August 30, 2025, 1:16 PM
I have a special fondness for Hong Kong’s iced lemon tea because it tastes great and has no high-tech gimmicks. Plus, the flavor varies from shop to shop, so iced lemon tea is always a must-order. It’s predictable yet carries a small element of surprise—similar but with slight differences. I even looked into it: each shop makes its iced lemon tea on its own without a standardized recipe. The differences come from the tea bags used and the lemons themselves. As the name suggests, iced lemon tea is a drink made with lemon, tea leaves, and ice—each cup is unique.
I had some sudden thoughts about the current state of the domestic internet. It feels closed-off, with high entry barriers as the main theme. Even in today’s era of fast information, access is increasingly restricted, and the tech giants have built high walls everywhere. Forget about openness; even operating within a giant’s ecosystem is difficult. I specifically searched on Baidu; the first three pages are full of ads, making it hard to find useful answers. This has long been a user pain point and a notable feature of China’s internet search ecosystem. Here’s my analysis:
Root Cause: Business Model Driven Baidu, as China’s largest search engine, earns primarily from online advertising (paid rankings and promoted content). Paid ads, especially “Baidu Promotion” links, are prioritized in search results, often taking top spots and pushing organic results further back. This model became particularly pronounced after Google exited China in 2009, giving Baidu a dominant domestic market position with limited competitive pressure. This alone is enough to see the bigger picture. Honestly, even in today’s AI era, most people still lack effective information access, creating an environment where these subpar companies can survive.
August 30, 2025, 8:39 PM
Watching children play carefree makes me both envious and a little frustrated. At some point, our behavior began to always follow meaning and purpose. But when we honestly ask ourselves, what is the meaning of life? Do we really need a specific purpose? Throughout our lives, we’ve been helping and doing, yet each child is born already complete. Life erodes our innocence, leaving us wandering through existence. Perhaps it’s better to spend some time without purpose, just like a child…
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