As of March 19, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).
Leadership Transition:
• Tao-Bao (涛宝): Playing on the name of the online shopping site Taobao, this is a term of endearment for Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. See the “prime minister and chairman edit” of Fish Leong‘s “Sadly, It’s Not You” below.
• Chief Xi (席总): 席 Xí sounds the same as 习 Xí, as in Xi Jinping.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/2IC35VIzwQs[/youtube]
Chengdu Construction Woes: Chengdu Party Secretary Huang Xinchu has undertaken major construction in the city, snarling traffic, stirring up dust, and irking residents.
• Digger Huang (黄挖挖): A nickname for Huang Xinchu. Coincidentally, “Digger Huang” (黄挖挖 Huáng Wāwā) sounds similar to “Baby Huang” (黄娃娃 Huáng Wáwa).
• Huang WW (黄WW)
• Huang Xinchu + end class (黄新初+下课): Netizens are complaining about Huang; some hope he will “leave the classroom” and step down from his post.
• Pengzhou + petrochemical industry (彭州+石化): An oil refinery project is already complete in nearby Pengzhou.
All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.
Browse all of CDT’s collected sensitive words in this bilingual Google spreadsheet.
CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese’s latest sensitive words post.
