The Guardian went on a Zheng He kick yesterday, with not one but two articles relating to the famous eunuch general. First, a discussion of Zheng He's voyages and their relation to modern maritime attitudes - China has recently been citing his voyages as an "envoy of friendship and peace," and urged that countries consider anything modern China does to be in the same vein. By doing so, they may be - surprise - really reinterpreting history. Meanwhile, Chinese archeologistsare now in Kenya to search for the remains of a Zheng He-led armada that may have sunk there 600 years ago. more ›

From The Guardian: more ›

Sina.com have officially entered the war of words over CNN's Tibet coverage with an online petition that is currently up to 1.14 million signatures. This latest development in the ongoing row over doctored and mis-titled photographs is breaking over on China Daily:

The website's appeal read: "Violent crimes of beating, smashing, looting and arson broke out in Lhasa in early March, but Western media organizations such as CNN and BBC have churned out untrue and distorted reports of the event. Please sign your name here to lodge your strong protest." more ›

Jonathan Watts, the China correspondent for The Guardian, has recently put in his year so far article about the internet here. It covers a lot of familiar ground and quotes Zonaeuropa and Danwei.org, among others, as sources. One of the most quoted facts in these kinds of articles is the world’s most read blog being “Lao Xu”. Lao Xu is the Sina.com blog of actress/writer/director Xu Jing Lei 徐静雷. more ›