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To an American, China feels very distant, very different, and very difficult. You hear bizarre tales, and see American companies fail in China, so you assume Chinese Internet users must be very different from you.

对于美国人来说，中国是如此得遥远，如此得不同，如此得复杂。你听过那些关于中国奇闻怪谈，你见过美国公司在中国惨遭滑铁卢，所以你就假设中国的网民肯定也与美国的网民非常不同。

But actually, the Chinese Internet user is a lot like you -- He browses¹, searches, and plays. She uses SNS, IM, and mobile apps. They all love smart phones, Angry Birds, and iPads.

但事实上，中国的网民和美国网民十分相像——他们也浏览网页，也用搜索引擎，也会玩电子游戏。她们也上社交网站，也会即时聊天，也用手机应用。中国网民也爱智能手机、愤怒的小鸟和iPad。

But there are also significant differences between Chinese and American Internet users. Can you guess the single biggest difference?

然而，中国网民和美国网民确实有显著的区别。你能猜到中美网民最大的差别是什么吗？

Culture? Expressiveness²? Mobility³? Government regulations? No, the single largest difference is age! The average Chinese internet user is almost young enough to be the average American user’s son/daughter!

文化？表达？移动？政府规章？都不是，中美网民最大的差别是年龄！中国网民的平均年龄小到足以当美国网民平均年龄的儿子和女儿！

That is why Chinese users tend to use less email and more IM, less e-commerce and more games, less search and more blogging.

这就是为什么中国网民更多地使用即时聊天工具而不是发邮件，更多地玩游戏而不是网上交易，更多地发博文而不是做搜索。