Through my work in both the Western and Chinese cryptocurrency communities, I have come to see risk in how Western and Chinese cryptocurrency enthusiasts—Monero enthusiasts in particular—perceive each other. This article discusses my observations and gives some suggestions on steps that will bring the two communities closer and make Monero stronger.
我在西方和中国的加密货币社区都工作过，这让我有机会观察到西方和中国的币友(尤其是门罗币粉们)如何看待对方及其风险。我想就这篇文章总结一下我观察的结果，并就如何让两个社区走得更近，让门罗币更强大提出了一些建议。
Nature of Interest
First, there is projection from each community onto the other of what matters most to it. From my first work translating Monero articles for the Western community I have been inundated with technology theory and philosophy. In contrast, as a freelance writer for the blockchain media in China, articles tend to be on price and mining. Westerners, then, tend to see Chinese as disproportionately motivated by theory and philosophy, and Chinese see Westerners as manipulating price and perversely impacting mining.
Chinese pride themselves on being open. And, really, we are less private than Americans and Europeans. It is common to share salary and personal spending information, for example. I believe this comes historically from fewer secrets being kept in extended families in China. Westerners, on the other hand, are more concerned with social issues.
Informal online research supports this observation of differing priorities. For example, very telling is the difference when Google searching “monero” versus Baidu searching “门罗币, ” the Chinese spelling of Monero. Google and Baidu are the most popular search engines in the Western world and in China, respectively. Guess what happens with the searches? The results are shown below:
各自的兴趣点
首先，每个社区都将自己关心的问题投射到另一个社区上。从我第一次为西方社区翻译门罗币文章起，我就被淹没在无边的技术理论和哲学中。相比之下，作为中国区块链媒体的自由撰稿人，媒体要求我们撰写的文章往往是关于价格和挖矿的。因此，西方人倾向于认为中国人在很大程度上受到了理论与哲学的驱动，而在中国也有人认为西方人通过操纵价格影响整个挖矿业。
中国人以光明磊落为荣。事实上我们也不像美国人和欧洲人那么注重隐私。例如，谈论工资和个人消费信息在中国是司空见惯的。我认为这可能是历史的原因，因为在中国大家庭中很少有人把这些当作秘密。另一方面，西方人更关心社会问题。
为了验证这一猜测，我做了一个非正式的网络调查。我们知道，谷歌和百度分别是西方和中国最大的搜索引擎。我分别在谷歌上输入”Monero”和百度上搜索关键词“门罗币”，猜猜搜索结果怎么样?结果如下:
In the top 10 Google rankings, technical information accounts for 50%. This includes the recognized Monero website, getmonero.org, as well as Wikipedia and Twitter. Next, 20% is news and investment data. As 10%, only one exchange, coinbase.com, appears.
Among the top 10 rankings of Baidu in China, on the other hand, the largest proportion is 40% dedicated to mining. Next, technology accounts for 30%. 20% of search results focus on investment data. Finally, there was one odd website presenting information about the use of Monero on the dark net.
在谷歌排名前10位中，技术信息占50%。这包括公认的Monero网站，getmonero.org, 以及维基百科和Twitter。其次，20%是新闻和投资数据。只有10%是交易所，那就是coinbase.com。
另一方面，在中国百度排名前十条中，挖矿所占比例最大，达到40%；其次是技术，占30%；然后是投资数据，占20%。最后，还有一个奇怪的网站陈述了门罗币在暗网上的使用。
Popularity
Western enthusiasts tend to think of the Chinese Monero community as small. Seemingly there are few openly Chinese enthusiasts known on Reddit, Telegram, or other platforms, and most of the online guys with mysterious handles seem explicitly Western. Well, it turns out the Chinese Monero community is large. I would argue that our number is actually comparable (less than an order of magnitude away, say) to that of Western enthusiasts.
Beyond my subjective impression, research supports this: A search for “XMR” among QQ groups—one of the favorite discussion methods in China—yields about 18K subscribers (most of them interested in mining). This can be compared to about 14K subscribers to r/MoneroMining and 158K subscribers to r/Monero on Reddit. And, moreover, I would argue that the percentage of Chinese Reddit subscribers is high compared to the percentage of Westerners in QQ groups.
受欢迎度
西方的门罗币粉们认为中国的门罗币社区可能很小。也许在Reddit、Telegram或其他平台上有一些公开的中国门罗币币友，但大多数网络上的神秘人物似乎明显都是西方人。然而，意想不到的是，中国的门罗币社区异常强大。我认为，我们的人头数实际上与西方的币友相当(比如说，相差不到一个数量级)。
这绝非源自我个人的主观判断，而是基于我在中文和英语社区的调查。在中国QQ群(中国最大的网络社区之一)中搜索“XMR”，社群人头总数大约为18K(其中大多数人对挖矿感兴趣)。与之相比，Reddit上大约有14K名r/MoneroMining (门罗币挖矿) 用户和158K名r/Monero (门罗币)用户。我认为，与QQ群中西方人的比例相比，中国Reddit用户的比例更高。
Organization
In China, there are some high-quality reporters and experts. I recommend the XMR column created by Jindouyun as first class. He serialized the translation of Mastering Monero into a nice column: Master Monero. In addition, his translations of articles about Monero wallets are excellent. Respected expert theNoblesse has translated a significant part of the getmonero.org website into Chinese. I (FutureFan1) also welcome you to read some of the articles I have written and translated on Jianshu.
