Helping Children to Learn Chinese Language -Childbook.com an Online Chinese Book store

Sales Tax and E-Commerce

2009-07-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Currently companies are only required to collect sales tax within a state if they have a physical presence there. This is called Nexus. This is why non-California customers don't pay sales tax. California residences pay the sales tax for where I ship from (Rowland Heights), not for their actual location since ChildBook does not have operations within other states.

Theoretically, the person receiving items is supposed to voluntarily pay the sales tax within their state. For businesses, since they do get audited for sales tax compliance they prefer to work with firms that charge sales tax for commercial transactions. Examples of companies that do are PC Mall and CDW.

New York is trying to get sales taxes from Amazon by claiming that affiliates are acting as sales agents for Amazon, and therefore Amazon has a physical presence there. Amazon so far has lost this in court. What another company did was just eliminate affiliates in New York.

A sticky issue is how much activity represents nexus? Would a tradeshow in a state be potentially nexus? If they took orders at the trade show, yes, if they waited till they got back to their home office probably not. Court cases have varied on what constitutes nexus. Would mailing catalogs to a state be nexus? No, because it's not enough physical presence per the US Supreme Court. The reason behind the tax issue is the Commerce Clause in the Constitution, and with there being thousands of different sales tax rates in the US per the Supreme Court considered to be burdensome for retailers to collect sales tax for out of state purchases. Congress can legislate changes in the collection of sales tax, but so far has not.

In the future I believe sales taxes will be collected. With computers and databases, the issue of complexity is a non-issue. There is also a movement called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project to simplify the number of sales taxes across the US

References:

Please note, I am not a CPA and the above is informational only and please consult with a professional before making any business decisions on charging and not charging sales tax.

China Myths & Stereotypes in Manufacturing

2009-07-04T09:02:00.001-07:00

Bulb Maker TCP to Produce Its Own-Brand Lights - Wall Street Journal is an interesting article for some of the truths and stereotypes that are dispelled in the article.

One stereotype is China is successful just because it uses cheap labor. If this was true, countries with lower cost labor than China would be very successful. The article mentions the work force was cut from 15,000 to 8,000 in the last 3 years. 3 years ago 100% of bulbs were made by hand, now 60% are made with automation. This is showing how China also uses automation to increase their efficiency.

The manufacturer believes they can sell their bulbs direct and it won't endanger their relations with customers who they produce for. This is a common belief and with most of the Chinese companies I have dealt with they don't understand the channel conflict issue. IE they sell to distributors, and they also sell direct. And many US distributors do not like also competing with the manufacturer - since how can you on price?

The article also mentions the company is looking to set up a factory in the US. This is a big change from the usual way Chinese companies do business. I hope they are successful.

Protests growing in China

2009-07-04T08:37:00.001-07:00

The number of protests in China is growing per some articles I read this morning. China no longer publishes how many protest there are. A protest against the death of a Shishou hotel worker in the province of Hubei. Seems to be the usual corruption issues as well as the killing of innocents is no longer as protected as it used to be due to Instant Messaging and the Internet. This is creating fast and widespread communication about problems that so far have not been able to be censored in enough time. The hotel is supposedly owned by the brother of the Mayor of the city, and since the riot is being reported in the Chinese press I would predict there will be a new May very soon. China's government hates publicity like this.

Per another article, Risky Business in the Streets, China is extremely concerned over rioting and has a special force of 100,000 trained for dealing with rioting, plus the army also has trained units. The fear is rioting may start going after more and more corrupt officials, and there is a huge challenge of corruption that reaches very far up in the Chinese government.

New (800) Number

2009-07-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

In our desire to serve customers better, ChildBook finally has a toll-free number.

Our new 800 number is :

(800) 689-1218

Customers can use this number to ask product details or if you post orders.

Hope this feature will be helpful for you. We look forward to hearing from you.

Learning Chinese Game outside the classroom

2009-07-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Neat article with a lot of great ideas for Games you can play outside the class room for Learning Chinese.

Look and Find: Learning words in uncommon places makes learning interesting.

