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If you read the Western press much, you will get a very distorted view of what Chinese life is -really like. The average foreigner will probably assume that there is little freedom in China, that daily life is highly regulated, and that most of what you buy is substandard and fake. You might find it strange that in fact, daily life is much freer and more casual in China than elsewhere, that there is a very large majority of honest workers and business people, that you can purchase thousands of high quality and authentic products here, and that the so-called "American Dream" is actually at the moment more alive and well in China than in America!

A simple way to describe what Taobao would be to say it's the Chinese equivalent of Amazon.com or better, buying online with "Chinese characteristics". The "old school of thought"here in China is that it is dangerous to buy online, that the products are all fake, and that you will often lose your money. Based on my experience, this manner of thinking is definitely "guoshi le" or out-of-date. Taobao has a system for reviewing sellers and helping you pick the responsible ones.

In the last few years, I have bought so many things online that I have lost track. I am now a "4 heart" buyer and soon to graduate to "5 hearts" (a scoring system based on how many items you buy and reviews you write). Some of the things I have bought online were expensive and many of my Chinese friends were really shocked that I would use Taobao. I used Taobao to buy a rare and beautiful guzheng made in Xi'an and later discovered that the sound was superior to those fresh from the factory, definitely an authentic Scarlet Bird zheng. I also used Taobao to buy an expensive coffee machine from Germany and although the process took a few weeks, the machine arrived at customs in Dalian triple wrapped and in perfect conditionand the seller quickly compensated me for the duty I had to pay, not to mention that the price was very good to begin with. When I traveled to Yunnan, I discovered how wonderful Yunnancoffee is, but paid a hefty price for a bag of beans in a tourist store in Dali. Returning home, I discovered I could buy the beans at a rock bottom price on Taobao and they were quickly shipped absolutely fresh from the factory. And the examples can go on and on…

You might think living in a foreign country means you will be a little lonely at times, but I most enjoy chatting online with the sellers and expecially enjoy the casual online language of Taobao. Of course, you have to be able to read and write Chinese, but not on a terribly high level if you have a good dictionary on your computer. I particularly like being called "Qin"親！

This is an abbreviated form of dear which is a familiar greeting on Taobao. To go to the pay bill page is called "pai qian" 拍錢 or just "pai". "Kuai di" 快遞 is the method most people want used for shipping because it will come to your door just like UPS. Your chats online can be quiteelaborate. The seller will spend a lot of time to explain size, color, use, etc. in hopes that you will eventually buy, and always in a very courteous manner. I have a young friend, who like me can be very indecisive in buying something. He will go so far as to ask the seller what color they prefer and how many people are buying what item, etc. You can surely test the seller's patience with all these questions.

Which brings me to the heart of the matter and the heart of Taobao. All over China there are these wonderful people who have a little Taobao business that is often part time. According to my experience, the vast majority are very sincere and honest. When you chat online, you maybe connecting with a computer in someone's kitchen that is running 16 hours a day on a littlet able with a few boxes of items stacked in the corner of the kitchen. They are very proud of what they sell and very attentive to good service for their customers. The extra money they make often funds a family vacation or a new car.

I once bought an expensive computer from Taobao and the seller turned out to be living just down the street, so I was invited to pick it up at their home. Yes, there was the computer running in the kitchen while the woman of the house prepared dinner. She carefully loaded the Chinese service pack on to the computer and explained how to use it. I returned to buy some accessories and met her husband, a really friendly young couple who were very interested in what I was doing in Dalian. If I am very clever with my Chinese, sometimes Taobao people will not know I am a foreigner, but she guessed because my Chinese name is not commonly usedby Chinese people. We had a wonderful time chatting in person this time, and I also wrote them a great review. By the way, the computer turned out to be the very best computer for studying Chinese I have ever owned!

Is it possible to have a real "Taobao life"? Maybe. You could spend hours online chatting with literally thousands of sellers and basking in their courteous attention. Then you could sit at home and wait for the "kuai di" guys and have a friendly chat with them. Better yet, when you are out they will call you and you can loudly explain that since you are away, please leave yourpackage(s) with the property management office (Wu Ye) 物業(yè) （a very commonly received cellphone call）. In this way, others around you will surely know you are prosperous and every day very busy! Also, don’t forget that packages often come with unexpected free gifts that will liven up the day. I just received one that looks like a very wide portable marker that can go in your pocket like a pen. However, pop off the top and inside you find a small fork and spoon as well as a set of collapsible stainless chopsticks!

