We heard the bad news yesterday -- Weibo users on Sina, Sohu, NetEase and Tencent have until March 16th to register with their real names and identities, failing which they will no longer be able to post or retweet updates. Sina Weibo, the market leader in the microblogging segment, appears to be already feeling the heat. more ›

In the surprising 2011/2012 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders, China almost skirts the bottom at number 174 out of 179 possible spots. This places them one measly notch higher than Iran (175), who is just coming off the 2009/2010 election protest involving rampant violence between the media and government, and 22 places below Iraq - the country responsible for the most reporter killings (151) in the last two decades. In an equally frightening bit of trivia, just two years ago the same slot was occupied by North Korea! Reporters Without Borders states: more ›

Two days after Ma Ying-jeou's successful re-election, Chinese internet users still can't stop talking about Taiwan's 2012 presidential election. On Sina Weibo, China's largest microblogging platform, the election has remained the top trending topic as Chinese netizens look across the Taiwan straits and ponder over their own democratic future. Here is a selection of some of the most viral posts on Sina Weibo on the Taiwan election: more ›

If you've not been living under a rock recently, you've heard the story of the 18-year-old mother in Oklahoma who, armed with a shotgun and handgun, shot and killed an intruder after 911 said she should "do what you have to do to protect your [3-month-old] baby." The story is currently the #1 story on Weibo with over 11,000 forwards and, no surprises here, netizens totally would've shot the intruder too (if they had guns). more ›

Not a month after they revealed their newest landmark would be a pretty blatant knockoff of some other building, Chongqing is drawing ridicule once again for copycat architecture. Its newest project is a 280-meter, 70-floor tower on the bank of the Yangtze river to be completed in 2017. Designed to imitate a pair of rapturous figures posing in the form of "庆," Chongqing's second character meaning "celebration," the design is being compared to Beijing's CCTV tower. more ›

A Good Samaritan in Longkou by Yantai, Shandong has been hailed "the most beautiful girl" after she risked her life and was left crippled from rescuing a crash victim, reported Qilu Evening News. Diao Na, a 24-year-old Nanshan Tourism manager, was hit by a car and injured after she and her husband ran to the assistance of a wounded woman lying in the traffic lane. more ›

Have you ever wanted to become internet famous in China? Turns out, all you have to do is set up a food stand outside your local Chinese university and have the cops run you out. Oh also, be French. more ›

Just before the turn of the year, Xinhua announced its list of top 10 Chinese internet catchphrases for the year 2010. Now Baidu has announced its own list, which differs somewhat from the Xinhua list: more ›

The list, according to the all-authoritative Xinhua: more ›

Other people's misery always makes for an interesting story, and when poster Rong Rong started blogging live updates on Tianya about his embarrassing adventures with high school classmate Xiao Yue Yue the online world went crazy tracking her debauchery. more ›

One of the most frustrating parts of living in Shanghai as a middle class income holder is knowing that, while you can't afford an apartment, half the stock in the city is sitting empty thanks to zealous richer-than-you investors. That probably explains the grassroots turnout for helping Sina.com's investigation into empty houses in cities. more ›

Police in Foshan, Guangdong are realizing that they can cooperate with netizens to solve crimes and get some good PR. According to a Southern Metropolis article translated by ESWN, Foshan has an online "Police Affairs Room," a forum where netizens can register complaints or leave tips, monitored by an 'online sheriff,' officer Liao Haibiao. Already, eyewitness footage has helped police investigations and quick responses and constant updates from the PSB have turned the "vicious cycle in which the police and the people don't have basic trust of each other." He added, "when there is an incident, we should disclose the truth immediately...when I can solve problems in a timely and effective manner while being monitored by society, the netizens will see the results." Underlining yet again that a little more transparency would be good for everyone. more ›

Internet addiction centers suck - at best, they haven't proven to be effective and at worst... well, there's the whole torture, beatings and "accidental deaths" thing to contend with. So it's no wonder that eight teens sentenced to one of these "clinics" would try to escape. Unfortunately, their daring plan only worked until they were caught by the police and handed over to their parents, who promptly put them back in the centers. Alas. more ›

