Virtual Reality Cafes booming in China

**zhaoyun** · 09-21-2016, 03:58 PM

This is considered the next tier growth industry in China. Virtual Reality cafes are booming, and it's only at the nascent stages. Supposed to be a $9 billion industry within the next 4 years, I plan to check out one of these when I go to Shenzhen later this year.

http://qz.com/766128/photos-chinas-b...to-the-masses/

**~~Selurong~~** · 09-21-2016, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by zhaoyun

This is considered the next tier growth industry in China. Virtual Reality cafes are booming, and it's only at the nascent stages. Supposed to be a $9 billion industry within the next 4 years, I plan to check out one of these when I go to Shenzhen later this year.

http://qz.com/766128/photos-chinas-b...to-the-masses/

China, before the rise of the West has always been in the forefront of next generation technologies. Having widespread distribution of Virtual Reality cafes ahead of everyone else is I think a repeat of the past trend.

Also, Shenzen is becoming the next Silicon valley! My tablet and smartphone were manufactured in Shenzen.

**~~Selurong~~** · 09-21-2016, 04:06 PM

Do you think Shenzen is becoming more "wired" and tech-savy? Enough to surpass Tokyo and Seoul (Which has the world's fastest internet speed).

**zhaoyun** · 09-21-2016, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by Selurong

Do you think Shenzen is becoming more "wired" and tech-savy? Enough to surpass Tokyo and Seoul (Which has the world's fastest internet speed).

Well, Shenzhen is already the world's "second Silicon Valley", it has the highest concentration of tech firms and venture capital (which actually overtook Silicon Valley this year, though it's not for sure it's sustainable). About internet speeds, it's not a matter of technology but the Chinese government. Internet speeds in many Chinese cities are slowed down because of the government's firewall against selected foreign websites. It's fucking annoying. But who knows when that will go away.

But Shenzhen overall is a very different place than Seoul or Tokyo, or even other mainland Chinese cities. It's a very young city and everyone there is from somewhere else. It's also like the Wild East, it's chaotic, it's very fast paced, it's very innovative, there are a lot of entrepreneurs heading there to make their dreams come true but the competition is very fierce. But it's grown some very huge tech companies and it's booming. It's already moved ahead of Seoul and Tokyo as an innovation center. China's tech industry today is wild and vibrant and booming, Korea and Japan's are a lot more regulated with a lot less players and capital, they won't be producing as much next tier technology as China will because of the sheer level of competitiveness in China. Korea and Japan pretty much protected and closed off their markets, picked a few champions and gave them the market, China is like the Wild East, and all types of foreign players are in there as well, that's why the competition is way more heated, plus it's a much larger market.

**~~Selurong~~** · 09-21-2016, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by zhaoyun

Well, Shenzhen is already the world's "second Silicon Valley", it has the highest concentration of tech firms and venture capital (which actually overtook Silicon Valley this year, though it's not for sure it's sustainable). About internet speeds, it's not a matter of technology but the Chinese government. Internet speeds in many Chinese cities are slowed down because of the government's firewall against selected foreign websites. It's fucking annoying. But who knows when that will go away.

But Shenzhen overall is a very different place than Seoul or Tokyo, or even other mainland Chinese cities. It's a very young city and everyone there is from somewhere else. It's also like the Wild East, it's chaotic, it's very fast paced, it's very innovative, there are a lot of entrepreneurs heading there to make their dreams come true but the competition is very fierce. But it's grown some very huge tech companies and it's booming. It's already moved ahead of Seoul and Tokyo as an innovation center. China's tech industry today is wild and vibrant and booming, Korea and Japan's are a lot more regulated with a lot less players and capital, they won't be producing as much next tier technology as China will because of the sheer level of competitiveness in China. Korea and Japan pretty much protected and closed off their markets, picked a few champions and gave them the market, China is like the Wild East, and all types of foreign players are in there as well, that's why the competition is way more heated, plus it's a much larger market.

I just read up on Shenzhen in wikipedia and I was amazed at how fast and developed the city is.

Is Shenzhen an environmentally sound city? I heard that alot of Chinese cities suffer from pollution problems, Beijing in particular has a smog problem. Hopefully, Chinese cities start becoming green.

**zhaoyun** · 09-21-2016, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Selurong

I just read up on Shenzhen in wikipedia and I was amazed at how fast and developed the city is.

Is Shenzhen an environmentally sound city? I heard that alot of Chinese cities suffer from pollution problems, Beijing in particular has a smog problem. Hopefully, Chinese cities start becoming green.

Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Especially when you are stuck in rush hour on a highway packed full of cars and congestion, it is very difficult to breathe. It's horrible. But with that said, it depends on the time and place, sometimes it feels pretty unpolluted.

I haven't been to Shenzhen in a while so I am not sure. Southern cities in general are less polluted than Northern and Central Chinese cities. Shenzhen used to be where there were a ton of low wage factories controlled by independent contractors churning out crap for foreign brands, but it's moving way past that. It's a super fast paced city. It is rootless, it has no native community because everyone came from somewhere else, it was a village just 36 years ago, but now it's a huge city of 12 million people. Everyone who goes there, goes there to work and to make their dreams come true, that's why it's a very exciting place.

I think Shenzhen will seriously challenge America's Silicon Valley as the global center of innovation in the next ten to fifteen years. Silicon Valley's top business leaders and venture capitalists are already starting to take notice.