Why do Chinese websites and apps look so busy?

The aesthetics of modern Chinese digital products can look very different to primarily English-based apps and websites. If you explore some of China’s most popular websites and apps, such as 163.com (news), Jing Dong (e-commerce), Taobao (e-commerce) and Didi (ride-sharing), you will find that they have high information and feature density and highly saturated colors.  Why is this? This article explores some possible hypotheses about why there is a perceived or actual difference in digital product design.