2016 Year in Review: The Year in Tech News and Tips
2016. What a time to be alive, eh? You can achieve pretty much anything (except proactivity) with a few jabs at your phone screen. This may be true the world over, but especially in Beijing, which is fast becoming one of the world's most exciting tech hubs. Here we round up some of the best tech news, new apps, and general tech tips and advice we brought you over the past year.
Up your gift-giving game with the Lihaoma app
If you've ever had trouble getting a present for a friend in Beijing, look no further than Lihaoma: the app that makes giving easier, and more fun. We spoke to creator Benjamin Claeys about how the app came to be and what role it can play in the average Beijinger's daily life.
Shift your stuff with Lanxiniu, the "Uber of moving vans"
Earlier in the year we heard about Lanxiniu, an app that was described by a member of one of my WeChat groups as "the Uber of moving vans." Despite its Chinese-only interface, Lanxiniu (蓝犀牛 "blue rhinoceros") is fairly intuitive to use. The blog linked above has a quick walkthrough of the process.
Order wine online with Signature Wine Club's App
Signature Wine Club is Beijing’s “only O2O wine subscription service where top wine professionals hand-pick each bottle delivered to your door every month” (their words). Founded by Mike Signorelli, pictured above, Sig Wine have been quietly building a following for the past few years and are now capitalizing on their success with the launch of a new app (available on iOS and Android).
Both the app and the concept is pretty simple. You pick from two subscription levels, silver (RMB 299 per month for two bottles, RMB 449 for three bottles) or gold (RMB 800 per month for three bottles), order and pay through the app, and every month the wines will be delivered to your door, along with detailed introductions and tasting notes. You can also re-order any wines you particularly liked from the past few months directly through the app. Login and payment can all be done via WeChat.
Break through language barriers with the LipSync app
Earlier in the year we spoke to Michael Park, CEO and founder of LipSync, a real-time interpretation app that aims to break through the language barrier many foreigners have in China, and provide employment opportunities for qualified translators.
Learn how to find and use WeChat Wallet
Quite a few people from the community reached out to us, asking for a WeChat Wallet guide. Depending on when you registered and if you have an international version of WeChat, especially attached to a foreign phone number (rather than a local one, or in my case, no number at all), your WeChat may have different functions. This blog details how to receive funds, whatever your set up.
Find out what to do if you use your phone
Mobile phones are infinitely important to us civilized people trying to survive in this cruel metropolis. Nowadays our phone is an extension of our body, using it to be social; using it to pay for things instead of carrying our wallets; calling a taxi; and buying stuff from JD, the list goes on.
Hopefully, you will never lose your phone, but just in case, you may want to save this blog. God forbid you do the one thing that's more mafan than everything else combined (slight exaggeration for entertainment purposes): losing your phone. So, what should you do? Your phone, after all, has all your pictures, and your WeChat wallet is linked to your bank account. Well, first, check that it isn't just in your hand. Not there? Let's take a deep breath and read the blog linked above.
The above apps are just the latest and greatest to launch in Beijing, but if you really want to make the most of your life in Beijing, earlier this year we rounded up a few of the most indispensable apps for surviving here in the big smoke.
More stories by this author here.
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Photos: Pixabay, the apps
