.

Because the car is being transported by the laser-guided robot, the electronic valet can move cars into cramped spaces drivers can’t access.

Yeefung CEO Marco Wu said his company’s robot parking system creates 30 to 40 percent additional parking space, something that is highly valued in Chinese parking garages. ”The parking robot is designed to increase the amount of parking space, becoming a rare thing thanks to land restrictions in China, and all over the world,” said Wu. “Our company is focusing on three-dimensional parking which requires minimal space. The robot can go everywhere without tracks, it’s free and versatile and will reform parking in the future.”

Unlike normal parking garages, Geta uses an elevator system to access different floors, thereby eliminating the need for parking ramps. “The robot is just like a human being,” explained Wu. “It uses laser navigation, scanning a reflected signal to pinpoint its location. And like our eyes, it knows where it is by recognising objects around it. The signal is then transmitted to a computer containing a map which then shows the robot where to go.”

Duesseldorf airport in Germany offered its passengers the use of robot valet parking back in July 2014. The fully-insured German robot valet parking costs  29 euros ($39.59) per day or 4 euros ($5.46) per hour.

Here’s a video to better explain how the system works.

The post Robot Valet Parking Arrives In Shenzhen appeared first on The Nanfang.

The new regulation would require all mobile phone games to receive SAPPRFT approval prior to official release. The stringent process may take up to 80 days to review, particularly if the game contains sensitive topics such as “political or military themes”.

As Tech in Asia reports, some games have been rejected simply for containing English words that have been taken out of context such as “mission start”, “warning”, “lucky”, and “go”.

Meanwhile, other developers say their games have been rejected because they contain traditional Chinese script, a form of written Chinese that is uncommon on the mainland but is still readily used in names of buildings, calligraphy, and movie title cards.

Chen argues the regulation is too rigid, and has called on SAPPRFT to devise a more transparent, efficient and reasonable oversight. Chen also believes the new rules offer a significant advantage to big companies over independent game developers. “With these new regulations, all independent game developers and small enterprises will be driven out of the market, with no glimmer of hope for survival,” Chen said.

Chen and his lawyers have admitted that they have no chance of winning against China’s censorship watchdog. Instead, they hope their case will bring attention to how the new rules are impacting independent game developers.

SAPPRFT has been on something of a censoring rampage of late. In April, they shut down the film and book section of the Apple iTunes China store, and introduced a vaguely-worded law regarding internet domains of foreign companies operating in China.

Meanwhile, the Cyberspace Administration of China recently passed strict new regulations on mobile apps in China, ensuring app developers are responsible for censoring their own users who must provide real-name registration.

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