ESWN does us all a service with this translation of a blog post on how blogging is developing in China. (You can find the original Chinese version here.) It sounds like Chinese bloggers are finally learning how to use blogs to get things done and to interconnect, as opposed to using them simply as a place to post some personal poems, essays and photos.
Now, if only the blogger had avoided the hackneyed phrase about Chinese blogs having “strong Chinese characteristics.” The characteristics she describes actually sound pretty universal – e.g., blogs that get lots of links get noticed more than blogs that don’t, and some bloggers are using their sites to generate advertising revenues.
1
By AndyLin
I had the same thoughts when I read the post on ESWN yesterday. I also couldn’t see anything unique to China about the situation she was describing. I wonder why the phrase “with Chinese characteristics” is used so much…and does it actually mean anything?
December 9, 2006 @ 4:10 pm | Comment
2
By richard
Well, the phrase got popularized with Deng’s reference to China’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” leading to countless parodies of the phrase. That’s why I refered to it as hackneyed.
December 9, 2006 @ 4:17 pm | Comment
3
By AndyLin
Yeah it is a habit in China for many people to repeat set phrases over and over. Many of my students begin essays, regardless of the topic I set, with “With the development of China’s economy (etc) …” (and just a few years ago it was “With China’s entry into the WTO”). Still don’t know what “Chinese Characteristics” is supposed to mean though.
December 9, 2006 @ 4:45 pm | Comment
4
By Ivan
I’m still waiting for the CCP to concoct some kind of “Shinto with Chinese characteristics.”
December 9, 2006 @ 4:54 pm | Comment
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By Jeremiah
I think part of it is formulaic writing, the other part is an equally prevalent sense of “Chinese exceptionalism.”
China, and things Chinese, can never be completely the same as anything in the West, because China is, by definition, ‘special.’ It’s the same sentiment behind the annoying “you don’t GET China because you are NOT Chinese, but I understand America because I studied at Berkeley for a year and traveled to Disneyland.”
December 10, 2006 @ 1:08 am | Comment
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By Sonagi
Other than the writer’s appreciation for the power of free speech, I did not find anything remarkable about the piece.
December 10, 2006 @ 2:38 am | Comment
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By richard
Sonagi, I agree it is not remarkable. Not at all. I found it interesting only in that I am very interested in how China’s blog phenomenon is evolving, and it does seem to be moving closer to the Western model.
December 10, 2006 @ 10:28 am | Comment
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By Ewan
Awsome blog, I hv to say. I love perking Duck so much.
December 10, 2006 @ 12:49 pm | Comment