06.14.07
Big Brother is Watching
The past two days some of you in China may have had some trouble accessing the comments in my last post about ba guan (Chinese fire cupping). After being shut out myself, I finally was able to track the source of the problem down to a particular comment which contained one sentence, written in jest, but which was blatantly in violation of umm…well…let’s say proper Internet conduct for mainland China. The comment has since been deleted, which in itself was a hassle, since I could not do it from within China, and everything should be working ok now. The true irony of the situation is that I was trying to delete the comment myself but could not even access the page I needed to make the necessary changes..
Now I am not trying to spark a political debate, but please, please, please for the sake of me not getting my site blocked by the Great Firewall of China, do not leave anything in the comments section which is overtly negative about the ruling Chinese authorities. If you have any questions about this, feel free to e-mail (bensinchina at yahoo dot com) and I will gladly clarify.
One of my favorite things about writing this blog is reading all of the insightful comments that people leave, and I by no means want to sway people away from commenting. The individual who is responsible for the comment in question has since been notified, so in case you’re worried, it’s not you.
In the meantime, I just got into Beijing this afternoon to pick up the parents. They have not been outside of North America since the Nixon administration, so shuffling them around China for two weeks should be a nice little adventure. We will be checking out the tourist attractions in Beijing for the next few days and then next week heading down to Fujian, where I plan to introduce them to Mr. Zheng and crew at the barber shop, not to mention temporarily doubling the Jewish population of Fuzhou. Hopefully will provide for some interesting blog material in the coming weeks.
Isabel
said,
June 14, 2007 at 3:42 am
Send your parents a hello from Jason and I!
lily
said,
June 14, 2007 at 10:41 am
Ben
I found your blog recently and i like it very much, it help me know many about you expat, very interesting, welcome your paremts to beijing, i live in bejing, have fun!
chriswaugh_bj
said,
June 14, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Welcome to Beijing.
China Law Blog
said,
June 14, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I am always careful in what I say so as to avoid getting on Beijing’s wrong side. I have never modified an opinion or left out a relevant fact, but I use lanaguage that does no harm. I have always assumed that comments are not read and do not matter. Certainly I have had plenty of comments that are not at all favorable and yet I have never been blocked.
So are you sure you were blocked because of the comment? Were you blocked just in Fuzhou, perhaps?
Richard
said,
June 14, 2007 at 1:13 pm
It is amazing that all English–language is concerned about the GFW of China. The danwei.org has reported it. However, for those who are born in China like me, We have no idea it really exists except that some web cites are not accessible like chinadigitaltimes and bbc. I want to know whether the GFW exists in America, and how do you feel it if there is any?
William
said,
June 14, 2007 at 3:27 pm
It’s not opinions, it’s keywords, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways round it, just look at a lot of the discussion going on on Wang Xiaofeng’s blog which is never blocked.
harnniann
said,
June 14, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Hey Ben,
your pilot project on “life in a barber shop” is truly inspiring. I would I could do something like that too.
Keep up the great works and blog great stuffs for us.
All the best and Gan En,
Harnniann
Benjamin Ross
said,
June 14, 2007 at 5:46 pm
@ China Law Blog
I first found the comment blocked when I was in a Fuzhou net bar. It wouldn’t work in my Beijing hotel room either. Interestingly enough, a friend of mine in Fuzhou was able to access it from his home…doesn’t seem to make much sense.
danjo
said,
June 17, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Richard,
There is no government blocking of the internet in America and other Western countries, so foreigners who come to China are often frustrated by the restrictions (for example, my own blog and every other .blogspot blog is blocked, along with popular sites like the encyclopedia wikipedia.org). From my experience it seems not many Chinese people are aware of this, and it’s likely this is better known in the West than China.
John Raynor
said,
June 18, 2007 at 4:46 am
Ben,
Just found your blog. It is interesting. My wife andI visited China last year. We found the people to be friendly and very curious; I had my picture taken in the Forbidden City, and at the Great Wall. Both very interesting places to visit. We were there in July and it was extremely hot. Would not advise that time of year. I hear the spring and fall are beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed the historical places and the cities. I like Bejing. Shanghai was busy but not a lot to see. Keep writing.
John