Last interview in the series of interviews with the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008. We asked them to share a little bit about themselves and their blogs with us. This time it's with “Digital Marketing Inner Circle” that made it to 1st place in the Best Technology Blog  category.

Background

Blog : Digital Marketing Inner Circle

Blogger : Matt McDougall

Slogan : Digital Marketing Inner Circle is your home for the latest and most important Digital Marketing news online. With a bias towards the Chinese Internet market, The Digital Marketing Inner Circle uses the digital news sources online as well as personal commentary for information related to Digital Marketing, Search, Technology and much more.

Age : 36+

Years blogging : 4

Years in China : 5-8 years

Originally from : Australia, Sydney

 The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for starting your own blog?

I wanted to have a forum where I could discuss digital marketing and promote new ideas and trends outside China.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

The Digital Marketing Inner Circle is aimed at those folks either working or having an interest in online advertising and digital marketing. The blog has a Chinese bias where I like to look at what is happening in China but often draw conclusions between what is happening in China and what is occurring overseas.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

Blogging for me is a means to provide information and a channel for those with a similar interest to find posts of value.

I am passionate about Internet Advertising and Digital Marketing in general so the blog provides me with an outlet to espouse my ideas and share information.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

I have made a number of 'virtual' friends because of the blog. This was an unexpected result of my postings... apart from that.. nothing special.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

The blog, Digital Marketing Inner Circle has a significant following now and I believe that it provides useful information to the community developing around this blog. That in turn has lead to myself getting known for a degree of expertise in Marketing but I am quick to point out a good blog is not simply a one way discussion but one that engages and encourages community to participate

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

Working and living in China is a unique privilege. Therefore anyone doing this must be respectful and sensitive to the local cultures, laws and norms of the country.

I would not want to cause upset nor offense to anyone in China. Further when I utilize my personal experiences, I use work experiences or thoughts that support my points being made in the posts.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

The expat blogosphere is a small community and within the technology space know and often contribute to there Blogs.

I believe at this stage the expat blogosphere is very small when comparing it to the local Chinese Bloggers... I hope one day that we can attract broader audiences in China and be seen to contribute to the ideas in society

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

Thought it would be an interesting country to work in and after doing a casual visit fell in love with the place... now I consider it my home.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

I have been in China 6 years and I cannot be more positive about the experiences gained here. I have been very fortunate to meet some great people and three years ago met a local Chinese lady and become even more involved within Chinese culture (and extended family)

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

Be original, share advice, share experiences and contribute to your fellow bloggers posts... but never plagiarize (put a reference if you are using others ideas or content)

Q: What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

Be open, flexible and try learning a few words of Chinese.... China can be a polarizing experience... of the expats I meet some come here and love China and others come here and hate it... It comes down to the way you approach your time in China and the people you surround yourself with when you get here.

Thanks, Matt. You can also find Matt on Twitter @sinotechian.

More interviews coming up introducing some of the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008. We asked the bloggers to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. This time it's with "Absurdity, Allegory and China" that made it to 3rd place in the Best Personal Blog category.

Background

Blog : Absurdity, Allegory and China

Blogger : Jim Gourley

Slogan : The Kingdom from another angle.

About the blogger (from the blog) : "I’ve been living in Tianjin, China for the past decade and have spent a good deal of time in Beijing, watching as both of these cities have boomed. In recent years I have also spent a good deal of time in the Qinghai province countryside partnering with a local middle school on the Tibetan-Qinghai Plateau in an attempt to increase educational opportunities for students in western China."

Blogging platform : Self-hosted Wordpress

Age : 51-60

Years blogging : 2

Years in China : 9-15 years

Originally from : USA, Philadelphia though I have not lived there since 1968

 The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for beginning your own blog?

I love to write and having been doing it for a lot of years. I’ve also been living in China for more than a decade now, and I feel that some of my experiences are worth sharing. The leaps and bounds that technology has taken in the last ten years have made blogging an accessible and usable tool for getting one’s ideas and opinions into the mix. I am a writer, and I want to be read. Blogging has allowed me a field to bat things around in. I have worked hard at it, and I have had a modicum of success.

I also enjoy photography, and blogging has allowed me a chance to get my photos into the mix, too. At first I used photography as a note-taking tool, but it has easily become as important to me as the writing.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

My blog is about whatever I feel I want to write about, though it is mainly focused on China, though not exclusively. I’ll also write about baseball, which I love, as well as American politics, if the spirit moves me. And now with George Bush finally in last days, I feel a little more positively moved. I will also post poetry, others’ poems as well as an odd one of mine from time to time. I felt for a long time that because “China” was in my blog’s title that I should only write about things Chinese, but I’ve gotten over that. It’s my blog, and I can write about whatever I feel. If people don’t want to read it, that’s their business. I want people to read it, but I am going to write what I think I need to write about. I write much more than ever gets onto my blog, since much of what I write is not for the blogosphere.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

I am not sure what my blog means to the community, since it is hard to actually gauge what the “community” is. Or rather, what community I am a part of. I have no idea what my blog means to others, outside of my immediate family and a few friends. They seems to like it.

Blogging has become a large part of my life, though there are times when other aspects of my life take precedent. I spend a bit of time in Qinghai province, and when I am there I find that blogging can be difficult, though I try my best to keep good notes, so that when I return to Tianjin I can quickly fall back into step. And then there are other times when I just feel the need for a little break.

