One day, after work, Chen Shuangbin habitually took out his sleek cellphone. He couldn't decide where to eat, so Chen used his handset to log on to a website where people post comments about shops and restaurants.
After picking a place based on the diner reviews, Chen then found a coupon for that restaurant online and paid for his meal with special credit-card software on his phone.
The 26-year-old resident of Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, says he loves the convenience brought about by his smartphone. "It can even serve as a GPS guide when I am driving. I just type in the destination, and the phone will lead the way for me as I drive," Chen says in an interview with Xinhua.
Just like Chen, more and more Chinese people are now enjoying the convenience, ease of use and entertainment of smartphones, as proven by a recent burst of reports which the Chinese cellphone industry will now be analyzing keenly.
China has become the world's largest smartphone market by volume, overtaking the United States for the first time in the third quarter of 2011, latest figures from U.S. market research company Strategy Analytics show.
According to the firm's release in late November, smartphone shipments in China reached a record high of 23.9 million units during the third quarter, up 58 percent from quarter two.
A survey result released by Google Inc. the same month noted that 35 percent of Chinese urban mobile phone owners are using smartphones instead of regular mobile phones.
Basic handsets designed for little more than making calls and sending text messages have fallen behind the needs of consumers, it would seem.
In contrast, smart phones are practically a mini computer. They not only offer the basic functions of a phone, but can also run a kaleidoscope of applications, such as surfing the Internet, checking emails, taking pictures or playing games.
Smart phones have thus captured the hearts of Chinese, especially young Chinese, who use phones for business, social networking, as well as fun.
Chinese between 21 and 30 years old take up 68.4 percent of the smartphone market, according to a report from Analysis International, a leading provider of information products in China.
"Although smartphones provide a diversity of functions, they are usually more complicated and expensive than feature phones. Young people are more willing to accept new things and explore new functions, and furthermore they can afford pricy smartphones," said the report.
Chen Shuangbin says he chose Apple's iPhone for its ease of use and the boundless possibilities of its functions. He likes to use applications for information, writing microblogs, logging on to social networking sites, or even measuring his blood pressure and heart rate.
"The phone has simply become my best bud and a good assistant in my daily life," Chen says.
While Chen largely treats his "best bud" as a practical aid, many users see their smartphones as a tool of entertainment, as they use them to play games, read novels and listen to music.
This summer, one hit phone application made the process of buying watermelons fun. Enter the program, choose the watermelon size and color that best represents the one you are thinking of buying, hold the phone towards your choice and tap the watermelon three times, and at once the phone tells you whether it is "amazing" or "you can skip this one."
Wu Ruihua, a 30-year-old woman in Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shanxi, says she loves to play games on her smartphone.
