Google China moved into its new headquarters in Beijing on August 1. The company wanted to put on a new face and say farewell to the past.
More spacious rooms and more fashionable decoration, this is the official explanation given by Google China for its move. But according a report by Sina Tech on Wednesday, Google China’s new headquarters have only three floors, compared to the ten floors of the old place.
“The dining room is smaller. The public space is smaller. The fitness room is mini. The common room is cramped. The massage armchair can merely fit in a room a little larger than it,” said a Google China engineer in the Sina report, who asked not to be named.
Despite the accused shrinkage in space, the new office is somewhat more “fashionable, edgy and vigorous” in design and decoration. The updated version of the company logo “Google” can be seen everywhere in the office.
But, “Google China” can be found no more there. It has been replaced by “Google Beijing”—Google prefers to see it as its office in Beijing than its headquarters in China.
“Google requires a general decoration consistency for its offices worldwide. But the local features will also be considered. You can see a number of dragons in the Beijing office,” said Scott Beaumont, president of Google Greater China, in the report.
Currently, Google’s main profitable business in China is advertising Chinese companies in overseas markets. But Google seems to be willing to come back to the China market.
“Google wants very much to provide China with its services. And Google will keep up communication with the Chinese government. This is also one of the reasons why I’m here,” said Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google’s parent company Alphabet, in Beijing in November 2015.
(Top photo from Digitaltrends.com)
