Never See in the US

G

GADawg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I saw something the other day that I think will bever be seen in the US.

I got in a taxi in Shanghai last week. On the back of the front passenger seat headrest all of the taxis have an advertisement card for some product or service.

I usually don't pay any attention, but I happened to look down and, low and behold, there was a picture of Pan Xiao Ting and Ding Jun Hui smiling and holding a tube of toothpaste in an advertisement.

Can you imagine an American pool player being paid to promote toothpaste?
 
Nope. I see Allison's face on billboards outside poolrooms here in Xiamen.

In Taiwan I saw Allie's face on a highway billboard advertising a poolroom.

Just got back from the poolroom playing on perfect table, with clean Aramith balls. The house cue was a 2 piece cue with a stainless steel joint and a perfectly maintained tip. After each rack the house girls would rack perfectly and tightly.

On the next table over two players were getting thrashed by the straight shooting lady house pro. And enjoying every minute of it. At 5 in the afternoon about 20 of the place's 40 tables were full of people enjoying the game of pool. Most of the people were playing 9 ball. about 4 out of 8 Riley snooker tables were in use.

Within ten minutes walking distance from my house are six poolrooms with immaculate equipment and great players.

I love it.
 
Before I left I recall seeing TV commercials featuring Pan Xiao Ting and Ding Jun Hui, and also some Taxi Cab and bus ads.

I've also happened across several TV interviews and stories about them.

When I organized the China National Snooker League in 2004 there, we received 30 TV news segments and over 60 newspaper articles, most of which were national. Since then, the exposure has grown rapidly due to Ding winning the China Open, where there were 100 million TV viewers on CCTV5.

John, how you described the pool clubs there is very similar to what I have experienced in a dozen or so clubs in Shanghai. Not to mention most expat bars have a free pool table.

I'm told there are over 500 clubs in Shanghai and have heard there is a similar number in Beijing. It would seem China must have several thousand pool clubs of quite good quality, and thousands more little dodgy billiard room set ups and outdoor table business in the outer suburbs and smaller towns.

Colin
 
John Barton said:
Nope. I see Allison's face on billboards outside poolrooms here in Xiamen.

In Taiwan I saw Allie's face on a highway billboard advertising a poolroom.

Just got back from the poolroom playing on perfect table, with clean Aramith balls. The house cue was a 2 piece cue with a stainless steel joint and a perfectly maintained tip. After each rack the house girls would rack perfectly and tightly.

On the next table over two players were getting thrashed by the straight shooting lady house pro. And enjoying every minute of it. At 5 in the afternoon about 20 of the place's 40 tables were full of people enjoying the game of pool. Most of the people were playing 9 ball. about 4 out of 8 Riley snooker tables were in use.

Within ten minutes walking distance from my house are six poolrooms with immaculate equipment and great players.

I love it.
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sounds like heaven!
 
worriedbeef said:
sounds like heaven!
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It really is, as long as the smoke doesn't bother you!

I can walk to 6-7 pool rooms within 15 minutes of my house in Shanghai. The smallest has has 10 tables and the largest over 40.

Most people don't gamble but play for fun and drink tea or orange juice. Really a great atmosphere if you like to play.

Money games are available for those who want them but the guys(and ladies) who play them are very good.
 
yeah I can walk to eleven. Catch a taxi theres more.....:cool: a buck fifty american for four beers and the tables free for the night and noone else is playing. Just a canadian guy and me. Whats bad about that :cool: And I just came back from a restaurant dinner with the Director of Foreign Affairs and they want 'foreigners' to come here......They know all the snooker players, the chinese but have no idea about pool players other than Jeanette Lee, Jennifer Chen, XTP from what I've seen....Everyone already knows I think now China is a good place to play pool. Sooner or later, someone will set up 'pool tours' here with restaurants, masssages, spa recuperation thrown in...
 
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BlackDragon said:
yeah I can walk to eleven. Catch a taxi theres more.....:cool: a buck fifty american for beers and the tables free for the night and noone else is playing. Just a canadian guy and me. Whats bad about that :cool: And I just came back from a restaurant dinner with the Director of Foreign Affairs and they want foreigners to come here......
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Damn it's cheap in those small Chinese towns. In the larger cities, in the nicer rooms it's about US$4-6 per hour for the table and US$1.20-1.50 for a can of budweiser. But it's not really a drinking atmosphere. For that you'll need to go to the bars, where pool is free (winner stays on) and beers go for about US$3.50-5.00 for a 500ml (~30% more volume than a can) pot depending on how upscale the joint is.

Colin
 
everything is cheaper in the north. Theres four hundred thousand people in this, um small town. :cool: but yeah, it was a bar. Yeah, pool is cheap to play here. Top price is ten rmb an hour for the Prince Billiards Club. Sounds like in Shanghai, its thirty to fifty an hour. Thats a unheard of, up here. Thats what you pay for a hot shower and massage here
 
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"The money is not much (NT 50k about 6k us dollars) but it is a start"
thats enough money to buy an apartment here. I know because my girlfriend just did.....:cool:
 
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John Barton said:
Nope. I see Allison's face on billboards outside poolrooms here in Xiamen.

