From Rose Garden 闾丘露薇的BLOG, translated by ESWN:
I have been watching the development of blogs on mainland China. After all, I am one of them because my blog is hosted on a server located in mainland China. During this period, I have communicated with certain experts in the field, certain people in the industry as well as certain regular citizens. I have come to realize that Chinese blogs have strong Chinese characteristics.
First of all, it is very difficult for a Chinese blog to be noticed among the millions of them without the support of a commercial website (namely, posting your blog post on the recommended list on the home page). If you are recommended and your blog post has an attractive title, then your hit rate will suddenly soar. But in the eyes of the experts, you are still not yet a ‘powerful blogger.’ To become a ‘powerful blogger,’ you must have many other people link to you in order for you to get a steady group of readers. Through linking, more and more people will be reading your blog. That is the original design. But in China, linking and using tags are not popular. Thus, blogs become websites to post personal essays and photographs. I am an example. I began to link to others only after listening to the advice from the experts.
But mainland China does have a group of ‘powerful bloggers.’ These are young people and they consider themselves to be grassroots bloggers. Through linking, they have built a sizeable circle. I admire them because they even organize conferences. They seem to be a group of very thoughtful young bloggers. Here, I must thank Keso for his debriefing on this subject. [Full Translation]
(Lu Qiu Luwei is a star reporter for Phoenix TV and she is currently on sabbatical leave to study in the United States. Meanwhile, she runs a popular and esteemed blog at Sina.com.）
