Ebay plays second fiddle in China. So does Google. Yahoo got frustrated, and bought a sizable stake in a Chinese internet company. Do a Google search for a U.S. internet business that is successful in China, and you will get articles about ones that failed and why, but no counterexamples.

I recently blogged about a Chinese automotive designer who redesigned the Buick LaCrosse for Chinese consumers, making it a highly successful exported U.S. brand. Automotive manufacturers have obviously had many years of learning painful lessons about what does and doesn't export outside of the U.S. Internet companies have not.

"I looked at where people lived, where they hung out, and then I tried to create that same feeling inside the car," says Joe Qiu, the designer of the Chinese Buick LaCrosse. Maybe U.S. internet businesses could learn something from him. After all, if a car company can design a successful car, shouldn't an internet company be able to produce a successful website in China?