boardmember

ThenightbeforeIwasheadingforScotland,Iwasinvitedtohostthefinalof"China'sGotTalent"

showinShanghaiwiththe80,howastheperforming

guest?ldher,"I'mgoingtoScotlandthenextday."Shesangbeautifully,and

sheevenmanagedtosayafewwordsinChine:送你葱Soit'snotlike"hello"or"thankyou,"

s"greenonionforfree."Whydidshesaythat?Becauitwasaline

fromourChineparallelSusanBoyle--a50-someyear-oldwoman,avegetablevendorin

Shanghai,wholovessingingWesternopera,butshedidn'tunderstandanyEnglishorFrenchor

Italian,soshemanagedtofillinthelyricswithvegetablenamesinChine.(Laughter)Andthe

lastntenceofNessunDormathatshewassinginginthestadiumwas"greenonionforfree."So

[as]SusanBoylewassayingthat,80,shilarious.

SoIguessbo

weretheleastexpectedtobesuccessfulinthebusinesscalledentertainment,yettheircourageand

owandaplatformgavethemthestagetorealizetheir

,lldifferentfromdifferentperspectives.

ButIthinkbeingdifferentisgood,have

thechancetomakeadifference.

Mygenerationhasbeenveryfortunatetowitnessandparticipateinthehistorictransformationof

Chinathathasmadesomanychangesinthepast20,berthatintheyearof1990,

whenIwasgraduatingfromcollege,Iwasapplyingforajobinthesalesdepartmentofthefirst

five-starhotelinBeijing,GreatWallSheraton--it'rbeinginterrogatedbythis

Japanemanagerforahalfanhour,hefinallysaid,"So,MissYang,doyouhaveanyquestionsto

askme?"Isummonedmycourageandpoiandsaid,"Yes,butcouldyouletmeknow,what

actuallydoyoull?"Ididn'thaveacluewhatasalesdepartmentwasaboutinafive-starhotel.

ThatwasthefirstdayItmyfootinafive-starhotel.

Aroundthesametime,Iwasgoingthroughanaudition--thefirsteveropenauditionbynational

ducertoldustheywerelooking

forsomesweet,itwasmyturn,Istoodupandsaid,

"Why[do]women'spersonalitiesontelevisionalwayshavetobebeautiful,sweet,innocentand,

youknow,supportive?Whycan'ttheyhavetheirownideasandtheirownvoice?"IthoughtIkind

ually,wasinthecond

roundofcompetition,evenroundsofcompetition,Iwas

ieveitornot,

thatwasthefirstshowonChinetelevisionthatalloweditshoststospeakoutoftheirownminds

withoutreadinganapprovedscript.(Applau)Andmyweeklyaudienceatthattimewasbetween

200to300millionpeople.

Wellafterafewyears,umbiaUniversitytopursuemy

postgraduatestudies,andthenstartedmyownmediacompany,whichwasunthoughtofduringthe

alotofthings.I'veinterviewedmorethanathousand

etimesIhaveyoungpeopleapproachingmesay,"Lan,youchanged

mylife,"nwearealsosofortunatetowitnessthetransformation

Beijing'prentingthe

nsometimesI'mthinking,

whataretoday'syounggenerationupto?Howaretheydifferent,andwhatarethedifferencesthey

aregoingtomaketoshapethefutureofChina,oratlarge,theworld?

Sofall,who

arethey?[What]dotheylooklike?WellthisisagirlcalledGuoMeimei--20yearsold,beautiful.

Sheshowedoffherexpensivebags,clothesandcaronhermicroblog,whichistheChine

claimedtobethegeneralmanagerofRedCrossattheChamberof

n'trealizethatshesteppedonansitivenerveandaroudnational

questioning,almostaturmoil,troversywassoheated

thattheRedCrosshadtoopenapressconferencetoclarifyit,andtheinvestigationisgoingon.

Sofar,asoftoday,weknowthatsheherlfmadeupthattitle--probablybecaushefeelsproud

expensiveitemsweregiventoherasgiftsbyherboyfriend,

who'svery

way,thepublicstilldoesn'susa

generalmistrustofgovernmentorgovernment-backedinstitutions,whichlackedtransparencyin

oitshowedusthepowerandtheimpactofsocialmediaasmicroblog.

Microblogboomedintheyearof2010,withvisitorsdoubledandtimespentonittripled.

,amajornewsportal,ent,200

tpopularblogger--it'snotme--it'samoviestar,andshehasmorethan9.5

millionfollowers,80percentofthomicrobloggersareyoungpeople,under30

au,asyouknow,thetraditionalmediaisstillheavilycontrolledbythe

government,auyoudon't

havemanyotheropenings,theheatcomingoutofthisopeningissometimesverystrong,active

andevenviolent.

