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As Irish economist George Bernard Shaw said: 'If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.' This wonderful result can be created by the exchange of skills on the web.
Similar to bartering, one inputs information about what he is good at and what skill he wants to learn on a skill-exchange website. A right match will come up and both sides can swap skills. 
Hao Yi, founder of Jnjhw.com, one of the first and biggest skill-exchange websites on the mainland, says the new method helps people learn at a low cost. 
Although Hao was good at computer technology, he wanted to improve his English. 'But I find the training fees too high,' he said.
He had friends who were talented in other areas. 'Some cook well while others play the guzheng. Since we have mastered different skills and also want to learn other things, why not exchange skills among us?' Hao says.
Inspired by the idea, he built the site in 2007 and taught a tea shop owner IT skills in return for lessons on performing tea ceremonies.
'It is a public, free and convenient platform for people who want to learn something and teach others something else,'  Hao says. His website now boasts more than 56,000 members and some 51,000 skill requests. 
Song Ziming, a restaurant chef,  met Wu Guan, a fishing veteran. The two learned from each other every weekend. 'I have mastered some techniques in fishing while Wu can cook some Cantonese dishes,' Song says. 
However, there is no control over the quality of teaching. Zhu Ting, an office worker in Shenzhen, tried to swap her Japanese language skills with a man who claimed to be a judo teacher. 'Later I discovered what he taught me was not authentic and he admitted he was a judo beginner,' Zhu says.
Gu Wanting, marketing manager of Jnjhw.com, suggested having a reliable registration system to avoid frauds and a credit-rating system for members' reference.



Website helps people swap skills