Currently, internet penetration in China is at 28.9% - which puts the amount of internet users at 384 million. But if the Information Office of the State Council has its way, a full 45% of the people will get internet in the next five years. Of course, the internet they'll be getting, while it purports to guarantee "citizen's freedom of speech," will not allow them to "infringe upon state, social and collective interests or the legitimate freedom and rights of other citizens." Whatever that means. more ›

• But first - Hey! Look at this gallery on China's Communist Party mouthpiece Xinhua - maybe the CCP ain't so scawwy aftwer aww. [Xinhua]
• Ever heard of the Panda attack? It's a lot less adorable than it sounds - it was known as the "first case of organized cybercrime in China" after a worm attacked and funneled information from anybody who opened its email. It also provided a rare glimpse into the Chinese world of hackers. [Wall Street Journal]
• Caixin has an amazing profile on Wang Yali, a Hebei official who was raped by her second-grade teacher and then created a new fake identity for herself - one that rose to become a CPC official, a mistress of high-ranking members and businessmen, and the honor of one of Hebei's "Ten Outstanding Female Leaders." [Caixin]

Isn't it interesting that, despite what the central government might say, most Chinese people think that access to the internet is a fundamental right? Then again, just because it's a right doesn't mean it should be totally unregulated - Chinese were some of the least likely to agree that "Internet should never be regulated by any level of government anywhere." Of course, Nigeria was one of the top countries who believed it shouldn't be touched and judging by my yahoo inbox, they could use a little more touching. more ›

I love it when Chinese netizens get creative with language - and this time, they're using English. Sinosplice pointed out a list of "creative English (words) with Chinese characteristics" - basically phrases and words altered slightly to give them a new Chinacentric meaning. For instance, smilence: when you ask a question and all a Chinese person does is smile silently. Or Innernet: a GFWed computer network. Or, a little more morbidly, suihide, where you kill yourself by playing a hide-and-seek game ala that prisoner who died in Yunnan last year. Check out more here more ›

While Hu Jintao still hasn't officially signed up for his own microblog, it seems Wen Jiabao's at least continuing to use chatrooms. The Premier signed on over the weekend to discuss matters such as hefty housing prics and unemployment, where he vowed to crackdown on speculation and boost the amount of low-cost apartments. If this sounds familiar, its because this is not the first time the unwashed masses have had their chance to talk to Grandpa Wen online. Last year, Wen also logged on to the www.gov.cn chatroom, and also right before the annual session of the National People's Congress. more ›

Currently making the rounds on Youku is this music video showing China's most talked about internet people of 2009 set to Guang Lian's Fairytale (童话 tong hua - 视频) and what do ya know? The first person featured is none other than the prettiest bus auntie ever. This young lass surprised netizens in September by being a beautiful, youthful girl who happened to be giving out bus tickets in Shanghai. The others: more ›

Chinasmack is currently working on translating some of the most popular Chinese internet memes from 2009, and they want your help to think of good ones the netizens of Netease may have missed. We've already seen some of our favorites: "What brother is eating is not noodles, but loneliness," "Believe in Brother Chun for everlasting life and "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you home for dinner"; but we were surprised by the omission of one of the best memes of the year, the infamous Grass Mud Horse. more ›

Since China unveiled its new 3G system earlier this year, it seems a number of perverted entrepreneurs have been utilizing the system to revolutionize the Chinese mobile internet: that's right, we're talking about mobile porn. Since it's easier for them to evade the authorities by changing IP addresses and domain names because of a lack of efficiency in monitoring the new technology, the highly illegal pornography industry in China has increasingly shifted their focus to mobile phones. The authorities are looking into ways to crack down on the porn sites, but as we all know, Chinese netizens are a pretty tough group to control. more ›

The number of China's Internet users have reached 360 million, says ChinaTechNews - a pretty darn sizable market that has attracted considerable attention (and you know, a thousand internet-addiction camp proprietors). more ›

