China's traditional culture to be promoted by new domains

a screenshot of website "chi. shop"[Photo:Chi.shop]

Chinese Pinyin or Hanzi (Chinese characters) may be in better use when it comes to build culture-related websites.

GMO Registry, a domain registry services operator based in Tokyo, thinks pinyin domains on the "Dot shop" platform now can have a new function to promote Chinese traditional culture.

On a visit to Beijing, CEO Hiro Tsukahara cited a website "chi. shop" (chi means "eat" in Chinese), which was registered by private restaurant businesses to promote the Chinese food culture.

"It looks quite successful!" he said.

He mentioned the advantage of using Chinese pinyin in China to register a domain.

"For example, if the English word 'couplet' was used to register a domain name, a lot of people may not understand what it means. But here everyone is quite familiar with the term 'Chunlian', which means couplet in Chinese, thus building a website in use of "Chunlian. Shop" may work to promote the relevant spring festival culture."

In 2017, GMO Internet Group Company, GMO Registry, announced that Dot shop, the new top level domain for e-commerce began to open for General Availability in China.

China now has approximately 250,000 dot shop registry licenses, the highest of all nations which garner the general availability of the domains. However, it's also seen with the lowest rate of renewal in the following year.

a screenshot of website "chuncao.shop", used to promote tea culture in China.[Photo: Chi.shop]