Wendy Tang
With Airbnb officially announcing its expansion in China, many tech observers in China wonder where the sharing economy pioneer stands in the market. As many Airbnb-like sharing accommodation alternatives have sprung up in the country over the past five years, AllChinaTech.com has taken it upon itself to investigate four of them and see how each of them have adapted Airbnb’s model and adjusted it to the Chinese market.
Tujia Launched in December 2011, Tujia is one of the earliest short-term home rental services in China. Tujia means “home on a journey” in Chinese. It is the market leader in the shared accommodation business. Tujia has 310,000 property listings in China and overseas. In China, Tujia covers 154 Chinese cities, 255 travel destinations and 133 locations overseas including Tokyo, Singapore, Paris and Barcelona. http://www.tujia.com/
Xiaozhu Duanzu Xiaozhu Duanzu came online in August 2012. ‘Xiaozhu’ translates to ‘little pig’ in English and ‘Duanzu’ literally just means ‘short-term rentals’. Xiaozhu’s business model is similar to Airbnb’s in that it matches hosts with travelers. The company raised US$60 million in its latest funding round in July. It has 30,000 property listings in more than 200 Chinese cities. Xiaozhu is backed by the largest Chinese classified advertisements website 58.com and search engine giant Baidu. http://www.xiaozhu.com/
Mayi Duanzu Mayi Duanzu or ‘ant-like short-term rentals’ focuses on providing apartments and resorts to families traveling within China. The idea is for accommodation to resemble a home which travelers can cook and do laundry at during their stay. Mayi claims to have real-estate agents involved in rental deals, unlike Airbnb’s matching of travelers with regular hosts. Founded in November 2011, Mayi has property listings in almost 100 cities in China with 10,000 hosts. Mayi’s parent company is Ganji.com, China’s craiglist with more than 10 million active users and service in more than 400 Chinese cities. http://www.mayi.com/
Muniao Duanzu Muniao Duanzu translates as ‘woodpecker short-term rentals’. Launched in May 2012, the company offers themed rooms for parties on top of regular rooms, houses, courtyards, and resorts. Muniao claims it has has close to 200,000 property listings in 192 cities in China. It raised 600 million RMB (US$ 9.4 million) in a series A fundraising in July lead by Plum Ventures [Sohu]. Muniao is owned by Beijing Aiyouyi Technology Ltd. http://www.muniao.com/
I visit this place often.