Wangba – Internet cafes in China
I've posted a small guide on the Russian version of my blog on how to configure the Russian keyboard layout when you are at internet cafes in China. Since this information is probably useless for those reading me in English, I'll just share some of my impressions about internet cafes.
Internet cafes in China are truly ubiquitous. And they're large, too - the one I go to often has more than 100 computers.
They price is as low as 3 RMB ($0,4) per hour, and that's downtown Beijing, so in other places it will be even less than that. Even if you don't know Chinese, like me, it's very easy to remember the characters "wang ba", meaning "internet cafe": the first one, with two crosses, depicts a net (network), and the other one is derived from the character "snake" - oh these snaky dangerous internets!
The cafes are very crowded - mostly young people playing online games. Minors are not allowed - oh, I remember how half of my classmates used to skip classes to go play online games in a place like this. Smoking is allowed everywhere in China, even in hospitals, so internet cafes are not any exception at all. So the dimly-lit place filled with cigarette smoke is more like a bar. There are some nice girls, too.
Chinese internet cafes require you to show your ID and pose for a photo, just in case you are going to organize a new Chinese revolution from a cafe. There is virtually no anonymous internets here: say, you can't connect GPRS on your phone unless you have a contract in your name. So, what I'm saying is that after you have logged in with your passport number as the login, you start thinking carefully before opening each page or posting something. Feeling so responsible.
At the login screen I was welcomed by a happy policeman with the eyes like those of that cat from Shrek. How can you not happily obey this sincere look? Well, monstrously huge eyes is the common style of drawing in Asia, but these do-good policemen are posted everywhere from my door to every other lamp post in the street. The subway, social ads, everywhere. Welcome to 1984! The big brother is your friend.