In Taiwan I saw Allie's face on a highway billboard advertising a poolroom.

Just got back from the poolroom playing on perfect table, with clean Aramith balls. The house cue was a 2 piece cue with a stainless steel joint and a perfectly maintained tip. After each rack the house girls would rack perfectly and tightly.

On the next table over two players were getting thrashed by the straight shooting lady house pro. And enjoying every minute of it. At 5 in the afternoon about 20 of the place's 40 tables were full of people enjoying the game of pool. Most of the people were playing 9 ball. about 4 out of 8 Riley snooker tables were in use.

Within ten minutes walking distance from my house are six poolrooms with immaculate equipment and great players.

I love it.
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I bet you are loving it, John. Hardluckjones would be in heaven too but he would have to change his nickname. LOL
JoeyA
 
Colin Colenso said:
Damn it's cheap in those small Chinese towns. In the larger cities, in the nicer rooms it's about US$4-6 per hour for the table and US$1.20-1.50 for a can of budweiser. But it's not really a drinking atmosphere. For that you'll need to go to the bars, where pool is free (winner stays on) and beers go for about US$3.50-5.00 for a 500ml (~30% more volume than a can) pot depending on how upscale the joint is.

Colin
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Colin, I had no idea prices were that high anywhere in China! How can the natives afford that? Are the places you characterized more tourist oriented?

Doc
 
gulfportdoc said:
Colin, I had no idea prices were that high anywhere in China! How can the natives afford that? Are the places you characterized more tourist oriented?

Doc
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In most major cities there is a considerable proportion of successful business people, and the set of young professionals that do spend quite a bit. Young professionals earning salries of US$600 to $1200 per month.

Cars for example usually sell in the range of US$50-80,000 and there are millions of new car owners each year.

In a large city like Shanghai, of nearly 20 million people, there are about 1 million who are reasonably wealthy I'd estimate, plus about 300,000 foreign expatriots living in the city. So there is plenty of market for upscale products and services. For example, it's not hard to find a restaurant in Shanghai that will bring a bill of US$200 for a table of 4 for a good meal.

But for the average local, there are also many establishments that will provide a decent feed for 4 for around US$10-15.

Colin
 
GADawg said:
... Can you imagine an American pool player being paid to promote toothpaste?
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I don't know about that, but I would love to see Jennifer Barretta in one of those "Got Milk" ads.

Vinnie
 
I did see a picture of Colin Colenso with a blonde and some chinese players at the Prince Billiard Club though and Shanghai is a long way from here :cool:
 
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GADawg said:
Can you imagine an American pool player being paid to promote toothpaste?
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One word: EGO.

The American Pool Player thinks that he/she is above the menial sponsorships and needs to score "The Big One" (contract) to make their life. Heck, how different could it be for the $90 million dollar <insert sport here> player and them?

There is a LOT of difference. They just don't realize that.

They need to work on their image every day and at every event and it may take many, many different sponsorships to make their lives manageable and profitable.

Barbara
 
Barbara said:
One word: EGO.

The American Pool Player thinks that he/she is above the menial sponsorships and needs to score "The Big One" (contract) to make their life. Heck, how different could it be for the $90 million dollar <insert sport here> player and them?

There is a LOT of difference. They just don't realize that.

They need to work on their image every day and at every event and it may take many, many different sponsorships to make their lives manageable and profitable.

Barbara
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That's true but the other big difference is name and face recognition by the general public.

Pick any US pool pro you want, put him/her in a non pool related ad, and a huge proportion of the viewing public would have no idea who it is. Therefore not much value to the sponsoring company.
 
gulfportdoc said:
Colin, I had no idea prices were that high anywhere in China! How can the natives afford that? Are the places you characterized more tourist oriented?

Doc
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Doc -

Your feelings are a very common misconception among Americans(and other Westerners) about life in China. People try to relate the price of things to the USD but that relationship means nothing to the person who is paid in rmb and spending rmb.

Everybody thinks that the people in China are struggling to get by and are hungry, etc. I'm sure there are some, but that is not the general case.

In the pool rooms where I go, I am generally the only foreigner there and at night, the places are full of Chinese customers. On weekends there is usally a waiting list for a table. Prices are equivalent of $4-6/hour in Shanghai and a coke or tea $0.75 - 1.00. Very few of the Chinese drink beer while playng pool.

In Shanghai, it seems there is a Starbucks on every corner and they are all busy, charging equivalent prices to the US, almost $4 for a grande latte.

In the 15 years I have been living an working in China, I have had many US and other Western first time visitors come here. The universal reaction is "WOW! I can't believe this!"

In addition to this, the average Chinese is saving 15-20% of his/her takehome pay.

Walter
 
BlackDragon said:
I did see a picture of Colin Colenso with some chinese players at the Prince Billiard Club though and Shanghai is a long way from here :cool:
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Serious? Now you've got me scratching my head:confused:

Maybe you can take a photo of the pic someday so I can work out where the photo originated.

May have been from the National Champs if some of the locals came to Shanghai to play.

Colin
 
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