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Navigating the bamboo scaffolding of China's rapid-rising tower of technology

by Steven Millward, China

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Eight Web sites that'll help you understand China

Sep 6, 2009 20:09

Contemporary China can be difficult to understand or get a big picture on. News reportage by most TV media and newspapers doesn't quite get it right, in terms of hearing ordinary people, or knowing what makes them tick.

Also, as much fun as China's crowded and chattery bulletin boards (BBS) may be, the language barrier makes it inaccessible to nearly all non-Chinese. So, instead, to help you understand modern day China, I'm going to profile eight of a relatively small number of China-based Web sites which are English or bilingual, and more "alt" and creative-oriented.

The sites I've chosen are diverse, engaging, and mostly non-mainstream sites which can give the "outsider" a clear picture of the humor, events, issues, music, and environmental concerns that rock the world of China's new hipsters and global citizens. Here are the "lucky 8", in no particular order of preference:

Youku Buzz:

http://buzz.youku.com

China's homemade video-sharing sites are far bigger here than YouTube ever was. But now that YouTube has been blocked by the Great Firewall Web-filtering system, it's a moot point. Thus, Chinese video sites Tudou.com and Youku.com are where tens of millions of Chinese Netizens view and comment on vids of all sorts. Youku Buzz is an English-language official blog from Youku, selecting some of the best videos and viral hits, and accompanying them with an explanation in English. Oh, look: "Andy Lau 'fesses up about nuptials. Allegations of polygamy?"... OMG!

City Weekend

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn

What do Chinese hipsters and all those expats in China's major cities do in the evenings? Sip green tea at home while watching a bit of Chinese opera? Nope. As you're surely aware, Shanghai is the "New York of the East", and City Weekend is a friendly and inclusive listings and community site, entirely in English, for Beijing, Guangzhou as well as Shanghai. Its dozens of blogs offer up very city-specific gossip--"The Quest for Good Muffins in Shanghai Complete!"--and there's even a very incisively written gay-focused blog, which is a rare thing in China-based media.

ChinesePod

http://chinesepod.com/lessons

A good-looking Web 2.0-style, chatty, language-learning site, ChinesePod is well-known among China-based expats, especially those on Twitter. The sites teachers are regular Twitterers and bloggers themselves, and tech/gadget enthusiasts to boot. The site also has a presence on iTunes, with regular free podcasts to sample, and a free iPhone/iPod touch app to introduce you to learning Mandarin Chinese.

Neocha

http://www.neocha.com

Indie music in China has been boosted enormously by the Internet--and the classiest, shiniest home of Chinese alt music is Neocha (the name means, literally, "new tea"). Actually a social network (SNS) and mostly in Chinese (though they have a nice English blog), Neocha is the brainchild of Sean Leow, a Chinese-American who is passionate about independent youth culture and arts scenes. Although it's Chinese only, non-speakers can easily explore the bands and listen to their work by going to the music section directly and clicking on any of the band pages therein, and pressing play on the embedded music player. Alternatively, check out its nifty NEXT player, which is a downloadable AIR app that streams a selection of Chinese alt music to your desktop.

Danwei

http://danwei.org

Pronounced "dan-way", this is a sophisticated and in-depth media-oriented blog, selecting and analyzing China-focused stories. Literary reviews of new Chinese books is another area of expertise. In the past couple of years, site creator Jeremy Goldkorn, from South Africa, has become a frequently quoted China expert by the BBC and other news outlets. Danwei.tv has expanded into bilingual documentaries, chronicling artistic and youth movements that are largely ignored by state-run TV.

Lost Laowai

http://www.lostlaowai.com/blog

Quick disclaimer here: This site's creator is my CNET China predecessor, Ryan McLauglin, and I'm a regular contributor to this multi-authored blog myself. But this choice stands on its merits--the diverse blog offers an insight into the lives of expats in China, with blogger contributors from around the world in a variety of professions writing about their frustrations, passions and experiences in the Middle Kingdom.

ChinaSmack

http://www.chinasmack.com

It's not just the English-speaking Webosphere that has its memes, Web sensations and running jokes: The Chinese interwebs with its predominantly younger Netizens--somewhat similar to Iran, in fact--has them in abundance, and ChinaSmack is an astute follower of these memes. ChinaSmack is run by just one Chinese girl named Flora, who keeps her true identity a closely guarded secret for fear of reprisals from some more vociferous Netizens who might accuse her of shaming her country by translating into English the kind of tittle-tattle that state-run media eschews. The site is also a good window on China's raucous BBS and chatrooms, where news stories become Web hits. Recent headlines have included "Shanghai 'Black Girl' Lou Jing Abused By Racist Netizens" and "Chinese Wives' Complaints about Husbands: Part 1".

China Dialogue

http://www.chinadialogue.net

Environmental Web site China Dialogue publishes each and every article in both English and Chinese. The site is aptly named in its taking so much effort to include its readers in debates that someone at China Dialogue translates all comments on the site into either English or Chinese so the discussion can always continue as inclusively as possible. Some recent article headlines: "Geoengineering: Do We Intervene?" and "Taking the Toad's-eye View".

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About Steven Millward

Six years after arriving in China to 'check it out', Steven Millward has decided to stay put, and is hooked on the fast-changing dynamic of mainland China. He's not too intimidated that his current city of residence has a greater population than his entire homeland of Wales. A freelance editor, lifestyle magazine writer, English teacher, and enthusiastic blogger, he can also be found on twitter (as @SirSteven) discussing media, tech and music. You can email him with any tips, queries or feedback.