But generally blogging has become a good way for me to address the world in ways that I want to address it. I am not sure how important my blog is for other people, but it allows me to have a voice. It is also a voice that I trust is not a harmful one. Angry, at times, yes, but I am not out to do any damage. Doing damage is far too easy. I always hope that I am being constructive, even when others may feel I am not. I also don’t have any over-inflated notion that my blog is vital. If it were not here tomorrow I feel quite sure that very few would take notice, and the rising tide would rapidly cover it’s tracks. There’s a freedom in knowing that, that allows me to not take myself too seriously. But serious enough to always try my best, to write my best.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

I think the China expat blogosphere is as wide and varied as you would find anywhere else in the world, which means it covers the spectrum from “important and informative” right on down to “digital trash.” That’s what blog’s are about everywhere. I find that I use blogs as a way of narrowing things down and getting to information that I would not find if I only used the corporate news sites. Aggregators are great ways of getting a quick look into specific areas that are current and vital. Once you trust a blog, you will invariably go back to it.

I have met several other bloggers, though living in Tianjin is not living in Beijing, fast train notwithstanding. So, unfortunately, I rarely get together with any others to discuss things. I am pretty much on my own, though it is great to read, respond to and email those I feel a connection with. There are a lot of good, smart people out there in the middle of a lot things that I only wish I could be involved in. I think that there are some excellent expat blogs that give us insights into worlds that, at times, I could not even dream of. They contribute to our attempts to understand not only China, but also the warp and woof at the edge of a world in overdrive and hyper-transition. They give us a clearer picture of the innards of the loom.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

I think that there are many good blogs, and I am sure that there are a lot that I’ve never heard of, though the best ones usually end up surfacing, since there are so many people out here looking. There are, of course, the biggies, and Danwei is one I always read since it covers such a wide spectrum of news and culture. I also always manage to hit the China Law Blog, Shanghai Scrap, and several others which give me a rounded as well as eclectic view of what’s happening in the world I am living in. But the one I never miss, since I am interested in history, is Jottings from the Granite Studio. Reading good writing about history is as timely as reading the news. Also ChinaSmack has gotten my attention, along with everyone else’s here lately; it opens a window into the Chinese blogosphere that most of us wouldn't get if it were not there doing what it does.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

As I said above, I have been in China for more than a decade, and I wouldn’t have stayed if I didn’t like the country and the people. Culture is culture, which means that it is always of great interest to me. That one is more or less than any other is an argument that I never get into, since more often than not it ends up being a question more interested in a nationalistic answer than in one that actually deals with culture. I will say that I think that Mengzi kicks ass.

My experience in China has been everything I would expect from life: wonderful and odd, heartbreaking and hopeful, maddening, beautiful and frustrating. I could do with a lot less pollution than Beijing and Tianjin dish out, but still I stay. There is something that keeps me here, despite the very real health issues of living in extremely bad air.

Q: What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

As I said above, I don’t like to give advice, but that’s what I ended up doing. And so here I go again. Leave “home” at home. Don’t be another butt head spreading your self-centered ideas of good news and the right way to do things to China and the Chinese. Or to the Indonesians, Italians or Turks. The world is not what it is back home, wherever “back home” is. If you’re coming here, leave your tourist (and missionary) heads at home. Be quiet and watch, and keep your stuff safe. If you do “stupid,” there’s a good chance you’re going to get grief in return. This is not a secret, though to many it always seems to be. And no one will listen to this either.

Also be sure to check out Jim's beautiful China photography on Flickr. Thanks, Jim.

Another chance for you to meet some of the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 as we ask them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. This time it's with "This Ridiculous World" that made it to 3rd place in the Best General Blog category.

Background

Blog : This Ridiculous World

Slogan : The best and only source for up to the minute nonpartisan coverage, interviews, and information concerning the still waging War on Dreams.

About the blogger (from the blog) : "We are two twenty-something expats adventuring under the guise of teaching English and hoping to find a lucrative niche in the world of blogs. So far we have made a little under three dollars in a little over a year. Everything on this blog is written or captured by us unless otherwise mentioned."

About the blog (from the blog) : "A humorous social commentary blog currently based in China. We consider our efforts to be an honest attempt towards the explanation of life in this ridiculous world. Updated daily with the finest writing and photographs this side of the Brooks Range, This Ridiculous World is the perfect place to gain an understanding of the world’s most populated nation."

Blogging platform : Self-hosted Wordpress

Age : 25

Years blogging : 2

Years in China : 5-8 years

Originally from : Alaska and Washington (state), USA

 The interview

What was your main motivating force to start writing your own blog?

In the fall of 2007 we transplanted ourselves from the clean air and quiet of the American Northwest to Hubei, Yichang, a city better known to both foreigners and nationals as "the city by the big dam." The night we arrived (after spending one night in a brightly-painted, cramped, tv, bed, ripped-towel, bathroom-is-a-shower Beijing hotel room near the airport) was Mid Autumn Festival. We laid in bed watching as the vibrations from the fireworks loosen clumps of dust on our light fixture. It fell like snow, dancing through the beam of the single operating light bulb. The windows rattled, loose in their sills, and a strange smell permeated from the pillows. At around 3 AM, when we'd finally drifted off to sleep, a spider jumped onto my face from the ceiling. 2 hours later, simultaneously as though started at the jump of the conductor's wand, the metal-smithing shop outside our window and the remodeling one floor above began a melodic cacophony of sledgehammers, electric saws, and welding. We looked around for an outlet through which to share the ridiculousness and though we knew nothing about blogs (Blogger was blocked and we didn't know about web portals or proxies) it seemed like a good, easy solution.

What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

Everything we post is original - meaning that it is either written, captured, or drawn by the two of us - unless otherwise mentioned. Our goal is to present the world as we see it - as a place that is often completely illogical. We do so through satire, mockery, or just plain silliness, as we've found that humor is generally more appreciated than serious criticism. The overall concept of This Ridiculous World is that everything can be interpreted in endless ways. Naturally, we have found that we have a tendency to focus on certain things: garbage, noise, architecture, art, false progress, etc.

What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

We hope that people see our blog and begin to notice the ridiculousness that surrounds them in their worlds. It really is everywhere and when you're thinking about it, it's easy to find.

How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

So far it's made us about $3.40 USD. Maybe we're doing it wrong.

