Facebook, YouTube and Twitter CAN Be Accessed in China Now

Today some Weibo users reported they could open Facebook and YouTube without using VPN just like browsing other sites hosted in China. Some netizens can even access Twitter, but much less stable compared to opening Facebook and Youtube. It still remains unclear why and how this happened.

Most of the users who reported this incident are students; so, some suspect maybe people connecting to Internet via university network can now access to uncensored content.

I asked a few users on Weibo who can access Facebook; some could but lost connection in late evening; some still could and were surfing at home (not university network). [Read more...]

Beijing Administration Released Regulations on Microblogs

Beijing Municipal government announced Regulations of Microblog Development today. Micrblogging websites in Beijing city administrative area and their users should comply with the regulations.

The regulation requires microblog users to register their identities with authorities and forbids creating fake Weibo accounts.

Top 10 Websites for Pirated Content

China Enterprise Evaluation Association, part of Development Research Center of the State Council, released a White Paper on Intellectual Property Rights. This whitepaper shows top 10 websites on pirated content:

  1. Baidu.com
  2. Baidu Post Bar (tieba.baidu.com)
  3. Baidu Wenku (wenku.baidu.com)
  4. book520.net
  5. www.booksky.org
  6. feiku.com
  7. 16kbook.com
  8. kenshuge.com
  9. SoDu.org
  10. soso999.com (this site is not accessible at the moment)

Three Baidu properties take the blame.

Guide: Website Visibility in China

A friend asked me a few questions the other day regarding website visibility in China, which I was asked before. So, I think writing a post on this topic could benefit more people who face similar problems.

.CN Chinese Domain Registration

.cn domain

If you want to register a China Country code top level domain (ccTLD), .CN for Chinese market, it requires the following documents:

  • A completed .CN domain application form
  • A copy of your  Business License (registered in China; can be Hong Kong registered commercial entity)
  • A copy of your Signatory’s National ID. Signatory must be a Chinese citizen and has a valid PRC personal ID

[Read more...]

China tightens rules on Internet cafes

Cybercafes in China that admit three or more underage patrons will have their licences revoked under the government’s latest effort to tighten controls on web access in the world’s largest online market.

The measure will also be applied to establishments that give rise to “major malignant cases” through admitting any number of underage customers — those under 18 — according to the rules posted on the culture ministry’s website.

Source: smh.com.au

China Web Sites Seeking Users’ Names

via NYTimes.com:

News Web sites in China, complying with secret government orders, are requiring that new users log on under their true identities to post comments, a shift in policy that the country’s Internet users and media have fiercely opposed in the past.

Song of the Grass-Mud Horse: An Icon of Resistance to Censorship


According to the New York Times, “The Grass-Mud Horse” is a mythical creature whose name in Chinese sounds like “fuck your mother”. These horses face a problem: invading river crabs that are devouring their grassland. In spoken Chinese, river crab sounds very much like harmony, which in Chinas cyberspace has become a synonym for censorship. Censored bloggers often say their posts have been harmonized — a term directly derived from President Hu Jintaos regular exhortations for Chinese citizens to create a harmonious society.

While grass-mud horse sounds like a nasty curse in Chinese, its written Chinese characters are completely different, and its meaning —taken literally — is benign. Thus, the beast has dodged the Chinese governments efforts to censor information over the Internet that is seditious or inflammatory.

Xiao Qiang, an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, said that the grass-mud horse is an icon of resistance to censorship.