Sunday, October 30, 2005

Zhongguancun is the "China Valley"

With the increasing influence of China -- as global partner or global threat -- Zhongguancun, the Silicon Valley of China, will continue to attract attention from the West. In this vein, I propose that Zhongguancun be known in English as "China Valley" to attest to both its China origin and its purported affinity with Silicon Valley, California.

In the Bay Area and environs, along with those who claim to be insiders to it, Silicon Valley is known as the "Valley". Therefore the nickname given to the China Valley should come naturally.

In addition, this should remove the difficult surrounding the pronunciation of Zhongguancun -- Zhong, guan, cun -- which is quite diffiult for Westerners, and the awkwardness of ZGC, an acronym. "The Silicon Valley of China" works well as a name, but it is too wordy to use in ordinary conversation.

I would be curious as to opinions on this name. It seems to work well. Let me know your ideas.

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