Sothroughmicroblogging,rethey

different?Firstofall,mostofthemwereborninthe80sand90s,

becauoflectedabortionbyfamilieswhofavoredboystogirls,nowwehaveendedupwith30

uldpoapotentialdangertothesociety,butwho

knows;we'reinaglobalizedworld,

iteracyrateinChinaamongthisgenerationisunderone

es,yarefacinganagingChinawitha

populationabove65yearsoldcomingupwithven-point-somepercentthisyear,andabouttobe

knowwehavethetraditionthatyoungergenerations

supporttheeldersfinancially,andtakingcareofthemwhenthey'ansyoung

coupleswillhavetosupportfourparentswhohavealifeexpectancyof73yearsold.

urbanareas,samonth,whilethe

averagerentisabove$dotheydo?Theyhavetosharespace--squeezedinvery

limitedspacetosavemoney--andtheycallthemlves"tribeofants."Andforthowhoare

readytogetmarriedandbuytheirapartment,theyfiguredouttheyhavetoworkfor30to40years

tioinAmericawouldonlycostacouplefiveyearstoearn,

butinChinait's30to40yearswiththeskyrocketingrealestateprice.

Amongthe200millionmigrantworkers,nd

themdon't

wanttogobacktothecountryside,buttheydon'rkfor

longerhourswithlessincome,y'remorevulnerabletojobloss,

subjecttoinflation,tighteningloansfrombanks,appreciationoftherenminbi,ordeclineof

ar,though,anappalling

incidentinasouthernOEMmanufacturingcompoundinChina:13youngworkersintheirlate

teensandearly20scommittedsuicide,y

swholeincidentaroudahugeoutcryfrom

societyabouttheisolation,bothphysicalandmental,ofthemigrantworkers.

Forthowhodoreturnbacktothecountryside,theyfindthemlvesverywelcomelocally,

becauwiththeknowledge,skillsandnetworkstheyhavelearnedinthecities,withthe

assistanceoftheInternet,they'reabletocreatemorejobs,upgradelocalagricultureandcreate

hepastfewyears,thecoastalareas,theyfound

themlvesinashortageoflabor.

stoneistheEngelscoefficient,

whichexplainsthatthecostofdailynecessitieshasdroppeditspercentageallthroughthepast

decade,intermsoffamilyincome,ninthelasttwoyears,it

goesupagainto39percent,icoefficienthasalreadypasd

's0.5--evenworthanthatinAmerica--showingusthe

ouethiswholesocietygettingfrustratedaboutlosingsomeofits

o,thebitternessandevenrentmenttowardstherichandthepowerfulisquite

ccusationsofcorruptionorbackdoordealingsbetweenauthoritiesor

businesswouldarouasocialoutcryorevenunrest.

Sothroughsomeofthehottesttopicsonmicroblogging,wecanewhatyoungpeoplecaremost

pastdecadeorso,amassiveurbanizationanddevelopmenthaveletuswitnessalotofreportson

asaroudhugeangerandfrustrationamongour

mespeoplegetkilled,andsometimespeopletthemlvesonfireto

theincidentsarereportedmoreandmorefrequentlyontheInternet,peoplecry

forthegovernmenttotakeactionstostopthis.

Sothegoodnewsisthatearlierthisyear,thestatecouncilpasdanewregulationonhou

requisitionanddemolitionandpasdtherighttoorderforceddemolitionfromlocalgovernments

rly,manyotherissuesconcerningpublicsafetyisahottopicontheInternet.

Weheardaboutpollutedair,pollutedwater,sswhat,wehavefakedbeef.

Theyhavesortsofingredientsthatyoubrushonapieceofchickenorfish,anditturnsittolook

nlately,peopleareveryconcernedaboutcookingoil,becauthousandsof

peoplehavebeenfound[refining]hethingshave

tunately,wehaveenthegovernment

respondingmoretimelyandalsomorefrequentlytothepublicconcerns.

Whileyoungpeopleemtobeverysureabouttheirparticipationinpublicpolicy-making,but

sometimesthey'ssoon

umberonemarketforluxurybrands--that'snotincludingtheChine

knowwhat,halfofthoconsumersareearninga

salarybelow2,''retakingthobagsandclothesasa

sisagirlexplicitlysayingonaTVdatingshowthatshe

our,wedohaveyoungpeoplewho

wouldstillprefertosmile,whetherinaBMWor[on]abicycle.

Sointhenextpicture,youeaverypopularphenomenoncalled"naked"wedding,or"naked"

notmeantheywillwearnothinginthewedding,butitshowsthattheyoung

couplesarereadytogetmarriedwithoutahou,withoutacar,withoutadiamondringand

withoutaweddingbanquet,o,peoplearedoing

firstpictureshowedusthatatruckcaging500homelessand

kidnappeddogsforfoodprocessingwasspottedandstoppedonthehighwaywiththewhole

weredonatingmoney,dogfoodandoffering

erhoursofnegotiation,e

rpostedhisson'spictureontotheInternet.

Afterthousandsofrendsinrelay,thechildwasfound,andwewitnesdthereunionofthe

familythroughmicroblogging.

Sessisnot

onlyrelatedtopersonalexperiencesandpersonalvalues,butalso,it'sabouttheenvironment.

Peoplearethinkingaboutthefollowingquestions:Arewegoingtosacrificeourenvironment

furthertoproducehigherGDP?Howarewegoingtoperformoursocialandpoliticalreformto

keeppacewitheconomicgrowth,tokeepsustainabilityandstability?Andalso,howcapableisthe

systemoflf-correctnesstokeepmorepeoplecontentwithallsortsoffrictiongoingonatthe

sametime?younger

generationaregoingtotransformthiscountrywhileatthesametimebeingtransformed

themlves.

Thankyouverymuch