internet - Selling watermelons

How is e-commerce doing in China?, I was asked yesterday in a weekly Skypecast on doing business. Most profitable online businesses in China were gaming and SMS-ing, was my answer. And then there is for a long time nothing.
But e-commerce does to seem taking off on a domestic level, I read from this article on selling watermelons online from the Beijing Times , translated by ESWN. The website sold 200,000 rmb worth of watermelons in two months time. Cao Demei tells how the gruesome process of selling their watermelons changed:

"It was not easy! A few years years ago, in order to sell watermelons, we had to rise at 2am or 3am. No matter how tired we were, we had to get up and drive our watermelon-laden cars to the distribution markets at Xinfadi, Shahuo and other places, and we must sell all our merchandise before sunrise." Cao Demei said that she had to drive the watermelons to the market to wait for the customers to show up. She also had to wander a few times around the market in order to understand the prices for the day, and then set her own price based up the quality of her own watermelons.

The moved online and the whole process changed. Cao Damei thought the internet was only there for the big companies when an internet project started off. Sales improved, after they got some much needed lessons:

People saw her sales information on the Internet, and left queries about the price and quality. She replied with the requested information. She said that the Internet sales effort attracted two types of customres -- one is the personal or business collective buying services who will pick their own watermelons, and the other is the distributors.

China Mobile is starting in the village to build wireless internet access. It did not say more, but I estimate the 3G-project is already taking off behind the scenes. It is not going to be about big figures at this stage, but the foundation for a profound change through the internet is moving from the cities to the country side.