Have you ever taken a closer look at website designs commonly found in China? When comparing Western and Chinese web design, you'll notice many differences and unique characteristics. These are essential for designers aiming to work beyond regional markets (typically Russia and CIS countries). Even if you’re not planning to work with Chinese clients, it's still worth exploring how web design practices in China differ — you may find useful layout ideas, visual approaches, or design principles. Much like art from the past can inspire a modern project, so can Chinese web aesthetics.
In this article, we’ll explore the general structure of China’s digital landscape and how it influences the evolution of web design in the country. But that’s not all. It’s not enough to just notice floating menus or category lists placed on top of banners to understand that this wouldn’t fly in Europe. We’ll help you grasp why Chinese web design looks the way it does, and how some seemingly “strange” elements for Europeans can actually be implemented effectively — and which ones, specifically.
Internet Landscape – The Key to Web Design
In China, people treat the internet and its information differently than Western users. Here, the focus is heavily on mobile industry, mobile apps, and the connection between websites and smartphones. While Western sites strive for responsive design to ensure ease of use on both desktop and mobile, in China, responsive design is rarely used. Instead, companies often build separate mobile versions or apps only. Desktop sites act more as extended versions of mobile platforms. Users mostly access sites from smartphones or tablets, making desktop usage less necessary. Interestingly, this has been the case in China for many years. The desktop version is more of an optional add-on than a core experience.
China has the highest mobile internet usage in the world. A mobile phone number in China is extremely important — it’s like a tax ID or social security number in Russia. Losing your phone number could mean losing access to wallets, personal accounts, and profiles. In Europe, such dependency exists to an extent, but in China, linking everything to your number is mandatory. While we often register with email, Chinese users sign up via phone number.
That’s why Chinese websites make extensive use of QR codes — for everything. You visit a search site (desktop version), and a QR code prompts you to scan and download the app, open a mini-site, or pay directly using linked wallets. Go to a café or take public transport — QR codes are everywhere and used for payments. See examples below: large, well-known sites — and QR codes placed all over the screen.
Browser Optimization
Another unique aspect of Chinese web design is optimization for WeChat. Over the years, WeChat has become a near-monopolistic communication platform where users read news, chat, and share music/photos. Thus, its internal browser becomes the main platform that websites need to be optimized for. If your site doesn't display well there, users simply won’t engage with it.
Moreover, WeChat serves as a strong base for marketing research. If a user opens your site through the in-app browser, you can see their unique WeChat ID in your stats — not just a nickname. With subscriptions, even more data becomes available: real name, profile photo, language, city, etc. Such targeted data makes it easier for businesses to tailor strategies and develop their websites. Since most Western social media platforms are blocked in China, WeChat is practically the only way users “communicate” online.
Web Design Elements
Still, Chinese web design has even more intriguing elements. When analyzing various types of websites, you’ll notice that they follow specific stylistic patterns depending on their category.
Almost all e-commerce homepages include a vertical dropdown menu on the left displaying product categories. This improves access and navigation and makes sites visually clearer. Sites like suning.com, dangdang.com, amazon.cn, world.taobao.com, and others follow this pattern.
Vertical user menus — yes, those exist too. Take a close look at screenshots of qunar.com or suning.com, and you’ll spot them. They include links to support, client services, QR codes, user accounts, order history, etc.
The nvzhuang.tmall.com site has a panel with options like “favorites,” “my brands,” “my account,” “recently viewed,” a QR code, and “shopping cart.” The primary quick panel stays on the right, while a larger menu appears when clicking the "TOP" button at the bottom of the window.
Bright but not neon colors. Chinese design uses bold, vivid colors across web design, games, posters, interiors, and more. Even if a page has a white background, elements like menu strips, headers, or info block borders are brightly colored, creating strong contrast — something we’ve discussed in our article on art.
Typography in Web Design
Most Chinese websites appear text-heavy. That’s because China uses 4 main fonts and the alphabet includes around 2,000 glyphs. Font files often weigh 4–6 MB, slowing down page loading times. What can a web designer do when working with Chinese clients?
Font processing services like youziku.com and en.justfont.com convert fonts on their servers and then deliver results to local hosts. They use SVG or PNG images to statically display text. Importantly, Chinese websites are always built in the users’ native language.
More Examples of Web Design
Overall, web design in China is growing rapidly and visually distinct. But keep in mind — for Chinese users, web design reflects their spiritual culture. Creating a site with fantasy themes, knights, magic, pixel art, or European illustrations won’t evoke emotional responses. Moreover, many Western websites are blocked in China, even with proxies or browser extensions. Instead, local alternatives are developed.
No YouTube? There's youku.com.
Problems with Twitter? Use weibo.com.
However, companies with regional sites typically maintain the same layout across languages. With China, it’s different — though major corporations are sometimes exceptions. Chinese versions are often uniquely designed. Examples include Amazon, Volkswagen, 360totalsecurity.com, cn.chinadaily.com.cn, and many more.
Conclusion
So what’s the point of this entire discussion? Chinese web design is unique and distinctive. Still, some of its concepts are slowly being adopted in Europe, Russia, and the US. For example, QR codes are gaining popularity and starting to be used more in daily life. So if you’re building a site for a company, ask whether they have a mobile app — a QR code might simplify payments in their store.
Bright colors and strong contrast also work well on Western sites. Same goes for sidebar category lists or menu panels ( we especially liked this idea ). A web designer’s job isn’t to “copy” a site to standard specs. It’s to make it functional, modern, and at least somewhat innovative. In short — experiment, test, and find inspiration in allied countries.