And isn't having your own business a cornerstone of what some call the "American Dream"?

Aren't all these independent entrepreneurs scattered over the country honestly selling products and taking pride in their service and high numbers of good reviews so much like the small business America we are persuaded to think is uniquely American? I hope everyone will stop paying attention to the China bashing Western press. China in so many ways is just like America, a land of independence and self determination and Taobao truly represents a kind of"American Dream" "with Chinese characteristics"!

He Baoluo (Paul Huebner) came to China to study Chinese language and music after asuccessful career in Los Angeles teaching piano to mostly Chinese-American students. In 2003, he began studying in the summer at Liaoning University until he and his wife finally decided to move to Shenyang. More recently, he has attended classes at Dalian University of Finance and Economics. In addition to studying Chinese, he now studies guzheng and guqin and was honored to perform at a China 60th Birthday Concert in Dalian.

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如果你讀過(guò)夠多西方報(bào)道，你將會(huì)對(duì)中國(guó)的真實(shí)生活產(chǎn)生一種曲解。一般外國(guó)人都會(huì)認(rèn)為中國(guó)人少有自由，日常生活受到嚴(yán)格控制，大部分商品都是不合格的假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品。但你會(huì)驚奇的發(fā)現(xiàn)，事實(shí)上，這里的生活比其他國(guó)家都要自由而隨意，這里有如此多誠(chéng)實(shí)可靠的工人和商人，你能買到許許多多高品質(zhì)、值得信賴的產(chǎn)品；你會(huì)看到所謂的“美國(guó)夢(mèng)”正在中國(guó)一幕幕真實(shí)上演，甚至超過(guò)了它的夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)美國(guó)。

簡(jiǎn)而言之，淘寶相當(dāng)于中國(guó)版的亞馬遜或者比它更好，進(jìn)行的是帶有“中國(guó)特色”的網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物。中國(guó)的“守舊派”認(rèn)為，網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物是危險(xiǎn)的，賣的商品都是假貨，你會(huì)經(jīng)常上當(dāng)受騙。鑒于我的個(gè)人經(jīng)驗(yàn)，這種想法當(dāng)然“過(guò)時(shí)了”。淘寶自有一套審查賣方的系統(tǒng)，能幫助你挑選那些負(fù)責(zé)任的賣家。

在過(guò)去的幾年里，我在網(wǎng)上買了很多東西，幾乎找不完購(gòu)買記錄。我現(xiàn)在可是四星買家，要不了多久就榮升五星了（星級(jí)是根據(jù)你的購(gòu)物數(shù)量以及評(píng)論而定的）。我買的東西中，有些非常昂貴，我的很多中國(guó)朋友對(duì)此都非常震驚，我居然會(huì)上淘寶。我買過(guò)一架西安的珍稀古箏，它的音色比那些廠家剛產(chǎn)的古箏還要出色動(dòng)聽，當(dāng)然咯，這是一架純正的朱雀古箏。我還買過(guò)一臺(tái)德產(chǎn)的咖啡機(jī)，盡管這期間花費(fèi)了幾個(gè)星期的時(shí)間，當(dāng)這臺(tái)海外貨達(dá)到大連海關(guān)時(shí)，它裹著三層包裝，保護(hù)完好，賣家還很快補(bǔ)償了我不得不付的關(guān)稅，更別提這臺(tái)咖啡機(jī)便宜的價(jià)格了。當(dāng)我去云南旅行時(shí)，嘗到了云南咖啡覺得非常美味，但是從大理店里買下的一袋咖啡豆花了不少錢?；貋?lái)后我發(fā)現(xiàn)淘寶上的這種咖啡豆便宜很多，并且直接從廠家運(yùn)來(lái)速度也很快。這樣的例子還有很多很多……

你在異國(guó)他鄉(xiāng)生活的話，難免有時(shí)會(huì)覺得一點(diǎn)孤單。但我最喜歡在線和賣家們聊天，特別是喜歡用輕松隨意的淘寶體和對(duì)方交流。當(dāng)然，你得必須會(huì)讀，會(huì)寫漢字，但如果你的電腦里有一款好字典的話就不必一定要達(dá)到高水準(zhǔn)的漢語(yǔ)水平。我特別喜歡開頭的問(wèn)候語(yǔ)“親！”

