Today, Chinese state media announced that the number of blogs in China went over 34 million during August. That's more than existed in the entire world until very recently... Of course, as is the case in most areas, the Chinese have found that about 70% of existing blogs are actually dead or dormant... The article claims that 17 million people in China consider themselves to be "Bloggers" and about 75 million regularly read blogs.
In other recent news from the Chinese blogosphere, Xinhua profiles the blog of a Guo Feng, a 48 year-old cab driver in Hunan province. The blog, devoted to discussions of "housing prices, reforms and officials and ordinary people from the point of view of a laid-off worker..." has had 150,000 visitors in two months with as many as 5,000 visits per day. Another recent Xinhua story discusses a brewing scandal over "sex for [acting] roles" that has been heated by revelations published on the blog of 22-year-old Chinese actress Xiao Qiong. As in the west, the blogosphere has become a "source" for chinese "journalists".
Of course, when reading about blogging about blogging in China, it is useful to remember that the Chinese have recently gained quite a bit of attention by putting in place systems to monitor and control blog and news content. For some perspective on this, see the recent article on the Council for Foreign Affairs website titled: China: Pressing for More Control.
bob wyman
Comments