A: Morning everybody! This is FM 97.5!
Welcome to today's the Voice of the Confucius Institute. I am____.
B: Welcome, I am _____. So glad to be here
again on every Friday' s morning, and thank you for being with the
Voice of the Confucius Institute. our email address is [email protected]
A : Yes, [email protected], we are really
expecting to receive your any letters. If you got suggestions or advices,
please do not hesitate to connect us! Via email or telephone, both ok, our
Radio number is xxxxxx.
B: yes, totally, and you guys are so
welcomed to dial in during the radio time to do some , you know, interacts with
us. we really love that, and if you like our show, please introduce us to your
friends, pupils or bros. That would be a huge driving force to us. Ok, as
usual, first, previously on the last week's talk.
A: well, last week we introduced two kinds
of scholarship in China for foreign students, the Chinese government
scholarship and the kongzixueyuan scholarship. So, B ,can you tell us about
their differences?
B: yes, no problem, those two scholarships
are both facing to the global students who share the same wish to study in
china. the difference is that the Chinese government scholarship is available
for all majors, such like literature, art, finance, engineering, etc. The range
of subjects are not limited, you can really choose any major you interested in.
But for the kongzixueyuan scholarship, the major you choose to study in China
should be related to the Chinese language.
A: Such like?
B: Such like International Chinese
Education, Chinese Language and Literature.
A: well, I see, that is to say, the Chinese
Government Scholarship has a wider range compared with the kongzixueyuan
scholarship, and it provides more choices for the foreign students in terms of
their majors.
B: yes, nice and clear.
A: So, 史凯? you still remember him?
B: of course, the Namibian student
who's pursuing his PHD in China.
A: so what kind of scholar he got?
B: he chose computer science as his major,
so it must be the Chinese Government Scholarship he applied.
A: A very remarkable success for him.
B: Definitely true. Speaking of 史凯,I am just so wondering how is he
doing in China so far, has he adapted the Chinese culture? Is he fitting in
every sides of Chinese society, maybe his daily life, his Chinese friends? Does
he like Chinese moible payment or shopping online?
A: yeah, yeah,, that is exactly what I am
going to say, you know, the days when online shopping and new ways of payment
getting hot in China, I was quite timid to try those things, I am always acting
like...
B: So A, you are kind of like old school
person?
A: hahahhaha, yes, something like that, I
just sometimes enjoy the old way of doing things.
A: so, will you still have some shell in
your wallet to buy something outside today?
B: hahahahha, no, not really, I still do
bartering.
A: hahahhah, nice one B, but I hear from
the last letter given by 史凯,It seems like everything's fine for him in China, he got
quite a few local friends and very used to the new things, like the mobile
payment.
B: yes, even me have to admit the mobile
payment is just so good and convenient, you don't have to worry about
the loss of cash, or do you have enough money with you while outside. It really
makes the people's life better.
A: I totally agree with you on that, you
know, now when I am in China, whenever my friends call me, I just pick up my
phone, online hail a taxi, and I go out.
B: The technology really moves up fast these
days, I once talked with some foreign students in my college, I don't
know what new lifestyle these guys were on in China, and it turned out to be
very affirmative.
A: That is so nice! I, personally speaking,
really really into the emerging staffs. The online shopping, the mobile
payment, the sharing cars.
B: yeah, you just hit the three of Four new
invention in modern China.
A: eh, come again? Four new Inventions?
what is that?
B:well, that is a concept in contrast to
the old four invention in ancient China.
A: oh I know that, the four old inventions
are: paper making, the compass, the gun powder and the printing technique.
B: yes, totally correct, and the four new
ones are: online shopping, mobile payment, the highspeed railway and the sharing
economy.
A: wowo, that's something new to
me, okay B, for the online shopping, mobile payment, and the highspeed railway,
I can easily understand, but what is sharing economy for?
B: haha, I know you will ask for this! ok,
sharing economy, just as its name implies, a economy where everyone can share
with your own needs. Like Airbnb, someone has extra rooms in his house, then he
can rent the room to the outside travelers, backpacker, for his own, the house
owner can gain extra money in his pocket, and for the renter, they can enjoy
the room in a relatively low price instead of booking a standard hotel.
A: so, it's like a win-win mode of
business?
B: yes, A, actually, The sharing economy is
an economic model often defined as a peer-to-peer(P2P) based activity of
acquiring, providing or sharing access to goods and services that are
facilitated by a community based on-line platform. Sharing economies allow
individuals and groups to make money from underused assets. In this way,
physical assets are shared as services. Take for instance car sharing services
like Lyft and Uber. According to data provided by the Brookings Institute,
private vehicles go unused for 95% of their lifetime. The same report detailed
Airbnb’s cost
advantage over the hotel space as homeowners make use of spare bedrooms. Airbnb
rates were reported to be between 30-60% cheaper than hotel rates around the
world.
A: now I see, sharing economy is like, an
old mode of trade, but powered by the Internet, has been evolving since recent
years.
B: right hit the point! you know, actually,
When I met sharing economy in January 2015, I asked everyone I met if they’d heard of the term “sharing
economy.” Ninety percent of people said no, 5% assumed I was talking about
barter exchange, and the remaining 5% acknowledged new technologies and
peer-to-peer networks were enabling emergent business models. It was difficult
to find anyone who had used Airbnb or Mobike.
Fast forward to 2018 and the reality is
vastly different. Not only is the sharing economy in the news daily, it also
has spurred a growing – and at times mind-boggling – list of related terms. To
many people, the sharing economy and gig economy are the same thing. But in
fact.....
A: wait wait wait, what is Mobike?
B: well, it's like the Airbnb in
bike industry, on Airbnb, you get the room and the accommodation from others
who doesn't need it at the moment. well, for Mobike, you get a bike to
solve your problem of "the last mile" after you off work.
A: okay , B , you got me. what is the last
mile?
B: The last mile problem is usually to
describe the circumstance that you are off the bus, but there is still quite a
distance away from your home. Walking, a little long, taxi, a waste of money.
A: okay, now I get that.
B: so the emergence of Mobike offered a
way to this perplexity. You can use your smart phone to unlock any Mobikes
around you, and ride on it back to your home. When you arrived, you just lock
it on the leave it outside for other users. And it only charges 1 N$ per mile.
A: that is cool!
B: yes, I mean, who said no.
A: well, B, you really broaden my eyes, ok,
you just mentioned the highspeed ways?
B: yes, highspeed rail, we call that Gaotie
in China, you can take that as the Shikansen or the Euro-Star.
A: what is the difference? why you called
that a new invention?
B: the difference? ok, let me say in this
way, the highest speed of Shikansen in Japan, its 320 km per hour, that is
kinda of record around the world. But for Chinese Gaotie, we got 450 KM per
hour.
A: that is impossible!
B: yes , technology, ha?
A: woo, that' s, that's to
say, to travel from windhoek to Rundu, it only takes me, eh...
B: well, take your time, do your math.
A: only takes less than 2 hours!
B: and only cost you hundreds of dollars,
faster, and cheaper.
A: ohho, B, then, while a foreign student
studying in China, he can just spend a couple of hours to travel thousands of
far? Like, only withine a weekend can he visit several different cities and
sites?
B: not impossible
A: well, fantastic. okay, for whom you
maybe just turn on your radio, now you are with A and B, FM 97.5, the voice of
the confucius Institute of UANM, we just talked about the two things in China
which foreign students may interested in: the sharing economy and the highspeed
rail. I have to say it really okay, now, B, I dare you to surprise me more.