Traditional collectibles have become a form of social currency among young people. From spiritual comfort to stylish accessories, livestreams and e-commerce have made these pieces more accessible. And people watch appraisal livestreams for whacky collectibles as an entertainment.

China's tech giants have read the tea leaves from Beijing resulting in pledges of billions to charity, with PDD making the smartest donation

Mass urban migration, the one-child policy and opening up to the world have all had an enormous impact in shaping modern China. WeChat has hit a sweet spot addressing some of the challenges that have resulted from the changes.

A Chinese consumer’s purchase journey is like no other. It begins online for most, with 85% using search engines, brand websites, or social media as their first step for researching a new product or purchase, according to a PWC survey.

China's fixation with Hollywood movies has driven American culture in the Mainland and helped many Western brands along the way.  It's aided Nike to become the top-selling and most loyally followed fashion brand in China.  It's why many consumers are prepared to pay ¥27 ($4.40) for a medium sized Starbuck's latte - a third more than the equivalent cup in Chicago, and why planes are full of Chinese tourists visiting their favourite movie settings around the globe. 

It’s nothing new that Chinese consumers are opting for food and beverages that are better for them. In 2013, after a decade and a half of mouth-watering growth from its Oreo cookies, Mondelez discovered that wealthy urban consumers were turning to healthier alternatives. Likewise, earlier this year Nestle announced it was revamping its food and beverage business in China due to the shift towards nutritious items.

China’s state press agency Xinhua has shut down the website of the respected business newspaper 21st Century Business Herald, and terminated a ¥3.5 million ($590,000) contract between the agency and the Bank of Communications, after it was exposed for receiving payouts for publishing good news and concealing bad press. It follows other high profile state media corruption cases this year, such as the senior CCTV employees involved in bribery and corruption.

China has long been known as the land of fakes. The country was the source of two thirds of fake goods seized globally between 2008 and 2010. Street-side stalls, shops and entire shopping malls are dedicated to counterfeit bags, garb and DVDs. Staff in a fake Apple store were fooled into believing that their employer was the real thing. Rat meat has been sold as beef and lamb. Even the kids aren’t sacred, with a local zoo in Henan duping visitors with a fake lion. From the minute Chinese are old enough to consume, they are exposed to a myriad of phoneys.

Happy belated Valentines Day. With Spring Festival fatigue still evident, the timing wasn’t great to be pushing another celebration in China. Nevertheless, there were still plenty of starry-eyed youth with arms full of flowers and chocolates walking city streets throughout the Mainland last Friday.

If you’d popped into a Chinese village about 4,600 years ago, there’s a slim chance you’d have been offered a clay flask of wine. Although archaeologists have discovered Chinese produced wine from native “mountain grapes” since the time the Egyptians were building the Giza pyramids, drinking wine never took off in China like it did further west.

Happy New Year, we hope your 2014 has started off with a bang. While many of you would have still been crooning Auld Lang Syne, another record was broken in China, where 808,298 Sina Weibo posts were sent in the first minute of 2014 – up 11% on last year’s record.

Many luxury brands in China haven’t been smiling much lately. In years gone by, the world’s big peddlers of luxury have been broadcasting double digit annual growth in China – this year, the market is picked to grow just 2.5%.

Anyone who has walked down the street in China, eaten at a restaurant, taken public transport, been in a shopping mall, or even a workplace, will be well aware of the significance of mobile phones in Chinese consumers’ lives. 464 million, or 78.5% of China’s 591 million Internet users, go online with their mobiles.

There’s a stunning spot in Idaho, where sweet and plump cherries grow. Many miles away in Shanghai, consumers on Tmall are clicking ‘buy’. As those US cherries are looking nice, they’re picked and sent with bags of ice.

Back in 2011, a long time ago in Chinese marketing years, everyone was talking about Weibo as the silver bullet for Chinese marketers. Businesses were scrambling to attract as many Weibo followers as they could, hiring ‘Weibo experts’ to post enthusiastically, and giving away all sorts of goodies. Since then, Weibo has done good things for some businesses: building brands, attracting a loyal following and creating a great platform to spread their messaging and promotions far and wide.

Last month Weibo announced it had reached 500 million users as part of it’s quarterly results. An impressive, yet surprisingly large number given there are only 564 million Internet users in China. It also added the last 100 million users in just 3-months, when the 100 million before that took six – and it’s a mature product. As a listed company, there is pressure for Weibo’s parents Sina to continually report good news and maintain face, especially with WeChat nipping at it’s heals. Numbers in China can’t always be taken at face value and unfortunately Weibo is no exception. The growing number of ‘zombie’ users on Weibo, even those classed as ‘active’, should be viewed with caution.

Although the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival has been the talk of the town in China this month, another celebration is getting it’s share of observers. Valentine’s Day is becoming increasingly fashionable with Chinese consumers; especially the young, urban and affluent. While romantics aren’t yet spoiling their loved ones with chocolates, jewelry appears to have become a popular gift. During the Spring Festival period from February 9-15, bank card transactions in jewelry shops increased 119% from the 2012 Festival period. That compares to a 43% increase for overall card usage in China and 33% overseas.

Shanghai, like many Chinese cities, has been invaded with Christmas trees and large shiny decorations. There seems to be more signs of Santa each Christmas I’ve been here, as the Chinese grow increasingly affectionate towards western culture and use any opportunity to hang more bright lights and tinsel. Many of the decorations are thinly guised advertising, as foreign and local companies work to increase their brand association with western culture. Curiously, it’s not just happening in China; even the Brits are doing what they can to lure a few Chinese tourists to do their Christmas shopping there. Last year, 150,000 Chinese tourists went to the UK on Christmas shopping sprees and spent $390 million. Chinese tourists doing Christmas shopping in the US and Europe have grown 20% this year.