From the China in Transition blog:
Among the eight blog articles that have been viewed for more than 500,000 times, six fall into the paparazzi and celebrity journal categories. The champion, with over 980,000 hits, is a short entry written by 25-year-old model and singer, Ms. Wei Jiaqing, who gained her national recognition after participating in the 2006 Super Girl singing competition. In the entry, she told her fans that she already ended a contract with the company that managed the Super Girl.
In comparison, the most popular entries on http://www.bullog.cn/, a blog site carrying more serious discussions about politics, culture and economy, only generated five-digit hit.
As much as the Internet has become an important political forum for Chinese public, it is an even more powerful entertainment medium. This is partly due to Chinese authority’s control over political discourse on the Internet, which results into abundant revealing beauty pictures but much less out-spoken expressions on Chinese websites. [Full text]
