Huaihua - Yingfeng East Road - a man "thumbs" his cell phone -
sending a text message - China has rapidly become the biggest
mobile phone market in the world. This has led to a massive
cultural change - In the not so distant past, speaking to a relative
in another part of China was no easy task it often entailed a bicycle
ride to the closest city and queuing for hours to use a public
telephone. You would then call your relative's company, where the
receptionist would use a megaphone to notify them. Anything
you said was also eagerly listening by the crowd within earshot on
both sides. Things have since changed. Today, when two Chinese
people meet, they are likely to exchange their mobile phone numbers
before they even introduce themselves. There are already more than
370 million mobile phones in China, and the number increases by five
million each month. China has rapidly become the biggest mobile
phone market in the world by far.
photo. mhobbs