Huge crowds gather for Apple Store grand opening in Hangzhou, China
Apple opened the doors to its new West Lake Apple Store in China on Saturday, letting throngs of eager customers into one of the company's largest retail outlets in Asia.
As promised earlier this week, Apple officially started sales at the West Lake Apple Store in Hangzhou, the first of five Chinese outlets to slated to open ahead of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 19.
The grand opening was celebrated by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who posted a rare tweet to mark the occasion.
"Starting Something New in Hangzhou, China!" Cook's tweet read, followed by the hashtag #AppleStoreWestLake. Cook seldom uses his social networking account to promote newly opened Apple Stores, but the Hangzhou location is an important first step in extending the company's reach into mainland China.
Last week, Apple SVP of Retail Angela Ahrendts revealed plans to open five Chinese stores before the Chinese New Year, the first being West Lake. Ahrendts' announcement is in line with Apple's lofty goal of opening 25 retail locations in China by the end of 2016.
As for the West Lake location itself, the store comes with all the trappings befitting a flagship Apple Store, including a Genius Bar and floor space for workshops and One to One personal training. Lectures are scheduled to start tomorrow featuring lessons on iPhone, iPad, Mac and iMovie for OS X.
The building's design draws more than a little inspiration from the upcoming Union Square flagship in San Francisco, which also features a wide, open glass facade and a showroom floor split into two large levels.
Prior to Saturday's opening, Apple Store West Lake was covered by white protective barriers -- with the store's illuminated Apple logo incorporated as part of the design -- bearing the ancient Chinese poem "Praising West Lake in the Rain" as drawn by by noted calligrapher Wang Dongling, who was on hand for today's festivities.
On Friday, Apple posted to its official YouTube channel a translated version of the store's promotional video, which features Wang offering an explanation of the 2,000-year-old poem and how it applies to Apple's new home in Hangzhou.
As promised earlier this week, Apple officially started sales at the West Lake Apple Store in Hangzhou, the first of five Chinese outlets to slated to open ahead of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 19.
The grand opening was celebrated by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who posted a rare tweet to mark the occasion.
"Starting Something New in Hangzhou, China!" Cook's tweet read, followed by the hashtag #AppleStoreWestLake. Cook seldom uses his social networking account to promote newly opened Apple Stores, but the Hangzhou location is an important first step in extending the company's reach into mainland China.
Last week, Apple SVP of Retail Angela Ahrendts revealed plans to open five Chinese stores before the Chinese New Year, the first being West Lake. Ahrendts' announcement is in line with Apple's lofty goal of opening 25 retail locations in China by the end of 2016.
As for the West Lake location itself, the store comes with all the trappings befitting a flagship Apple Store, including a Genius Bar and floor space for workshops and One to One personal training. Lectures are scheduled to start tomorrow featuring lessons on iPhone, iPad, Mac and iMovie for OS X.
The building's design draws more than a little inspiration from the upcoming Union Square flagship in San Francisco, which also features a wide, open glass facade and a showroom floor split into two large levels.
Prior to Saturday's opening, Apple Store West Lake was covered by white protective barriers -- with the store's illuminated Apple logo incorporated as part of the design -- bearing the ancient Chinese poem "Praising West Lake in the Rain" as drawn by by noted calligrapher Wang Dongling, who was on hand for today's festivities.
On Friday, Apple posted to its official YouTube channel a translated version of the store's promotional video, which features Wang offering an explanation of the 2,000-year-old poem and how it applies to Apple's new home in Hangzhou.
Comments
I'm going to adhere to the new Apple Insider forum guidelines and not point out the typo in the headline.
Quote:
I'm going to adhere to the new Apple Insider forum guidelines and not point out the typo in the headline.
Oh that's what it is! Before I could go any further with the article, I was wondering what grnd meant. lol
I'm going to adhere to the new Apple Insider forum guidelines and not point out the typo in the headline.
I'm going to adhere to good taste and not express my childish amusement at the calligrapher's name.
Wang Dongling gets his 15 minutes. Hope he gets some gigs from this. More power to him and all other artists who pursue their passions.
That was so insulting.
An artistic career means pursuing a passion already.
Apple’s popularity in China must worry the crap out of the Communist dictators that run the place. I’m guessing that’s the main reason for demanding “security inspections” of all Apple products. That and supplying free R&D to Chinese phone makers.
By the way, whatever happened to all those Epic Fail in China predictions the analysts and fAndroids were so confident about?
…then he takes a nap, but he can usually go another 15 minutes after that.
Huh? :???: Are there new rules where you can't point out errors in the article?
Personally, if the meaning is clear then I see no reason to point it out, one should post directly to the author's email if possible (but that would be better if AI authors would include it at the end of articles).
He's related to Wang Chung.
Ikr?
New level of shame.
If you're going to communicate and present your communication to the public as a media outfit, put some effort into it instead of giving a "talk to the hand" attitude when people point out the mistakes you refuse to proofread for.
This has nothing to do with English as second/third/etc language accommodation and everything to do with putting out your best effort to communicate with clarity and professionalism in whatever language you're operating in. You can bet I would proofread the hell out of something I posted as my job, and if I was working in another language, I would have a trusted native speaker proofread for me to catch what I did not.
Mistakes happen. That's why we proofread.
Thnks fr tht wndrfl stry. Gld to know Apl is dng wll in Chna.
It is far mroe radebale if the frirt and lsat ltetres of ecah wrod is cercort, aapteltrny, but atucoercort mkaes it hrad to witre lkie taht.
AI really set themselves up with this one.:smokey:
Maybe not such showcases as this, but still . . .
Anyway, what a stroke of genius to get Wang involved, with his calligraphy and the perfect classical poem. He's a great-looking Bohemian if I ever saw one, an old-school Apple user from Central Casting. This is going to sell a lot of Apple stuff, and maybe even make some cultural waves as well.
Vwls r ovrrtd. :smokey:
I'm going to adhere to the new Apple Insider forum guidelines and not point out the typo in the headline.
That's very grnd of you
Wang Dongling gets his 15 minutes. Hope he gets some gigs from this. More power to him and all other artists who pursue their passions.
Just wierd… Did you actually intend to be a dick, or do you not understand the connotation of your first sentence?
The guy is in major international museums. Maybe you're just not too bright (?)
I'm going to adhere to good taste and not express my childish amusement at the calligrapher's name.
Laugh at his amusing Chinese name if you will but he's probably...
(Genuine gravestone in the Chinese section at my local cemetery)