How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

We tend to mock ideologies and we often allude to political themes using extremely vague language, allusions, or absurdly unrelated references. This allows the reader to decide the meaning of the post, and if they get offended it's their own fault. We don't consciously censor ourselves, or fear any sort of repercussions because nothing we say is too inflammatory - at least not explicit enough to be taken as so.

We avoid putting personal details in our blog, not from fear of political repercussions but because our blog isn't a journal of our experiences or opinions, and we teach high school students who are often far too interested in our personal lives. Also, it is interesting to see which posts people assume are written by a woman or by a man.

How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

We're relatively new to the China expat blogosphere. Last year we were a little too isolated to discover much beyond the Shanghaist and the other big news type English blogs. So far the community seems very supportive and perhaps even to have a higher average IQ than most other corners of the internet. People all over the world are curious about contemporary China and, until recently, have had very limited and often biased outlets for this discovery. English language blogs written by expats living around China have a lot of potential to show the world a little more than they'd otherwise see.

Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

Xinjiang: Far West China offers a good glimpse of a far away place and of course My Laowai is pretty entertaining. We're still discovering new blogs all the time. Check out our link page to find more.

How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

Honestly I think it had to do with one keg of beer too many and watching our friends fall one by one into horribly banal "career path" jobs.

What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

In our experience, Chinese people are like people everywhere else - many are very kind; others are not. I don't know if it's because we're young and more confused than most foreigners but it seems like everywhere we go someone giggles at us. Maybe this is typical but generally it gives the impression that Chinese people, especially the very old and very young, understand that a lot about their country is ridiculous.

What advice would you give new bloggers in China?

Don't try to fit in, write what you want and whatever you need to to keep yourself sane.

What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

In our experience things are usually not quite what they are presented to be, and contracts are not always definitive. If you can find humor in this you will do fine and maybe even enjoy yourself.

^_^ Thanks, guys, for taking the time to share your world with us. Keep writing.

We continue with a series of interviews with the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 asking them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. This time it's with Thomas as his blog  - "Thomas Crampton - China, Media and Technology as seen by a recovering journalist" - made it to 2nd place in the Best Personal Blog category.

Background

Blog : Thomas Crampton

Slogan : China, Media and Technology as seen by a recovering journalist.

About the blogger (from the blog) : Thomas Crampton worked as a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times for more than a decade, reporting from five continents, writing a column on Asia and covering Asian politics, economics and culture. [...] Currently based out of China, he is working with the founder of a major media company on entrepreneurial ventures. All views expressed on this blog are entirely personal. [...]

Blogging platform : Self-hosted Wordpress

Age : 41-50

Years blogging : 5

Years in China : 5-8 years

Originally from : New York, USA

Blog stats : Number of visitors seems to vary. I had more than 50,000 in November 2008 and 26,000 in December 2008.

 The interview

Q: What was the main motivating force for starting your own blog?

Retaining a voice and platform for writing once I left the International Herald Tribune/New York Times.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

My main focus is China, Internet and New Media as seen from Asia. That said, I never shy from writing about particular topics that fascinate me, such as antiquarian books, history, crazy stunts and the meaning of music.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

I find it highly fulfilling to have direct interaction with people reading my blog. They may like what I write or hate it, but getting their honest response is highly rewarding. This is a very different experience from writing a story in a newspaper. We would get letters to the editor, but this was not a dialogue. I really enjoy the conversational tone of blogs.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

Absolutely! I have met some fascinating people thanks to my blog. They send a note asking to meet and many of them have incredible stories. Often they wanted to know about me, but I end up doing a blog posting about them.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

The exercise of blogging has been mainly about maintaining the voice I had while working for major newspapers. The blog has been very effective at reaching the kinds of audiences interested the topics I am passionate about.

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

I have total freedom to write about any topic on my blog. I choose not to disclose too much personal information, but personal thing inevitably end up on the blog, such as the time when I almost ended my marriage thanks to Facebook.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

I know a few other Chinese expat bloggers, most of whom I met thanks to blogging. Similar to journalists, they tend to be people who are fascinated by China and passionate about sharing. Their is a feeling of kindred spirit. What do China's expat bloggers contribute? I hope we all help give a more well rounded view of a nation that is often portrayed in one dimension.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

Too many! There are so many great ones. I have found Danwei and Shanghaiist among the best portals to discover new and interesting blogs.

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

Having been based out of Southeast Asia, I felt I could not know the region until I knew a little bit about China.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

Great! China is the most exciting place to live right now. My one concern, however, is the pollution. Nobody should be subject to breathing that toxic mix day after day.

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

Start writing about your passion. Now!

Q: What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

You will have a great experience if you go in with an open mind and allow China to change you. Don't hold preconceived notions of China.

I recently met with Thomas Crampton and learned more about his new position with Ogilvy as the man incharge of "new-media", and his recent involvement with some interesting blogging related projects happening in HK and the China region. Thanks for the interview, Thomas, was nice meeting you, and good luck with Ogilvy and your future projects.

After a long break we continue with a series of interviews with the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 asking them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. Modern Lei Feng made it to 2nd place in the Best General Blog category.

Background

Blog:  Modern Lei Feng

About the blog (from the blog): "Half Chinese, Half American with writers in China, the US, and the UK. Lovers of sports, music, food, drink, and the good life, but also working to help China "rise up"..."

Blogging platform : Blogspot

Age : 26-30

Years blogging : 4

The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for beginning your own blog?

