Business

Cialis officially launched

Cialis hits stores across the country in June according to an announcement on 31 May by Eli Lilly. It competes for the erectile dysfunction yuan with Viagra and Levitra, which entered China in 2000 and 2004, respectively.

When Viagra was introduced, it was colloquially called 伟哥, wěigē, or "great elder-brother". Though inspired by its phonetic similarity to "viagra", this name now refers to all ED drugs, with the big three called 洋伟哥, "great western elder-brothers".

Their registered names are quite similar to each other, referencing power, love, and potential even as they maintain a superficial phonetic resemblence to their English counterparts:
    Viagra: 万艾可, wàn'àikě
    Levitra: 艾力达, àilìdá
    Cialis: 希爱力, xīàilì

In related news, the May Harper's Index, online today, reports a 100% rise since 1994 in "treatment for male infertility and erectile dysfunction in Shanghai."

Links:
China Daily: "Lilly's hard-sell" blurb on Cialis intro, and profile on Lilly's plans for China
Danwei on ED: here and here

Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
AXL091030storiesforthcoming.jpg
Princess Der Ling: Two Years in the Forbidden City: Two years in the Forbidden City is largely a reminiscence of the minutiae of life for one of history's most powerful women, by one of her court attendants, a Manchu noble's daughter by the name of Der Ling.
Carl Crow's The Long Road Back to China: In 1939 Carl Crow - an American journalist, advertising executive and author who had lived in Shanghai for 25 years until forced out by the Japanese - travelled up the Burma Road from Rangoon to Chongqing on assignment for Liberty magazine - 'the most interesting assignment I have ever been given'.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ The Dazhai Spirit gets religion (2007.10): In a Window of the South (南风窗) feature on model village Dazhai (大寨), Li Xiangping (李向平) writes about the role religion, in the form of the Pule Temple, plays in the village's changing identity.
+ Will the Boat Sink the Water? a review by Göran Leijonhufvud (2006.11): Göran Leijonhufvud, former China correspondent of several Scandinavian newspapers, is now researching village elections in minority nationalities areas in Yunnan.
+ One Country, Two Versions (2005.02): CEPA eases co-productions between the mainland and Hong Kong, but does it undermine creativity?
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30