25+ China People You Should Follow On Twitter. Not One "China Expert" Among Them.
A few weeks ago, a client who will be opening a factory in China within a couple of months told me how much he has been learning about China by following people on Twitter and following their news links. He then asked me who if I had a list of "China people" he should be following.
I said about all I could tell him is that he should go through the people I follow on Twitter and pull out those related to China. The problem there is that I follow about 900 people and many of them have absolutely nothing at all to do with China. This morning, while perusing Ad Age China, I came across an excellent article by Normandy Madden (yes, she was named after the region in France) entitled, "25 China Experts You Should Follow on Twitter" and, with one giant caveat, it is a really good list.
The caveat is that I do not believe any of the 25 people on the list are China experts (myself included) and I would guess all 25 would agree with me on this. Calling someone a "China expert" is like calling someone an expert on the United States. There are no U.S. experts. There are US historians expert on particular historical periods. There are US economists, expert on particular aspects of the US economy. There are US lawyers, expert on particular aspects of US law. Etc., etc., etc. Same is true of China. Having said that, here's the list:
William Bao Bean, venture capitalist at Softbank focused on early stage tech, media, telco and consumer investments in Asia
Follow: @williambaobean
Sage Brennan, independent media and internet analyst and TEDx organizer in Shanghai
Follow: @sagebrennan
Richard Burger, blogger and editor at the Chinese newspaper Global Times
Follow:@ThePekingDuck
Simon Cousins, CEO of the PR and strategic communications agency Illuminant Partners in Beijing
Follow: @illuminantceo
Thomas Crampton, director of digital influence, Asia-Pacific at Ogilvy & Mather in Hong Kong
Follow: @ThomasCrampton
Oli D., Shanghai-based blogger
Follow: @djodcouk
Paul Denlinger, ex-VP at Chinadotcom and founder of China Business Strategy, which advises internet startups
Follow: @pdenlinger
David Feng, founder of Civitology, a network of mass transit-based China city sites
Follow: @DavidFeng
Andrew Galbraith, deputy editor, China Economic Review in Shanghai
Follow: @apgalbraith
Jeremy Goldkorn, founder and editor In Chief of Danwei.org in Beijing
Follow: @goldkorn
Dan Harris, China law blogger
Follow: @DanHarris
Lonnie Hodge, CEO at CFM, Asia Director at Pitchengine, Educator and Social Median
Follow: @lonniehodge
Kaiser Kuo, Beijing-based China tech watcher, Youku.com consultant and guitarist in one of China's top heavy metal bands, Tang Dynasty
Follow: @kaiserkuo
Ray Kwong, Asia market entry adviser in Beijing
Follow: @raykwong
Andy Lee, digital media and finance consultant in China
Follow: @andylee
Kevin Lee, magazine brand manager and integrated media strategist in Beijing
Follow: @kevinkclee
Kristie Lu Stout, Hong Kong-based anchor/correspondent on CNN International
Follow: @klustout
Ryan McLaughlin, writer and web designer in China
Follow: @thehumanaught
Will Moss, American spin doctor in Beijing
Follow: @imagethief
Jay Oatway, Hong Kong-based journalist covering tech news, culture, digital media, trends and social media
Follow: @JayOatway
Philip Pan, Moscow bureau chief of the Washington Post, formerly based in Beijing, author of the book "Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China"
Follow: @panphil
Adam Schokora, manager, digital, China at Edelman in Shanghai
Follow: @ajschokora
Dan Washburn, writer and founding editor of Shanghaiist
Follow: @danwashburn
Steven Weathers, TV host, video producer and founder of American English Circle in Shanghai
Follow: @sdweathers
David Wolf, communications strategist in Beijing
Follow: @wolfgroupasia
I sent this list to my client and told him this is a great place to start but that plenty of people are missing from this list. Who would you add? Do you know of any other good lists?
Comments (22)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endbill - February 9, 2010 9:03 AM
@adamminter
@niubi
@mranti
@maoxian
@elliottng
@gadyepstein
@aaronback
Anne - February 9, 2010 9:19 AM
Wow it's still obviously a man's game - how many women made the list? One?
Tait - February 9, 2010 12:05 PM
Here's a list of English-tweeting China people - http://twitter.com/#list/taite11/china-english
Try @jasonzhanjia, @taite11 (me) and @chinainternet for China internet related things...
Also @MalcolmMoore is good for news.
Adam Daniel Mezei - February 9, 2010 12:42 PM
Gosh, I'm almost afraid to do this at the likely risk of accidentally omitting so many other deserving potential list candidates, but I guess I can always return with more...
Having said that, I'd also add:
@damjan_denoble | Damjan Denoble | blog editor at Asia Health Care Blog and China Health Care Blog. A vital resource on the CN health care scene.
@blcsfo | Will Li | go to guy for anything online Chinese language learning-related. San Francisco-based.