I didn't see very much out there bringing things from the perspective that I was offering and there just seemed to be so much negativity out there. I talked with some friends who had a similar background and we decided that our passion for writing, China, and a diverse group of topics might be able to find a place in the crazy thing called the blogosphere.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

Its about what my friends and I talk about on a regular basis. We cover a little bit of everything, there is a lot of news stories and photography, but we also look at culture stories on food, fashion, and music. We like to examine life in China (and in the cities we live in, mainly Beijing), there is a liberal sprinkling of sports items, and some social justice/law topics as well. It's a hodgepodge, but we like to think its pretty comprehensive.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

Blogging is mainly a way to let off steam and relax a little after work for me, to get away from thinking about the office and to think about some of my own hobbies. It's also a way to garner some feedback about the things that are up in my head at any one time. I'd hope readers find it slightly informative and enjoyable and I hope that in some little way its bridging the gap between foreigners and Chinese (yeah right!).

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

Meeting up with other bloggers has been a lot of fun and I've made some new friends through it. I also enjoy finding out how diverse the readership is, and through comments can often have some really interesting discussions. I've received some party invites from time to time as well.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

It hasn't. As I'm not the only one writing the blog (and I personally use it as an escape from work), I try not to talk shop on the blog. We started out using Google Adwords, but have ignored it over time. It's more just about fun then any kind of personal gain, though if any magazine/newspaper wants to pick me up, feel free to drop me a line!!!

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

My blog is a group blog, I'm not the only writer and so almost every post has to be agreed upon among the others, but that has only been a problem once or twice. As I don't deal with work issues and no colleagues know about the blog, I feel like I can write about whatever is on my mind. If personal details are relevant, I'll bring them in, but because its not only 1 writer, the writing isn't always that personal, which is something we're working on changing this year.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

I know a number of the other Chinese expat bloggers, and for the most part have enjoyed my relationship with them. I think those that get it right have a lot to contribute in that they are able to explain China to people back home. However, for every really great blog, there are too many that just perpetuate the negativity out there or are too formulaic/repetitive.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

Too many. ChinaSmack and Danwei are excellent at giving people (especially non-Chinese speakers) a look into China. China Law Blog is a great read. There isn't enough style/fashion in China, but Stylites is working hard at changing that. Beijing Boyce keeps me informed about the new bars that I should be checking out. I could go on, but those are the big ones...

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

I love living in China, specifically in Beijing, its such a dynamic city, so much to see and do, sure its cliched, but there is that great mix of old and new, lux and dive. The people are very friendly, it may not seem that way at first, but once you get past the tough exterior, they are very warm. Living here is definitely an experience, one that I imagine more people wish they have, as its fun flowing between the Chinese and expat community.

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

Do it for fun, its not going to make you famous, nor will it make you rich. Have in mind a relatively narrow focus (or be able to update constantly) and have a consistent plan. Push yourself to consistently post (be it daily or on a certain day(s)) through the first few months as it will help you gain a readership. Read other blogs, both on similar topics as yours and on anything else you're interested in and comment to let people know you're out there and you have something to say.

Thanks Modern Lei Feng.

We continue with a series of interviews with the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 asking them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. Beijing Boyce made it to 1st place in the Best China Personal Blog category.

Background

Blog:  Beijing Boyce

Blog slogan : "A Somewhat Young China Hand on the Local Drinking Scene"

About the blogger (from the blog): "I’ve been in Asia more than a decade and in Beijing since 2004, with past stints in South Korea and Taiwan."

About the blog (from the blog): "This blog evolved from a biweekly e-newsletter started in October 2005 about Beijing’s drinking scene."

Blogging platform : Wordpress.

Originally from: Canada

Years in China : 3-4 years

Years blogging : 2

The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for starting your own blog?

Because I spent a lot of time, either for business or pleasure, going to bars in Beijing, I started an e-newsletter that friends or acquaintances could subscribe to. After I topped 500 readers, and after many people suggested I put the info online, I started the blog. I knew of plenty of blogs that covered the experiences of foreigners in China - dealing with the language, seeing funny English on signs, and so on - so I though the bar blog would offer something new.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

My bar is primarily about the bar scene in Beijing. Bar reviews, where to get the best whiskey selections, write-ups of pub crawls, what spots will soon open, and so on. I try to provide as much useful information as I can, but also to keep things light and entertaining. Sometimes the topics have been serious - such as drug raids of bars or what I thought were inaccurate media reports about the bar scene during the Olympics - but by and large, the blog aims to help readers have fun.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

Blogging means providing information to the community that it might not otherwise have. There are print publications that also cover the bar scene, but with a blog I have the option to write far longer reviews, provide updates, and draw on the collective wisdom of readers and to do so without worries about advertisers.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

I have had people in the print media, bar, and wine sectors become very upset at what I have written. The reality is that you will always have people who know more about bars - after all, many people patronize them - or who get angry at even the most constructive criticism. A much more positive result is that the blog has helped me to meet many interesting people -- fellow consumers, bar owners, brew masters, bartenders, food and beverage writers, and so on.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

Obviously, a blog - for better or worse - gets your name out there and thus raises your profile. I would guess more people know me due to my blog than to my job. I have also turned a few blog posts into magazine or newspaper articles, which can also raise a profile. As for income - as I have no advertisers, and I have a lot of expenses, I'm definitely in the red when it comes to the blog.

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

I have plenty of freedom but I try to use it responsibly. I have worked in media relations, so I try to draw on that experience and be careful about how I portray the bar scene and the people who work in it. To me, this is important not only because it improves the accuracy of my posts but it increases trust between me and those in the business. I also use my name, which makes me more accountable - after all, if I criticize a bar, I will probably end up there again one night and have to face the staff or owner.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

The Chinese expat blogosphere is a mish mash of styles, personalities, and topics. Like anywhere else, you get the good with the bad, the interesting with the inane. I know the people behind many China blogs: Imagethief, China Law Blog, Silicon Hutong, and over a dozen more. The contribution blogs make is to give an alternative view of China and to supplement what we get in sources such as the mainstream media.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

There are too many to mention, from Imagethief, with its blend of humor and practical insights in China PR, to China Law Blog, with its wealth of information about doing business in China. I would really need to do a top ten or twenty to do them all justice.

