Interesting websites in China

Imagine you're looking at a perfectly still lake, and the sky is so
blue that you can see a perfect reflection in the water: the trees,
the hills, even the clouds. That's sort of how I'd describe the
internet here. Everything we have in the English-speaking world
exists as a mirror image in the Chinese-speaking world. (Well, almost
everything)

Here's a good example:http://www.baidu.com/
This is THE Chinese search engine. Take a look, it helps if you have
google translate to help you out. Isn't it amazing how Baidu
resembles almost exactly the Google search page? You'll notice an
image search, map section, and video. If you do a search the first
result is usually a Baike page, the Chinese Wikipedia that has met
some controversy by stealing information from Wikipedia.

The one original thing on Baidu is an MP3 search function. This is
really handy as it allows you to find .mp3 music files on the web
without any sort of complicated file sharing. The entertainment
business has big problems with this function, but then again the
entertainment business probably has a lot of problems with copyright
in China.

But my favourite website for getting into the heart of the Chinese
internet world is here: http://www.chinasmack.com/
This is well worth a visit, it's all in English. Basically the site
finds stories on Chinese websites and then translates the stories and
the comments. What you get is a really insightful look into how some
Chinese people think about certain issues. Now usually the stories
are chosen because they're funny or controversial, but this is
nonetheless an eye-opening site. The first time I found it was just
after the earthquake in Japan. If there was any doubt that Chinese
people hated Japan, comments like "Good" or "Sichuan sends its
regards" soon dispelled those doubts.

This is also a funny post from the site, don't know how they have not
been shut down here:
http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures/funny-rural-chinese-advertising-depressing-propaganda.html

Lastly, the state-run news sites are always an interesting look into
China's view on the world:
http://www.chinaview.cn/
http://english.cntv.cn/01/index.shtml

Lately there's been front-page news over here out of my hometown of
Markham, Ontario. Congratulations Markham on your International Sedan
Chair Race! We can only hope that this event does become the premier
sedan chair race in North America, nay, the world.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2011-05/15/c_13875463.htm