Dim Sum is full of fun Chinese words, the problem is the Cantonese servers vs. Mandarin that most people want to Learn :-)

Some games I carry:

Games for Learning Chinese, Traditional Characters, Practical Chinese

Our Price: $20.00
Sale Price: $17.99
You Save $2.01!

Games for Learning Chinese
Traditional Characters, Practical Chinese

China retreats on Internet Filtering Software

2009-06-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Surprising... I did not expect this.

China backs away from Internet filter Washington Post

There were some good reasons to back away:

Filtering software had copied code from a US application and a lawsuit has been filed. Translation - bad publicity.
Lots of complaints within China on this.
US and EU outside of China were very vocal on this.

Iraq + Oil = China's Partner...

2009-06-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

As Iraq Stabilizes, China Eyes Its Oil Fields - NY Times.

Interesting, but not surprising. China is very worried about making sure of a secure energy supply to keep their economy going.

Why Learn Chinese - Job Security

2009-06-28T23:02:00.001-07:00

I had breakfast with a supplier this morning and she mentioned another reason on why to Learn Chinese. Her husband works in the Financial Industry and speaks Chinese, and because of this has kept his job while other people around him have not.

Only negative is now my wife may be expecting me to improve my Chinese beyond the good enough to be laughed at by native Chinese speakers :-)

Chinese Bookstore, Retail Location for ChildBook?

2009-06-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have been from time to time asked if ChildBook.com has a retail location, since we are a Chinese bookstore. Or if there are future plans to open a store.

At this time, no plans to open a store. Web stuff I understand, but a physical store I don't have the background/experience for. I would rather put my energy into improving the web site, than getting a bookstore going.

My warehouse is not made for visitors (and I don't have the right type of insurance). I am open to meeting customers at the beautiful Rowland Heights Post Office, but once I mention I have free shipping for orders over $25 the need for the meeting usually disappears.

Chinatown Chicago and LA - Both used to be Italian?

2009-06-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

This story in the Chicago Tribune, Chinatown: a hidden jewel worth seeking mentions that it used to be heavily populated by ethnic Italians. So was the LA Chinatown. There is still a Catholic Church down there and there used to be an Italian restaurant, Little Joe's. The original LA Chinatown was where Union Station is now, and then moved into Little Italy when the train station was constructed. More on the history of LA's Newer Chinatown.

References:

U.S. Objects to China’s Web Filtering

2009-06-24T23:16:00.001-07:00

U.S. Objects to China’s Web Filtering - NY Times.

Not sure how much good this will do. There is a lot of uproar within China on this issue. And it seems the software that is being used was also pirated from a US company (that is suing).

Yeh Shen - China's (More Original?) Cinderella

2009-06-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

One of the books that people ask for regularly is Yeh-Shen, a Cinderella Story from China, the version of Ai-Ling Louie and illustrated by Ed Young.

Yeh-Shen's story is about an orphan girl who is overworked to serve her stepmother and sister. She befriends a fish, which her stepmother cooks and eats. Nobody knew the fish was magical and Yeh-Shen soon found out that the fish's bones can be asked wishes from. Yeh Shen also gets to attend a big party while her stepmother thinks she was at home doing housework. Yeh Shen leaves behind one shoe that somehow gets into the king's possession.

All sounds familiar? While Yeh Shen may sound like a copycat straight from the plagiarism department of Cinderella, guess again. Yeh Shen was written around the 850 A. D., about a cool thousand years older than the earliest version of Cinderella. So definitely, mo plagiarism case in court for this one.

Anyway, I'm sharing this because I know how Cinderella-crazy little girls can get. Admit it, when you were younger, you liked Cinderella much better than the other fairy tales (Or if not you, then someone you know.)

Little girls will surely also like Yeh Shen, so please do take a peek over at the Yeh Shen Page and get a copy for your little girl.