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

I was living in Taipei and was offered a job in Beijing. It looked like a challenge - and ended up being so - and I moved here.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

I find it hard to talk about China, since I live in one city, Beijing, which represents just over 1 percent of the country's population. On top of that, I live downtown, so I only truly know a slice of this city. But having said that, I have made some excellent Chinese friends and enjoy the cultural diversity of Beijing, though like many foreigners, I have plenty of frustrations. There's a good reason we have the term "culture shock."

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

If you want a readership that extends beyond friends and families, your best bet is to pick a topic and write more about it than about yourself.

Thanks Beijing Boyce.

With the Best China Blog Awards 2008 over and a week after the Chinese new year we continue with a series of interviews with the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 asking them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. Imagethief made it to 3rd place in the Best China News Blog category with 82 votes.

Background

Blogger : William Moss

Blog:  Imagethief

About the blogger (from the blog) - "An American who has lived and worked in China since 2004, first in Beijing, then in Shanghai, and now back in Beijing. I am a director at one of the big, international public relations firms."

About the blog (from the blog) - "It started as typical "expat blog" chronicle of my early experiences in China, and was suitably unremarkable. Over time I developed a somewhat more distinctive voice and, based upon my work, a tighter focus on public relations, communication and technology in China."

Blog Traffic : ~25K pageviews per month.

Originally from: San Francisco, USA

Years in China : 5-8 years

Age : 41-50

Years blogging : 5

The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for beginning your own blog?

Imagethief was originally started simply as journal of my personal experiences in China, and meant to be shared mostly with my family and friends. As such, it probably started out like many other China blogs once did, although after about six months it started evolving into something a bit more sophisticated -- if that's the right word.

Also, I like to write. I've written professionally since I was in university and for my own enjoyment since I was a child, so blogging is a fairly natural activity for me. Writing about things helps me to think through them and decide how I feel about them. So Imagethief was always a way for me to process my own experiences in China.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

If there is a main theme to Imagethief, it's public relations and communication in China. That covers a lot of territory, including corporate PR, political communication, foreign reporting about China and the Internet. I also write periodically about the technology industry in China, since that's my industry background. As if that wasn't enough, I'm also prone to wander off on digressions about things that simply interest me. There is also still the occasional personal post, although these days I write those posts with a broader audience in mind.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

That's a big question! I write Imagethief mostly because I enjoy it. The blog enriches my own life by helping me work out my feelings about things in China. It's also connected me to a very lively and interesting community in China, for which I am grateful.

That's all great for me. Does my blog contribute to the community at large? I'm reluctant to make any such grand claims on my own behalf. I'm lucky to have a decent readership, and insofar as there are people that enjoy it or find it useful then I am happy. But if Imagethief vanished tomorrow I doubt there would be a great public outcry or groupies sobbing in the streets or such. Although I do fantasize about that from time to time.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

Well, in Singapore in 1996 and '97 I wrote what might be considered a proto-blog. This led me into a brief and tempestuous relationship with a reader from which I have taken the lesson that it's probably best not to date readers. Of course, being married now, that's kind of a moot point.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

I'm pleased that my blog is read by some share of Beijing's foreign correspondent community. As PR man I find that flattering, but it's also been a useful way for me to get to know people. I regularly get called by journalists as a result of the blog. While I can't always comment on the record, for a PR man it's always good to have journalists calling you because they think you might have something interesting to say. Imagethief is also fairly widely read in the China public relations community at large. Whether that helps or hurts me in the long run remains to be seen, but on balance I think it's positive.

Imagethief has been written up several times and was named the "top industry blog" by Media Magazine in late 2007. It has also been quoted in major mainstream media and linked to many times by other prominent bloggers. I take all of that as validation of the effort that goes into it, and with any luck it will all mean something someday.

As for extra income...that's best not thought about.

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

I have fair freedom, but not completely freedom. There are a few considerations. First, I'm not anonymous. Second, while I make it clear that the blog represents my personal opinion only, and I don't identify my employer on it, it's not hard to figure out whom I work for. So I try to avoid writing things that could cause problems for either me or my company. This is a bit of a balancing act since many of the subjects I am interested in are controversial by nature.

Personal issues present so no such problems. As my regular readers know, I pretty regularly get into personal matters on the blog. In the past year (as of early 2009) that has generally meant writing about my son. But when I do write about personal matters I try to combine it either with humor or some kind of worthwhile observation about life in China.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

I know many other expat China bloggers, and consider several of them among my good friends. The expat China blogosphere is small and incestuous and operates to some degree like a big, cozy club. We all link to each other. We all know the same people. We all speak on the same panels. This isn't necessarily a good thing, but fortunately there still seems to be some diversity of opinion among us.

There are true subject matter experts and long-time China hands among the expat China bloggers. At our best, the main contribution of the expat bloggers is to provide another source of decent insight into China beyond the mainstream media, which faces certain constraints in terms of resources, commercial imperatives and having to reach a largely overseas general-interest audience.

Not that we always live up to this potential.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

There are many. Rather than list them here I'd refer readers to the blogroll on Imagethief. The main blogroll, which is not on the front page but is linked to from the front page, is annotated. The blogs I list on the front page itself are my most regular reads.

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

I had been living and working in Singapore for many years. Singapore is a wonderful place, but it is small and I was beginning to go stir crazy. I knew I wanted to live and work someplace else in Asia, and China seemed like the most interesting place to be. I'd say that has proved correct.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

I could go on for days, but in the interest of the readers I won't. I enjoy living in China a great deal. I find the Chinese people generally warm and receptive to foreigners. My Chinese colleagues are smart, witty and fun. I find the country fascinating and diverse. There is much more that I need to learn, culturally, linguistically and historically. I think Beijing today is a surprisingly livable city. If the air could be made consistently clean it would be one of the world's great cities to live in.

