Take a quick peek at the people and places that are creating China all over again

A new sort of dynasty is growing inside a very strange online world. Second Life’s (SL) the game and Anshe Chung's the dame. The game is a virtual world where real people can live out fantasy lives through their avatars, changing their sex, shape and species at the click of a button. The residents of this world shop, attend class, gamble, hook up and even run businesses. There is so much buzz around SL, Reuters even embedded a journalist to report in-world news. SL is like real life (RL), except for its state of endless reinvention limited only by your imagination and tech skills. You can browse RL stores stationed inside SL like American Apparel and Dell, which even offers factory tours, or visit Amazon and peruse bestsellers over an espresso while flirting with the shopkeeper. SL is filled with goods and services that avatars can create and sell to fellow avatarians for a price that converts to real currency (US$). Unimpressed? Then it’s time for you to meet the dame. Anshe Chung (RL name Ailin Graef), together with husband Guni Greenstein (RL name Guntram Graef), have earned a rumored US$1 million in this metaworld. The entrepreneurial couple started Wuhan based Anshe Chung Studios in 2006 and conduct their business in SL. Banking on the almost untapped Chinese market due to the fact that SL is currently only available in English, Anshe Chung Studios is developing Chinese areas with Chinese speaker-friendly features. Linden Lab, the San Francisco based company that created SL, is also working on the internationalization of SL, but it is Ailin Graef who is poised to dominate the Chinese market. China’s population in SL is still small, with just over 3,200 registrants, according to Catherine Smith, Linden Lab’s director of marketing. That figure is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the 1.5 million accounts worldwide, which doesn’t account for inactive accounts. My SL avatar, Hana Paperclip, chatted with Greenstein in his virtual living room in Dreamland, the name of Anshe Chung Studios’ territory, about the company’s plans for SL China. “We noticed that most Chinese speakers, and the same applies to Japanese, feel lost in an all English speaking environment,” Greenstein said. “Drop out rates are especially high for non-English speakers.” Thus, Anshe Graef, the multilingual Chinese-born German language teacher cum Business Week cover model, saw her chance to develop a niche market for Chinese speakers within SL. Greenstein commented that 10 to 15 percent of the SL world was developed by Anshe Chung Studios and in their SL world “people can play and settle down here in an area that will be frequented by Chinese speakers.” Since it is up to RL individuals to build SL (registration is free, but to take part in the construction boom an investment is required), less industrious players are at the mercy of the tastes and regulations (i.e. zoning) of developers. For example, as in RL there is crime, corruption and a bit of Sin City in SL. While Linden Lab can ban your avatar for engaging in certain behaviors (stalkers and mobsters come to mind), casinos and strip clubs are allowed to thrive. Anshe Chung is on the other end of the spectrum, known for developing themed neighborhoods, boutique stores and ready-to-go private island sims that they sell to other avatars. With her large presence (some consider Anshe Chung the de facto ruler in the relatively anarchic SL world) she, theoretically, can choose to rule Chinese speaking avatars benevolently or with an iron fist. The company hopes to eventually host direct sign-ups through a Chinese language website and registration process that they will provide. On the other side of the RL world, Linden Lab is experimenting with registration pipelines where developers would be able to create custom registration portals and welcome areas, but residents would continue to be part of the greater SL world and their registration information would go solely to Linden Lab, says Smith. The Chung's are not currently collaborating with Linden Lab on the project; their current strategy bypasses Linden Lab and, if successful, the fate of SL China will rest in their hands. When asked about a possible monopoly on the SL China world, Greenstein teleported out of the room with a poof of smoke, refusing to comment further.
The new Dreamland Chinese area, parts of which will open as soon as this Christmas, will be linked to the existing Japanese and Asian neighborhoods in Dreamland for “easy cross over between Chinese speakers, Japanese speakers and ‘foreigners’ who are interested in Asian culture,” Greenstein said. Gradual development and consolidation of land by SL’s biggest landowner is imminent. The issue is not whether or not the Chung Dynasty will dominate the Chinese market, but how they will choose to rule.

The Monk

Taras Balderash

It’s a “pretty quiet” life for this 850-year-old Mongolian monk and sometimes dragon who passes the days reading and counseling people from the ancient Confucian text, “Yi Jing.” Despite living in Virginia, U.S. in RL and spoken Chinese limited to “ni hao,” Taras is teaching himself classical Chinese (“beyond difficult and into the realm of ridiculously difficult”) in order to read what he preaches. Taras is the founder of a 120 member charitable avatarian (SL-only culture) sect based in RL that preaches virtual religions of tolerance. When not sitting with a big book in a lotus pose, the monk also operates a printing press (the Orthodox Christian icon book is currently more in demand than Chinese texts) and oversees progress on the new monastery.

The Angel

Bayes Sydney

Bayes may be precocious at only a few log-ins so far, but he sure knows what he likes: “I can FFFFFFFLLLLLLLLYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone is also really friendly,” says Bayes. The RL Hefei native first learned about SL from reading a blog. “[I] heard some big company bought land here to make an ad.” When not flying, Bayes gets paid to sit around in clubs with other avatars to attract attention. At $2L/six minutes, Bayes isn't exactly rolling in the Benjamins, but it does offer a bit of downtime from his flying high.

The Student

Banxian Reddevil/Ericblair Gould

“To be honest, I don't really like it here,” Banxian confesses about his RL home, Kentucky, U.S., where the 27-year-old is majoring in anthropology and minoring in Chinese studies. Like many Americans, he became interested in Chinese culture through martial arts lessons and wants to study in China, probably in summer 2008. Aside from the occasional SL wild night out like crashing a Halloween party with his SL girlfriend, Banxian is just a normal dude, living with two friends in an apartment in SL. Favorite activities? “Hanging out with friends, goofing off with new weapons.” Advice for noobs? “Don’t get addicted!”

The Call Girl

HUAE Warrigal

When not completing drawing assignments in art school, this 22-year-old Anhui native practices her English and works up to 10 hours a day as a dancer at adult entertainment club Arsheba, one of the most popular destinations in SL. Stripping in SL is lucrative. She’s made about $100,000L in three month’s time (that's US$3,000 for taking off your virtual clothes). Strangest SL experience? Getting paid for sex. “Just one tip of 2,000L made me excited!” Confession: “I’m a RL virgin, but I want to be a SL escort.” Now that's what I call “art school confidential!”

The Fairy

Mimi Surya

Don’t be fooled by her fairy spiked heels get-up – this avatar has skydived in SL and loves to explore. In RL though, she is a 20-year-old Fuzhou native, currently living in Shanghai. Mimi also works in SL as a hostess at the Money Helix for about an hour a day for fun and gets paid $30L. Advice on how to land a SL job? “At first I was just a client there, and made friends with the other hosts and managers, asking them for job information. New players can just go into a casino and ask if they are hiring.” Advice for noobs? “Avoid sick people.” Sick people? “They like to be naked everywhere and persuade you to have sex with them and some like to shoot people. Keep away from them. If they say something dirty, hit mute.” Thanks for the advice and pixie dust Mimi!