Xinjiang Goes Window Shopping but Can't Buy

“All look and no pay” is the new motto for Taobao in Xinjiang.

I could have sworn I heard a collective groan last weekend as all the husbands in Xinjiang learned that Taobao, China’s largest online marketplace, was being restored (along with 27 other sites). Women everywhere raced to their computers ready to find the bargains they have been deprived of for the last six months.

Unfortunately, now all I hear is everybody groaning. As it turns out, Taobao isn’t quite as available as we had hoped. Instead of hearing it from me, though – a person who does very little shopping on Taobao – let my friend explain his wife’s dismay:

“She went online to buy something on Taobao and finally found a dress she wanted to buy. The page described that the dress was available in many different colors and she wanted a blue one, but when she went to make the order she couldn’t talk with the guy who was selling the dress.”

You see on Taobao, an instant message-like communication is an essential part of the purchase experience, used to negotiate price or determine details. Such instant communication is currently blocked in Xinjiang, however, which means the only sellers that you can buy from here are ones who list their phone number, not just their IM screenname. He went on:

“So she found another seller who had a phone number and worked to make a purchase in that way but ran into another problem…she couldn’t pay!”

Curiously even though the government graciously restored Taobao, they forgot to also unblock the Chinese version of Paypal. In a country where credit cards still aren’t widely used, that poses a huge problem. Essentially that means that buyers must go to a bank to transfer the money to the seller without any guarantee that the seller will actually send the product.

Personally I find it a comical situation. The authorities have essentially opened the store windows but kept the doors to the store locked shut. We can window shop, but we can’ buy.