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

First, find a niche. Don't write about something that dozens of people are writing about already. Or, if you do, bring some kind of fresh new spin to it.

Write about what you know and can contribute real expertise to (ideally this should line up with point one, above). It's also OK to write about something you are learning about. But beware of trying to sound like an expert in a field you have only cursory knowledge of. Someone will pin you.

Write in your own voice and keep it human sounding. Don't try to construct something artificial. People have a lot to read and most don't want to add something dry and didactic, no matter how useful it may be. It may take time for your written voice to emerge. That's OK.

Seek feedback from people you trust to give you honest opinions (not your mom) and act on it.

Link to other blogs in thoughtful ways. That will get you noticed, blogrolled and responded to.

Stay current and react to what's happening around you.

Don't be spiteful. If you want to attract controversy, do it with your intellect. Similarly, however, don't suck up.

Edit. Don't publish sloppy, un-proofread stuff.

Remember that all rules can be broken, but break them in a calculated fashion.

Q: What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

For those who want to work:

1) Learn some Chinese. You don't need to be Da Shan. You do need to show that you are invested in the idea of living and working in China.

2) Take a chance and come to China. No one will hire you from overseas. There are too many smart, talented people here already. Line up meetings ahead of time if you can.

For those who want to study:

1) Do it. But research your language or exchange program carefully. There are a lot of mediocre programs.

For all who are considering coming here to live, living in China will easier than you expect in some ways, especially if you are in one of the major cities, and it will be harder than you expect in some ways (the giddy sense of adventure tends to wear off, often, for some reason, when you are trying to deal with a Chinese bank). China is a country for people who are open minded, patient, and tolerant of things that don't always work as expected. It is a really bad place for wound-up Type-As who like everything just-so.

Thanks Imagethief.

With the Best China Blog Awards 2008 behind us and the (/+Chinese) new year just in I asked the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. The "Experience Not Logic" blog made it to 2nd place in the Best China Law-Business Blog category with 162 votes.

Background

 

Blogger : Will Lewis

Blog:  Experience Not Logic

About the blogger (from the blog) - "Born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. Received a BA in History from Pomona College. Currently attending University of San Diego School of Law."

About the blog (from the blog) - "The purpose of this blog is to explore the business and legal culture of China."

Blogging platform: Google Blogger's Blogspot

Originally from: Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Age : 26-30

Years blogging : 1

The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for beginning your own blog?

While working as an intern in a Chinese law firm, I was advised by my boss that China Law Blog was the place to begin my research on Chinese legal issues. After reading Dan Harris's always insightful and often entertaining posts, I found myself frequently commenting at his site. Partly out of guilt from writing so much in the comments at CLB, and partly out of the desire to steer my own discussion, I decided to start my own blog.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

My blog is mainly about: 1) synopses of articles about China law and business, and sometimes politics; and 2) comparative legal studies of US and Chinese law. While I'm sitting in class listening to professors wax poetic about the law, I'm often struck wondering, "What legislation has the NPC promulgated to deal with these situations?" Then, it's hard going to sleep at night if I don't figure it out.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

Blogging is the realization of the promise of what the internet is supposed to be: people from around the world discussing topics that are dear to them on a high level in a public forum. The internet should be about discourse and the flow of information, and blogging fully embraces that concept. Sure, I've broken etiquette and "moderated" comments, and I've gone back and fixed my own grammatical mistakes, and I've even deleted one or two of my own posts that I was concerned about, but blogging is also about defining our own space on the internet.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

I did not expect all of the personal interactions that I've had from writing my blog. The blogging community has been generous, kind, and supportive. I had the pleasure of chatting with Dan Harris when I was first starting out, and Dan was very helpful in suggesting how to administer my blog. Paul Chong at SourceJuice has also offered plenty of advice, which I greatly appreciate.

The best experience from blogging, though, came from the opportunity to have dinner with Charlie McElwee of China Environmental Law. Charlie is a heckuva guy, he has a great sense of humor, and he's brilliant. You get this impression from reading his blog, and in person these qualities are magnified.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

Blogging has fostered my development of knowledge on Chinese law and business, and I think this helped me get a job working at Invensys Wonderware's Shanghai offices last summer. Wonderware's General Counsel, Steve Halsey, is a gracious alumni of USD who does a lot of work for USD's law students. During a reception at his house he offered me the chance for a summer job in Shanghai after a demonstrated interest in China. It was an incredible opportunity. Not only is Wonderware's home office in California well managed, but Lau Shaw Luen's tight management of Wonderware's China offices have resulted in a good business environment devoid of the stereotypical problems associated with offices in China; most obviously, high turnover.

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

Yes, some topics are more sensitive than other. I self-censor on two topics. The first is that I try to stay away from domestic political topics regarding China that are too controversial. The reasons are that: 1) I think it is irresponsible and paternalistic to get involved in the domestic politics of another country; and 2) I want to avoid angering too many people because I'm entering a service sector labor market.

The second topic is stories that are too related to my work. WONK ALERT: The ethical obligations of US lawyers require the duty of confidentiality, and our communications with our clients are protected under the evidentiary privilege of the attorney-client relationship. I don't want to violate the duty, and I don't want to lose the privilege. Thus, I avoid topics about my own personal experiences in the legal field that might result in either of those two outcomes.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

Generous. The people I've met have always been glad to lend a hand, and it taught me to do my best for others starting their own blogs.

I am pleased to call Brad Luo of China Business Law Blog a friend. Brad writes well-researched posts on tough legal topics. Plus, he's a real swell guy. And, it is always a pleasure chatting with Brad.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

In addition to the other blogs I've mentioned, I'd say that I am consistently impressed by Francis's posts at China Comment. His posts are infrequent, but they are always well researched, focused, and thorough.