@chijs | Marc van der Chijs | CEO of Spil Games Asia, and entrepreneur with a unique insider-outsider's perspective on the Chinese social media and tech scenes. Old China Hand. Co-founder of Tudou.com, iTalki.com, and several other Chinese startups.
@joop| Joop Dorrestejn | Spil Games Asia honcho with tons of ROK and PRC experience. Check out his blog for your daily photo feast.
@ge_anderson | Greg Anderson | China academic with almost two decades of China and Taiwan experience. Travels around the PRC. Knows anything about China. I've even asked him.
@alecash | Alec Ash | Blogmaster at www.thinksix.net. Blogs for China Beat. Student at Beida, lots of moxie.
lon - February 10, 2010 3:41 AM
What I liked most about Normandy's list was that she addded some pretty fun tweets with the recommendations.
@rmack (human rights/cernsorship) @niubi (Always smart and informative) @garysoup (China foodie and very funny) @iheartbeijing (SWonderfullyt ascerbic) @joeleisen (Educator/lawyer) @maggierauch (Sports writer) @fonstuinstra (Journalist) @weirdchina (Delightful madman) @leonacraig (Art expert) @beijingwithkids (Self explanatory) and more....
Yep, when I was in bomb disposal school in the Army we called an expert a "former drip under pressure"...
Thanks for the shout...
Thanks for the shout out...
Rick - February 10, 2010 3:57 AM
@rmack
@feng37
@mranti
@davesgonechina
@kellenparker
@stinson
@niubi
@sirsteven
@EllaChou
@bokane
@malcolmmoore
Sarahplusone - February 10, 2010 4:18 AM
Lots of great, intelligent women on Twitter talking about China, including these three who consistently share though provoking and interesting ideas and articles.
@quelquefois Amy Chang, 2008/9 Fulbright Scholar
@maggierauch Maggie Rauch, freelance sports reporter who knows the China scene from the inside
@taniabranigan Tania Branigan, China Correspondent for The Guardian
In general, however, I think that women tend to use Twitter in a different, more social way. So you may not get as much raging discussion of foreign policy and tech trends out of us "China broads," but if you want a big picture look at how life in a city, follow a few and see what happens. You may be surprised how much you learn.
Thomas Crampton - February 10, 2010 5:25 AM
Great list and additions in the comments. I could add quite a few more great ones, but am reacting to your comment about "China Expert". I totally agree. I think the same applies to the field I work in, Social Media as well as Asia itself.
I have lived and worked across the region for nearly a decade and a half reporting for the IHT and running Social Media at Ogilvy, but - at best - remain an enthusiastic student of the region. Even if you are an "expert" on the region today, it will change by next week.
As you point out, the self-proclaimed experts tend to be those living outside the region.
General rule: When you meet someone claiming to be an expert in Asia, China or Social Media, run do not walk to find advice from someone else!
allroads - February 10, 2010 7:13 AM
Interesting post.
Such a different group of suggestions than I typically see.
richard - February 10, 2010 7:19 AM
@bokane
@gadyepstein
Delboy - February 10, 2010 9:07 PM
You can rule out @DavidFeng, I believe he's been banned by big poppa for swearing too much on twitter.
For those I like to follow:
@gabyu
@christinelu (even if she's a little bit "kikoolol" sometimes)
Twit - February 10, 2010 11:36 PM
But a lot of the good China hands don't "do" Twitter. Hence there's a lot of people missing.
CL - February 11, 2010 10:50 PM
A big thanks for this blog-post. I've started following on Twitter most of the people you mention and I've already gotten some great China info from them.
misuoya - February 17, 2010 8:37 PM
One that I love and have been following is really great. He posts interesting business news and culture about China.
@Chinaprime
christine lu - February 22, 2010 10:28 PM
@aimeenbarnes has great cross border insight.
@raykwong is a human rss feed on china news.
@niubi also shares lots of great info
@elliottng is also a must follow for cross border perspective
Richard -- thanks for the mention but I don't suggest anyone looking for China info to follow me since it's a personal account and not all that focused anymore on China.
richard - February 28, 2010 6:47 PM
True, Christine Lu - I mainly follow you for the candid entertainment you provide.
I. Meineke - April 4, 2010 3:18 PM
This is a great list. I've started following most of them and enjoying the hell out of it. Thanks.
R. Byrd - August 30, 2010 4:18 AM
Just now seeing this list. It's excellent. Thanks.
HC - September 8, 2010 3:38 AM
Great list. I just loaded up on them. Thanks.
roddy - September 14, 2010 10:32 PM
interesting list thanks to you, regards !
Hug Law - December 19, 2010 10:17 PM
These are some great people to follow but I note that you are no longer on Twitter. What's up with that?
China Guy - January 11, 2011 11:45 PM
Great list Dan, but whatever happened to YOUR twitter account?