The Future of Airline Websites

Tencent: The Secretive, Chinese Tech Giant That Can Rival Facebook and Amazon China's most powerful Internet company is headquartered in a bland, glassy tower in southern Shenzhen. Unlike Silicon Valley's funky campuses, there is nothing to reveal that this might be a hub of creativity. An insurance company, perhaps? In the middle of its nondescript, corporate lobby, an information desk stands next to the only sign of personality: a pair of giant plush penguins, the Tencent mascot times two. Nearby, an iPad displays stats on the company's messaging services. But when I pull out a notebook and start jotting down the numbers, the receptionist waves her hand. I'm here for a "tour" of the company, but am only allowed entrance to a museum-like exhibit of Tencent products. And that's the tour. This is all still fairly common in China, a country where public relations is often equivalent to stonewalling. True, Chinese Internet companies have some inherent advantages: Facebook is banned in the country, and Google retreated from it. And now it's expanding beyond China.