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

Before a Gideon in the Valley of Jezreel-esque raid 班超 said, "不入虎穴，焉得虎子", or How can one expect to catch tigers' cubs if one does not enter the tigers lair. For an American, is there a deeper tigers' lair than China where the language is difficult, the culture is alien, and the legal reform is in progress? Doing things the easy way is boring, so might as well give the difficult path a go.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

I think that Sun Wukong (孙悟空) is the coolest folk character ever, and I appreciate that his likeness adorns the boxes of peaches sold across China. And I would totally roll into battle with Zhao Yun ( 赵云). But, I'll never understand Liu Bei's (刘备) tears of gratitude for the man who fed Liu his wife in lieu of a wolf, nor will I ever understand why the fictionalized Song Jiang (松江) is celebrated as a hero when he should have stopped crying and crushed the corruptly portrayed Song Emperor.

Most of my interaction with China's people has been with my coworkers. I have worked at a Chinese law firm with Chinese attorneys, I have worked semi-autonomously in Wonderware's offices, and I have worked under the supervision of Invensys's legal department staffed with Chinese attorneys. Without exception the people I worked with were friendly, welcoming, and talented. Even when embroiled in difficult political and economic discussions at lunch, or heated badminton games in the evening, we were always able to respect and appreciate our differences. I couldn't ask for anything more of anybody, anywhere.

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

For me, the technical advice was the most helpful. If you're interested, email me and I'll pass some along.

More generally: 1) get in the habit of writing everyday; and 2) write about topics that you find interesting--we'll appreciate it all the more.

Q: What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

Learn Chinese culture. I don't mean how many hands to grab a business card with. I mean read the Four Great Classical Novels, read some Lu Xun (鲁迅), learn some Chinese history, and you'll find you have the basic ingredients for a great conservation with China's people.

Among the most interesting interviews I had. Thank you, Will Lewis, and have a Happy Spring Festival.

With the Best China Blog Awards 2008 behind us and the (/+Chinese) new year just in I asked the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. The "The China Observer" blog made it to 1st place in the Best China Law-Business Blog category with 411 votes. (Images adopted from the winning blog)

Background

Blogger : Joel Backaler (周乐达)

About the blogger (from the blog) - "Joel Backaler first traveled to Beijing in 2001 and has since returned to the capital city where he works as the only non-Chinese analyst for a leading multinational IT and management consulting firm. Joel has accumulated over six years of China market experience through positions in venture capital, new media entrepreneurship, independent consulting and research."

Blog:  The China Observer

Blog slogan : Local Observations. Global Implications.

Blogging platform: Wordpress with custom design and maintenance by simon@infinart.com

Originally from: Boston, MA, USA

The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for beginning your own blog?

I had two goals in mind when I started writing The China Observer blog:

1. Educate Others: Every time I visited the US, I found that many people I interacted with did not understand much about China beyond its rapid economic growth. I wanted to do something about this so I started writing The China Observer blog to educate and offer readers a source of comprehensive information about the business world in China.

2. Personal: I write my blog to pursue new interests and as an outlet for writing and creativity. While I have always enjoyed writing, I have found few opportunities to do so since handing in my last college essay. I have a passion for learning new things. The China Observer blog is a great way for me to explore different areas of the Chinese marketplace beyond the scope of my everyday work life.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

The China Observer blog documents observations about what I see in China either with my own eyes, on other China blogs, or in the Chinese media… As these are observations of what I encounter in everyday life, the blog explores a diverse range of industries, companies, and business topics. Because I am particularly fascinated by social media and the transforming Chinese consumer many posts are focused on these two themes. While I have a section on my blog that highlights select news stories, this is not a news blog. The majority of the posts remain just as relevant now as they were the day I first published them.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The best part of writing my blog is meeting other individuals who share my passion for China. Whether it’s a Skype chat or an in person meet-up I really enjoy every opportunity I have to interact with blog readers and other blog writers. Especially blog writers; the best way to learn is through others, I think one reason why The China Observer blog has developed so well in such a short period of time is because along the way I continually consult with others who have been doing this much longer than myself and I am very thankful for their insights and support.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

I recommend a few of my favorites listed in the “about” section of my blog. I start and end everyday by going through a combination of blogs on The China Observer blogroll and others as well as the China Alltop list. Each week I post “Key Observations” summarizing several posts in the China blogosphere that I found particularly interesting for my readers. Every blogger has a different spin on life in China. Most are worth reading. It just comes down to how much time you have to spare.

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

I first came out here for pleasure with limited knowledge about China and left with a desire to make sense of everything I encountered over that two-week span. The backbone of understanding any culture is knowing the language. After studying Spanish for 7 years I switched to Mandarin Chinese. I went on to study and do research in China and eventually began my career here.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

I love living in China. I get a kick out of the rough bus ride to work to wake up instead of drinking morning coffee. I think it’s amazing that you can talk to three different generations of Chinese people who have each lived in such completely different Chinas. No matter how much of a 9-5 routine (or as most companies in China 9 to …) something always happens in your everyday life that catches you off guard. Perhaps not always in a good way, maybe an experience makes you real angry or frustrated at the time but in retrospect it’s another story to tell and another memory to reflect on.

Q: What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

China is not for everyone. I meet people all the time who come to China and can’t take the spitting, pushing, pollution and other inconveniences and leave after a few months. After all, China is still a developing country and when coming to a developing country you need to come ready for an adventure. You need to be prepared to deal with a lot of annoyances, but also prepared to learn from the diverse experiences that you will encounter.

Part of the premise of The China Observer blog is that things in China are changing so quickly that it is unreasonable to call someone a “China expert”. That being said, there are people who possess a wealth of China experience and can offer tremendous insight into all aspects of life in China. The best way to gain as much understanding as possible is to meet with as many of these “inside observers” as possible. Each one will give you a new outlook on what things are like out here and help you form your own idea of what China is to you.

 

Thanks, Joel.