After more than 70 years a large rare fungus collection has been returned to China from Cornell University. Curator Shu Chun Teng smuggled the collection out of the country at the start of World War II just as the Japanese were invading to keep it safe. He later suffered during the Cultural Revolution for "selling China's history." [New York Times] more ›

According to a presentation by MTV about youth and social networking in Asia, China is the only country where people actually have more ONLINE friends than offline friends. We guess that's not so surprising coming from the Land of 1,000 Internet Addiction Camps, but it still makes us want to go all Ogre on these kids. NERDS!! more ›

Turned off by the stories of falling signs and failing rides at Happy Valley? Maybe the problem is that they let people in when they haven't officially opened yet! The real opening is this Saturday, apparently. [Shanghai Daily] more ›

It's been a while since we've seen any netizen Chinese character creations - the last instance was in May during that whole Grass Mud Horse fiasco - so we're liking this new Hecaitou post (translated by the unfortunately blocked China Digital Times). more ›

• Taiwan to Allow Dalai Lama Visit [NY Times] "The president of Taiwan said Thursday that he would allow the Dalai Lama to visit the island next week, a move likely to infuriate China and jeopardize rapidly improving relations between Taipei and Beijing. The Tibetan spiritual leader is expected to arrive Monday for a six-day tour of southern Taiwan, which was ravaged by a typhoon three weeks ago that left at least 650 dead."
• Thousands of Myanmar refugees flowing into Yunnan [Go Kunming] "An attempt by Myanmar's ruling military junta to bring rebel ethnic fighters under its control has led to escalating tensions, reports of fighting and a looming specter of war, with thousands of refugees fleeing into southwestern Yunnan, according to a Reuters report. China- and Thailand-based media outlets have reported that on August 8 the Myanmar army sent hundreds of troops to the region of Kokang in the country's northeastern Shan State. Kokong, which has held to a 20-year ceasefire with the Myanmar government in Yangon, is home to many ethnic Chinese as well as other ethnic groups."
• Conrad Black: Much ado about China [National Post] "Overblown announcements heralding the supposed coming of the Age of China have become a staple of journalistic futurism in recent years. When Maclean's magazine banners across the top of its cover "When China Rules the World," as it did last month -- and it is not a Monty Python send-up of swarms of incomprehensible people in Mao suits -- I know it is time to raise a peep of dissent."

• China's founding legend may not be true [USA TODAY] "China's founding dynasty may just be a myth, say archaeologists. In a news report in the current Science, writer Andrew Lawler surveys a decade's worth of discoveries suggesting ancient China sprang from distinct regions, rather than possessing a single national culture some 4,300 years ago. "How China became China is no mere academic topic; it goes to the very heart of how the world’s most populous and economically vibrant nation sees itself and its role in the world," Lawler writes."
• Beijing puts giant media marriage on the rocks [Reuters] "China's leading Internet portal, Sina Corp is likely to call off its planned $1.4 billion purchase of Focus Media's core assets if the government fails to bless the marriage by a September deadline. Since Sina unveiled the deal in December — the largest in China's opaque media sector — China's commerce ministry has repeatedly put off reviewing the deal, asking for additional documents, frustrating both Nasdaq-listed companies."
• China: U.S. and Chinese Generals Clash [NYT] "A meeting on Thursday in Beijing between a Chinese military leader and a visiting American army general turned rancorous as the Chinese leader gave a sharp lecture on the failure of the United States to respect China’s interests, according to a witness at the meeting and a report by Xinhua, the state news agency. The argument took place when Gen. Ge Zhenfeng, deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, met with Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the chief of staff of the United States Army. "

Who knew that there was enough good will on the Chinese internet to help a beggar afford an automobile? Meet Wang Hao (王昊). By day, he's a mild-mannered, Shanghainese office worker, but upon logging onto the web by night, he becomes Gloomy Hao (郁闷昊), the world's most powerful online beggar. more ›