Surprise! eChinacities.com just got a revamp! With a brand new year just around the corner, we thought it was time to give the website a much needed makeover. But it's not just an aesthetic one: eChinacities beta features a whole new treasure-trove of pages, features and functions just waiting to be discovered. Now, before you read on, please bear in mind that "e-Beta" is fresh out of the oven and will therefore receive extra fine-tuning over the next few weeks and months. So, without further ado, here's a quick guide to help you navigate and understand all the new exciting things you can do at eChinacities.com beta.

Community page: upload content, connect with others

The biggest addition to the website is our Community page, which was designed entirely with our readers in mind. For years, we've admired our increasingly vocal readership and their willingness to share opinions in the comments and answers section. However, readers were not able to upload their own articles or photos – until now. By registering (totally free of charge) or signing in, members have access to their own User Center, from which they can post blogs and upload photos, as well as manage their profile, listings reviews, comments, resumes, job applications and more.  Extremely user-friendly, members can also easily change their passwords, security and privacy settings.

All registered members will be able to upload as many blogs and photos as they like (subject to moderation), as well as view and comment on others' posts. Blogs that stand out for their quality and content will be promoted on the Community homepage, and may appear on City Guide or other major pages too – a great opportunity for burgeoning writers/bloggers to have their work seen, read and evaluated by our massive readership. 

To encourage greater interaction, members can send each other messages through the User Center and eventually, members will be able to create friend lists, similar to other social networking sites. 

News & Articles – your window into what's happening around China

News & Articles is where we display prominent news, stories and events from around China,  in other words content of interest to the expat community in China regardless of location. Here you'll find our Expat Corner and China Media articles, China in Pulse bulletins as well as prominent news and events from other cities in China. This page, like many of our other new pages, is a work in progress and will feature new columns and sections in the coming weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

City Guides – your city in a nutshell

City Guides are still the same pages so many readers appreciated and valued before, but with a shiny, new interface. What's more, members who post blogs specific to their city may get a plug in the City Feature article section. In addition, our miniature army of editors will post networking events in the new Networking Event section for as many cities as possible (or readers can upload a blog and tag it as a networking event) and our Essential Guides for each city have been thoroughly updated. That's not all: our listings have a new voting system and, members can edit or delete their venue reviews at any time.  Members can of course still submit new venues to the listings for free at any time.

Points – virtual currency with benefits

Previously, our points system was limited to the Answers board, which awarded members for asking and answering questions. But our new site version takes points to a whole new level: soon, members can earn points by posting blogs, photos, comments and more. In addition to our previous prize list, which included a one-month VIP membership for eChina Dating and a number of other practical gifts, we will be expanding our prize list and developing more exciting ways to make the most of your virtual currency.

Enterprise Center – manage your jobs, classifieds and resumes

Employers, recruiters and companies will also find our new Enterprise User Center very handy for managing job posts, resumes, classifieds and more. By creating an enterprise account, a company can easily post and edit its advertisements using our website's e-Credit currency. Click here for more info.

Other sections like Answers and Dating will also see improvements in the near future.

Overall, eChinacities.com beta version focuses on the user. Our mission is to create a website that allows greater user-generated content and interaction, thereby bringing the extensive and dispersed expat community in China together on one unified online platform. Got any thoughts? Please feel free to leave feedback and suggestions in the comments section below!

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

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