To many, Alibaba is a giant shopping destination online.

But as a video just released shows, the Alibaba ecosystem stretches way beyond retailing.

From weather and traffic data, to social networking, streaming entertainment, today’s urban Chinese can be connected to Alibaba virtually every waking minute for a vast variety of services.

News, entertainment, shopping, connecting with friends – or strangers – it’s all part of a vast and still growing Alibaba ecosystem vastly more extensive than facebook in the west – which is blocked by the government in China.

Consumers can get the latest traffic data before a morning commute, order lunch from their favorite restaurant, buy tickets for a movie—and pay for it all—without ever leaving the company’s internet ecosystem. And Alibaba also offers ways to stream music, hail taxis and even find a hot date for the weekend, among many other services. Take a look at the video below…