Page 69 - Chinese Woman Living and Working

56 CLODAGH WYLIE
survey that showed that an estimated 67 per cent of men in Beijing were reluctant to use
condoms, press kits containing colourfully packaged condoms were distributed at the launch
of the site to local and international journalists.

www.LadiesAsia.com
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A Hong Kong based site, www.LadiesAsia.com, was also launched in 2000 and likewise
targets the burgeoning group identified as modern Asian women. As part of the launch a
lingerie show was staged with male models clad in underwear parading amongst the
guests. No doubt this served to reinforce the site’s objective to put ‘the Asian women of
today in the spotlight’ by catering to women’s personal needs and through the provision
of services such as pampering with luxury goods and online shopping. LadiesAsia.com has
Chinese, English and Japanese language options as well as a variety of links on the left-
hand side of its homepage. These include Fashion and Beauty, Heart to Heart, Path of Life
and Give us Your Hand. There are also interactive features to this site, listed as Boutique
and Auction for online shopping and Discussion for chat rooms.

www.cwow.com

According to www.cwow.com’s pre-launch press release (an abbreviation of ‘Chinese
Women on the Web’), women form a ‘hot vertical segment’ and are an attractive consumer
group for online advertisers and retailers. As stated on the home page, this site is ‘greater
China’s most comprehensive wedding and baby site’ and offers articles and advice on
relationships, marriage and children. The site was launched in Hong Kong in June 2000
and offers a choice of Taiwanese, Hong Kong or English as language options. It is highly
interactive, with women encouraged to join Cwow to access special services such as
designing their own wedding web page. Women are also invited to submit photos of their
wedding day or baby snaps, which may then be featured on the site. Users can also vote in
online polls and members are sent regular emails advertising special events or features on
days such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. While the site features multicoloured
tabs for some of its links, the majority of colours used on this site are light blues and
purples, more subdued than the brighter busier colours of gaogenxie. There is a distinct
similarity between the logos used on the Cwow and LadiesAsia websites. Both feature the
Chinese character for woman superimposed onto a sphere.

www.Eliren.com
www.Eliren.com is based in Beijing and is in Chinese with the use of English limited to
the company introduction and link buttons. According to the website’s introduction, the
target audience is women Internet users aged 16–40 (www.eliren.com/about.htm).
Founded in 2000, Eliren features a very full home page. The site offers articles on a
variety of topics: these include Officescape (xiezilou), Pink Lounge (hongfen keting),
Boudoir (juese sifang), Rose Garden (meigui huayuan), Jade Kitchen (yu shanfang), Cyber
Bar (wangba), Beauty Shop (meili jiayou zhan), Women’s Health, Wedding, Mom & Child