China Blitz » Technology http://www.chinablitz.com The Ultimate China Blog Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:59:51 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 Underfloor heating has been a part of eastern culture for a long time http://www.chinablitz.com/2010/04/29/underfloor-heating-has-been-a-part-of-eastern-culture-for-a-long-time/ http://www.chinablitz.com/2010/04/29/underfloor-heating-has-been-a-part-of-eastern-culture-for-a-long-time/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:44:42 +0000 Staff http://www.chinablitz.com/?p=985 A lot of people talk about these days as if its a new idea. Plenty of older cultures have been using similar technologies for hundreds or even thousands of years. Korea is particularly well known for its interesting history with heating homes. Check out what Wikipedia says:

In contrast to the eventual disappearance of the Roman underfloor hypocausts, underfloor heating has remained in use for millennia in Korea, where it is known as ondol. It is thought that the ondol system dates back to the Koguryo or Three Kingdoms (37 BC-AD 668) period when excess heat from stoves were used to warm homes.

Ondol continues to be a typical feature of the South Korean home, and is widely credited with making possible distinctively Korean customs such as removing one’s shoes upon entering a home and sitting on its floor. (The “sitting culture” brought about by ondol influenced the design of hanbok, the traditional Korean outfit; hanbok trousers are loose and have enough room for people to easily bend their knees and sit for long periods of time, and traditional shoes were also made to be easy to take off and put on compared to Western shoes.)

Definitely not a new concept but still a good one.

]]> http://www.chinablitz.com/2010/04/29/underfloor-heating-has-been-a-part-of-eastern-culture-for-a-long-time/feed/ 0 China fights the Web 2.0 storm http://www.chinablitz.com/2009/10/11/china-fights-the-web-2-0-storm/ http://www.chinablitz.com/2009/10/11/china-fights-the-web-2-0-storm/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:47:21 +0000 Staff http://www.chinablitz.com/?p=329 China has made tremendous strides with its economy, particularly in the areas of manufacturing, technology and education. Yet China has resisted political change. The harsh efficiency of their system relies on suppressing dissent. Real debate is not tolerated.

Accordingly, Chinese officials are terrified by social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. They’ve seen what can happen in places like Iran, where resistance can spread exponentially with the power of Web 2.0 tools. , and there’s no end in sight.

Yet these repressive tactics will have a negative effect on China’s economic development. Twitter and Facebook are exploding in popularity in the U.S. and around the world. The collaborative nature of these tools presents incredible opportunities for businesses, entrepreneurs and educators. By blocking these tools, China is falling behind.

How long can this last? I suspect their finger in the damn strategy is doomed to failure.

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