Yet despite these efforts and individuals, among others, the organization of Monero enthusiasts in China is a mess. We look longingly outside, where there is getmonero.org, monerooutreach.org, and other official and semi-official websites, and people. Yes, I know—there is nothing formally official for Monero. Indeed, there are no de jure officials, but there are de facto officials and websites. In China, we struggle to establish this organization in a Chinese language framework.
机构组织
中国也有一些优质的门罗币记者和专家。我首推的是“筋斗云”在头等舱创建的门罗币专题。他将《精通门罗币》的翻译连载成一个不错的专栏。他翻译的关于门罗币钱包的文章也相当出色。此外，the Noblesse已将社区公认官网getmonero.org/zh-cn的大部分内容翻译成中文。也欢迎你阅读我(未来控)在“简书”上撰写和翻译的一些文章：jianshu.com
然而，尽管有一些人正在为之努力，门罗币中国社区仍然不是很有组织性。我们渴望从外面的世界探听到消息，那里有getmonero.org/zh-cn, monerooutreach.org，以及其他官方和半官方网站，还有其他致力于拥护门罗币的币友。是的，我知道门罗币的确没有真正意义上的官网。事实上，门罗币只是没有法律意义上的官网，却有社区公认的官网。中国的币友们应该明白getmonero.org是一个负责任的权威机构。我们也正努力建设其中文版的社区。
Doubt and Worry
Westerners have doubts and worries about Cryptocurrency and Monero that are different from those in China. Westerners may worry that the inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, was the government, or that some altcoin is a scam. With Monero, Westerners may have technical worries related to traceability. Chinese, on the other hand, worry that Monero is an invention of the West to take money from Chinese. We have conspiracy theories that way.
怀疑与担忧
西方人对加密货币和门罗币的怀疑和担忧与中国不同。西方人可能会担心比特币的发明者中本聪(Satoshi Nakamoto)是政府，或者一些山寨币是骗局。对于门罗币，西方人可能对其在可追溯性的技术上有担忧。而中国人担心门罗币则是门罗币西方人为了从中国人口袋里捞钱而发明的。我们有一种阴谋论。
The Future
We all hope for a bright future for cryptocurrency and Monero. The steps needed are quite visible to me, and here are my recommendations:
First, strengthen the translation of Western Monero information resources, including the official website, the book Mastering Monero, and Monero Outreach documents.
Second, accelerate the Chineseization of Monero wallets. The official GUI wallet does have a Chinese version, but the Chinese translation is not thorough. Some Chinese people who don’t understand any English at all cannot make it through installation. The Chineseization of the wallet should consider two matters: First, the Chinese version of the wallet should be thoroughly translated, and second, the wallet should be placed in the Chinese app store so that Chinese can easily download it on their mobile phones. I hope that developers can support Chinese improvements soon and enable broad Chinese use of Monero wallets.
Third, advance Monero in Chinese mainstream media. At present, China's blockchain mainstream media, such as Bihu and Knowledge Planet, have not even set up discussion of Monero. This may require some support from the Western community.
Fourth, establish high-quality Monero social circles in China. We have established the "Monero Technology Exchange Group" on WeChat, which is well aligned with the Western Monero community (Jindouyun and theNobless, mentioned above, are part of this). And MrScott, the manager of XMR on sina blog and Cointime on 8bt, is also involved in this Group (to join this WeChat group, please contact user “mpmandarin”).
Fifth, strengthen the exchanges between Chinese and Western communities. Since the core technicians of Monero and most of the early participants are from the West, to strengthen the understanding of the members of the Chinese community outreach could be undertaken together. For example, a Chinese-Western talk format could be used, with a Chinese host interviewing Western technical personnel and active community participants to enhance mutual understanding.
These steps would grow the Monero community in China, and strengthen Monero for everyone. Monero is a global phenomenon, and the Chinese community should rise up to find natural balance and global growth.
面向未来
我们都希望加密货币和门罗币有一个光明的未来。所以我们要采取一些措施加强门罗币中国社区的建设，我的建议是:
第一，加强门罗币信息的翻译，包括官网、《精通门罗币》和门罗币推广组网站。
第二，加快门罗币钱包的中国化。官方的GUI钱包确实有中文版本，但其中文翻译并不全面。一些根本不懂英语的中国人无法操作安装。钱包的中国化需要考虑两件事:首先，应该彻底翻译中文版钱包。其次，钱包应该放在中国的应用市场中，这样中国人就可以更便捷地下载到手机上。我希望开发者能尽快支持中文版钱包的改进升级，并让更多的中国人可以使用门罗币钱包。
第三，门罗币应该在中国主流媒体中建立专题板块。目前，中国的区块链主流媒体，如币乎和知识星球，甚至还没有建立关于门罗币的讨论。这可能需要西方社区的一些支持。
第四，在中国建立高质量的门罗币社交圈。我们在微信上建立了“门罗币技术交流群”，与西方门罗币社区保持着良好的合作关系。上文提到的“筋斗云”和theNoblesse已加入该群，还有门罗币微博超话社区和巴比特链节点门罗币板块的负责人Mr Scott也在群中。我们期待更多的门罗币友们加入讨论（请添加微信“mpmandarin”加入门罗币技术交流群）。
第五，加强中西交流。由于门罗币的核心技术人员和大部分早期的参与者都来自西方，因此加强华人社区推广应一并进行。例如，可以采用中西对话的形式，由中国主持人采访西方技术人员和活跃的社区参与者，以增进相互了解。
这些举措都将促进门罗币社区在中国的推广，并加强个人对门罗币的了解。门罗币是一个全球性的项目。应该通过促进门罗币中国社区的增长，找到一个自然平衡点，从而最终实现门罗币的全球性增长。
本文首发门罗币推广组Monerooutreach