California Schools

2009-06-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

My daughter's school will no longer offer students the ability to take 7 classes, so there goes Orchestra for my daughter. The secretary of Education made an excellent comment, that California Schools have lost their way. They used to be first in the nation, and now on average on achievement they are 47th. And it is not all funding related... A great documentary to watch, or just read the synopsis - First to Worst

Good article from the Washington Post - Budget Crisis Forces Deep Cuts at Calif. Schools

Two students, two schools -- 20 miles and a world apart

2009-06-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Two students, two schools -- 20 miles and a world apart - LA Times. Excellent read.

There is a poem called a tale of two schools that was mentioned in the movie Walkout that chronicles the demonstrations of 1968. I would so like to read that poem, I have not found it online. Paula Christomo (Senior Director of community and government relations at Occidental College) wrote this after visiting Palos Verdes High School and comparing it to her school, Roosevelt High School of LAUSD in East LA with the difference in facilities. Palos Verdes High School is located in one of the richest areas of California.

What was mentioned in the LA Times article comparing Jefferson High School to La Canada High School seems like deja vu. What was talked about here was not the differences in facilities, but the attitude. When I went through my student teaching in LAUSD I saw the same thing, very nice students, but the lack of motivation was so frustrating! Missing the PSAT because there were friends visiting. Another student missed class time because she had to take care of her baby sister, so she flunked the class and had to retake it in intermission (school was year round). And the La Canada School seems so similar to my daughters High School.

Chinese Harry Potter in "The Adventurous Prince"?

2009-06-22T01:31:00.000-07:00

Oh my, accusations of plagiarism in children's books do abound today. After the string of financial successes in children's books, especially of Harry Potter, people seem more suspicious of everybody else lifting somebody else's work.

A Chinese book due for release this month is said to have copied 18 details from the Harry Potter books. The author denies this and finds the accusation "ridiculous". He says he has never heard of JK Rowling and Harry Potter. A 100,000 copies are being tested in schools and it is said The Adventurous Prince is being received warmly by the children.

My 2 cents on the plagiarism: Harry Potter, though wonderfully woven and told, doesn't have 100% super out-of-this world details that will make it impossible to be totally unique. When you follow a story writing formula, similarities will definitely surface between two characters of the same age/ status/ whatever. This is why Ms. Rowling also has a problem with the accusation of plagiarism. Similar basic characteristics of a hero will tend to produce similar contexts sometimes.

I also find it odd for an author to copy something that is currently hot around the world. Easier to be found out. Copycats ought to copy from totally obscure, under the rock pieces to be not found out *wink wink*. Why copy something so popular?

We'll see how The Adventurous Prince fares, and if general feedback will claim it as the Chinese Harry Potter?

I wish Ray will be able to get his hand on The Adventurous Prince so children outside China will also be able to enjoy it. But of course this will be subject to availability, so let's wait and see...

Swine Flu & China Travel

2009-06-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

If you sit within 3 rows of somebody found with Swine Flu on your flight, you are automatically quarantined (great way to ruin a vacation , business trip, etc). The Chinese partners I was with at the trade show are each doing a voluntary 7 day quarantine at their homes.

H1N1 flu has Beijing taking a hard line on safety precautions - LA Times.

An example of a trip gone wrong:
Carlsbad students, teachers home after quarantine in China

Beijing Olympic Pollution

2009-06-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

I find it exciting that this was measured at all, results are interesting and I hope they spur China's government for more efforts that are effective on cleaning up the pollution there.

Pollution of Olympic proportions - SF Gate

Beijing air pollution was up to 3.5 times higher than at Summer Games in Athens, Atlanta and Sydney.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

We can't resist but greet the father of ChildBook on this special occassion.

Happy Father's Day, Ray!

Ray is like a father to us (he might contest with the age basis though, heehee), he patiently teaches us and listens and yep, he's funny too.

One of the roles he prizes the most is being a dad to his daughter, so he most deserves a warm greeting on this special day.

Hope you have a great day ahead, Ray!

Kids Perform Better in School with 30 Minutes a Day of Language Instruction

2009-06-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

I received an interesting letter from one of our customers, Patricia. She sent me a nice set of links of studies that presented results of linking language skills to the different facets of cognitive intelligence. One of these studies proved that kids exposed to short sessions of language instruction (30 minutes daily) perform better in the different subjects in school, including science, english and math. It's wonderful to think how such a tiny effort, if done consistently, can help improve our kids so much and for the better.