這是“親愛的”的一種縮寫，是淘寶上熟悉的一種招呼語(yǔ)。轉(zhuǎn)到付款頁(yè)面叫“拍錢”或直接“拍”。大部分人都會(huì)選擇快遞這種運(yùn)送方式，因?yàn)樗梢运拓浀郊议T，就像美國(guó)聯(lián)合包裹（UPS）一樣。賣家會(huì)花很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間來(lái)解釋說(shuō)明該款寶貝的大小、顏色、用法等，希望你最終能把它買下來(lái)，并總是用非常禮貌地方式和你交流。我有一年輕朋友，和我一樣，買東西時(shí)常猶猶豫豫，不知如何選擇。他甚至?xí)?wèn)賣家推薦哪種顏色，有多少人在買哪種物品等等之類的問(wèn)題。當(dāng)然你可以用這些問(wèn)題來(lái)考驗(yàn)賣家的耐心。

正是這些讓我深深體會(huì)到淘寶購(gòu)物和淘寶的好。全中國(guó)有很多做淘寶兼職生意的可愛人。根據(jù)我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，絕大部分人都是很真誠(chéng)，守信用的。當(dāng)你在線聊天時(shí)，鏈接的另一頭可能是一位坐在廚房里一天開機(jī)16個(gè)小時(shí)的人，他的電腦就放在小小的桌上，在廚房角落里堆疊著一些商品的包裝盒。他們對(duì)自己的產(chǎn)品非常自豪，對(duì)顧客的服務(wù)十分上心。他們想用這份額外的收入換一次家庭度假或買一輛新車。

我曾在淘寶上買過(guò)一臺(tái)昂貴的電腦，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)賣家和我住同一條街。所以我就應(yīng)邀去他家取電腦。是的，廚房里開著一臺(tái)電腦，女主人在準(zhǔn)備晚飯。她仔細(xì)地在電腦上裝載中國(guó)版服務(wù)包并向我解釋如何使用。我回來(lái)買一些配件時(shí)遇到了她的丈夫，這一對(duì)年輕的夫婦非常友好，他們對(duì)我在大連的工作很好奇。如果我漢語(yǔ)用的很溜的話，淘寶賣家有時(shí)是不會(huì)知道我是一名外國(guó)人的。但是她猜到了，因?yàn)槲业闹形拿谥袊?guó)不常用。這次我們聊得非常愉快，而且我還在淘寶上給他們寫了一段很棒的點(diǎn)評(píng)。順便說(shuō)一句，這臺(tái)漢語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)電腦是我買過(guò)最好的一臺(tái)。

擁有一段真正的“淘寶生活“可能嗎？可能。你可以花很多時(shí)間一字一句地和上千個(gè)賣家在線聊天并享受對(duì)方盡心盡力的關(guān)懷。然后你可以坐在家里等待快遞小哥，和他們友好地交談幾句。再好的是，當(dāng)你外出時(shí)，他們會(huì)打給你，你可以大聲地解釋說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在不在家，麻煩把你的包裹放到物業(yè)那兒。這樣的話，周圍人肯定會(huì)覺得你很成功，每天都很忙！另外，別忘了，包裹里常有一份意外的免費(fèi)小禮物。我就收到過(guò)一個(gè)看上去很寬的便攜式書簽，可以把它像筆一樣塞到口袋里。然而，拆開包裹，你就會(huì)找到一把小刀和湯勺，還有一雙可折疊的不銹鋼筷子！

難道擁有一筆自己的小生意不正是“美國(guó)夢(mèng)”的基石嗎？

這些獨(dú)立企業(yè)遍布全國(guó)，勤勤懇懇售貨，以自己的服務(wù)和買家們的高度好評(píng)為豪，他們不正和我們一直認(rèn)為的美國(guó)特色小企業(yè)一樣嗎？我希望大家不要再關(guān)注中國(guó)痛擊西方媒體的事件了。中國(guó)在很多方面和美國(guó)一樣，也是一塊獨(dú)立而自決的土地。淘寶真實(shí)地展現(xiàn)了一種具有中國(guó)特色的“美國(guó)夢(mèng)”！

作者簡(jiǎn)介：何保羅（音）在美國(guó)拉斯維加斯有一份成功的鋼琴教學(xué)事業(yè)，他大部分教的是美籍華裔，后來(lái)他來(lái)到中國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)漢語(yǔ)和音樂。2003年夏天，他在遼寧大學(xué)開始了學(xué)習(xí)直到他和妻子決定搬去沈陽(yáng)。最近，他在大連大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)金融和經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)。除了學(xué)習(xí)漢語(yǔ)，他現(xiàn)在還學(xué)習(xí)古箏和古琴，并有幸在大連的建國(guó)60周年晚會(huì)上進(jìn)行演出。