I so appreciate the gesture, Patricia :-) We will make more articles based on the researches and also make it more reader-friendly for our other parents.

Women Imbalance - It's worse than you think

2009-06-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

Some Facts:

1. 120 boy to 100 girl babies currently. China's Boy Surplus
2. As women have their own careers in Taiwan and Japan, the percentage that marry is decreasing. Birth rate in Taiwan is 1.1 per woman.
3. Women as their education increase marry at a later age.
4. Women when their are more men will marry at a later age per research in the US.

The first one, the gender imbalance is what everyone is talking about. Add items 2-3 and it becomes much worse...

ChildBook Wants to Learn about What You Want

2009-06-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

It's been quite sometime that we wanted to hear about what YOU'd like to see in ChildBook. We'd like to make site changes about what you expect from us as your kids go about Learning Chinese.

So today, janan! We finally sent a little email asking a favor to please fill us in on what you want us to provide and sell.

We are really committed to changing things over here at ChildBook according to what you want. As marketers and sellers, there is the tendency to share the product's features and quite forgetting about your entire day-to-day experience with your children learning Chinese over the years.

So please do share how we can improve. We promise to make things better so more children will benefit from having the Chinese language advantage.

Please answer our few questions in the email we sent. Thank you thank you! Xie Xie!

ChildBook's Chinese Coloring Pages can also be Free Blog Resource

2009-06-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

This came up as nice compliment in our sister site, EliteDresses, about a nice lady asking permission to use EliteDresses coloring pictures.

We'd just like to clarify that yes, we allow the use of our coloring pictures for your blogs or hard copy designs. For bloggers who wish to use our Chinese coloring pictures, if you would be kind enough to add us a link, that is enough. A note to lead us to the url where you used it is nice also. For those who would like to use it in their hard copy designs, you can shoot a photo and post it at your blog or web page, or send us an email of the finished product.

For those who'd like to post pictures in their blogs, you may choose from the following Chinese coloring pages:

Chinese festivals like Chinese New Year, Mid Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival.
Coloring pictures of kids in Chinese dress,
Chinese zodiac animals,
Chinese characters,
Chinese families,
Chinese weddings ,

and more. Please browse our Chinese Coloring Pictures section to see if you'd like to use any.

It is always our pleasure to help out :-)

ChildBook's Review of the Week

2009-06-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to feature for this blog post ChildBook's Review of the Week by Hyojung Kuo.

Review of the week for ChildBook product - "The Adventures of Walker and PingPing: The Great Wall" DVD

"Along with "the river dragon king", walker and ping ping series are great. I wish there are more of these dvds- fun and effective. I believe you need to study the country's history and culture to be fluent in a foreign lanuage and I especailly like this dvd because of that."

Thank you for your comment.

We'd also like to invite other people who have our products to please write a review. If you got the books we have from other places other than ChildBook, it is alright to join as well. Please write a review so other customers - parents like you, can choose better materials for their children.

Please do write a review, and rate others' reviews as well. Thanks.

Another ChildBook Item Won an Award!

2009-06-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Just in : One of ChildBook's favorite products for toddlers won an award. Yay!

We have always been proud of carrying the Global Toddlers: Adventures in Mexico DVD . Besides the 2008 DVD of the year Award by Creative Child Magazine ((Educational DVDs for babies, toddlers, and kids category), we have always liked its content and how families liked it as well.

This year, Dr. Toy Awarded Global Toddlers DVD the Best Vacation Product Award.

We always try to partner with premium quality publishers so that you only get the best products. Congratulations to Global Toddlers!

U.S. Births Hint at Bias for Boys in Some Asians

2009-06-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

U.S. Births Hint at Bias for Boys in Some Asians - NY Times.

Surprising...

Especially with how I have seen some only kids treat their parents (ethnic Chinese) in the US. The parents sacrifice so much for their kids and sometimes, when the kids grow up, they don't treat their parents well.