With the Best China Blog Awards 2008 behind us and the (/+Chinese) new year just in I asked the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. The "Xinjiang - Far West China" blog made it to 1st place in the Best China Travel Blog category.

Background

Blogger : Josh

About the blogger (from the blog) - "My name is Josh and I have lived in Xinjiang with my wife Tiffany for the past two and half years.  Although we both work as English teachers by day we try to spend our free time learning all that we can about the culture here and use our holidays to travel all over the province. I also work part time writing travel reviews of the many places we've visited in Xinjiang."

Blog:  Xinjiang - Far West China

Years blogging: 3

Blogging platform: Google Blogger's Blogspot

Originally from: Texas, United States

Years in China: 3-4 years

Age: 26-30

The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for beginning your own blog?

It all began three years ago as a way to keep my good friends and family clued in on what was happening with my wife and I here in China. I guess it was more of a newsletter of sorts. I decided to broaden the audience focus last summer when I began to understand just how few people make it out here to Xinjiang and how little is known of this place.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

Xinjiang. No,really...it is. Nothing too serious, just anything related to Xinjiang which catches my eye or makes me think.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

Although the Xinjiang blog scene is far from being crowded, there are already a couple of very good and interesting blogs covering this area including The Opposite End of China and The New Dominion. While these blogs contribute an inside perspective on the news that makes it out of Xinjiang (as well as that news that doesn't), I tend to focus on the lighter side of Xinjiang. The life side. I've always believed that the more you know about a place and its people the less likely you are to judge it by everything you find in the international media.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

Interesting question. Up until recently, not much. I've made no money from the blog and acquired very little recognition. I don't believe that will drastically change any time soon but I am hopeful that as I continue to write I will be able to improve myself as a writer and as I continue to travel I will be able to establish myself as a knowledgeable Xinjiang explorer. Hopes for anything more than that are just wishful thinking on my part.

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

I used to share more personal details on the blog when it was geared towards my family and friends, but as the readership has increased so has my desire to retain a bit of privacy. However, much of the blog's content is still drawn from personal stories and experiences. Lack of such stories make for pretty boring blogs...trust me, I've both written and read them.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

I've found the Chinese blogosphere to be quite interesting and surprisingly friendly. Most blogs provide a means to contact the author and I've developed relationships with a few of them through e-mail. I figure most bloggers in the community are similar to me - people who are writing for fun, who are not only happy to hear from their readers but also genuinely willing to engage in good conversation.

Of course, they could all just be patronizing me. I'm geographically so far removed from the majority of Chinese bloggers that I would never know.

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

Long story that really isn't too interesting. A better question would be why I'm still here 3 years later. Anybody can come to China, make snap judgments about it in a few months, and leave none-the-wiser. You have to wonder though, about the people who stay here six, seven, or eight years. How in the world!?

As for me, I think we've fallen in love with our particular location. Our friends are just too good and our language skills just aren't perfected enough. We wouldn't stay if we were forced to relocate and I think that says a lot about Xinjiang for me.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

Here in Xinjiang I actually come across a lot of different ethnic groups besides just Han Chinese and this makes the experience that much sweeter. China is whatever you make it out to be, and my wife and I, despite all the bumpy times, have loved it.

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

I'm still new to all this. You're asking the wrong guy. But while we're on the topic, I could use some good blogging advice. Do you have any?

Thanks, Josh.

With the Best China Blog Awards 2008 behind us and the new year just in I asked the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs, and I'll start off with the somewhat controversial blog that won the most votes (508) and overall best China blog title - My Lao Wai.

Background

What is the name of your blog?:  My Lao Wai

What is the URL to your blog?: http://mylaowai.com

Would you like to share some of the blog stats and numbers, like unique visitors a day and/or number of RSS readers?:

Mine isn't a huge blog, a few thousand uniques a month is fairly normal. Some months have obviously been a bit better than that, though - December '08 was fairly good.

How many years have you been blogging?: 2

 The Interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for starting to write your blog?

MyLaowai was born in April 2007, but prior to that I had written a few pieces for various websites, forums, and a newspaper - nothing too serious however. The idea behind this blog was twofold: firstly, it was simply a place for me to get my thoughts down, on a variety of topics. Some of it could be described as 'venting steam', for want of a better phrase. The second purpose, and one which over time has come to be more important, was to shine a little light on the abuses that I see occurring in China on a daily basis. I am well aware that many other people also do this, but I wanted to try to inject a little (dark) humour into it, in the hope that people would be more likely to listen if what I said wasn't just a lecture.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

Specifically, I write about aspects of the Chinese Government and Chinese Culture that I see as retarding the normal development of civilisation in this part of the world, as well as posing a threat to other nations. But that's a bit pompous-sounding. Better just to say that I write about whatever particular bee is in my bonnet on any given day.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

No, apart from meeting in person some of my contributors and readers.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

I have made a point of keeping my blog separate from my professional life, and I have not used it to promote myself personally. I want to promote the issues described previously, not me.

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

Given that what I write about is often of a political nature, and is frequently critical of China and the CCP, and bearing in mind that much of it is very easy to misinterpret as a more general hostility, I prefer to remain anonymous, at least for as long as I continue to do business in China.

I do need to be very careful about who knows about MyLaowai, but living in China one needs to be circumspect with regard to giving away personal information anyway.

I quite deliberately chose a host for my blog that was not only outside China, but one that I knew was blocked in China. I have no fear that CCP censorship will hurt this blog (though there is always the risk that it might hurt me and my family personally). As for other blogs, well, we are already seeing how the Chinese blogging community suffers at the hands of the Party.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

I personally know several expat bloggers,as well as a few Chinese bloggers. Most expat blogs fall into two groups: "I'm in China, I have a blog, woohoo!", and "There are many horrific abuses and atrocities being committed in China on a daily basis, I'm trying to tell the world about them".

The former are harmless, and occasionally interesting. The latter are doing an important job - As to their success, well I think only time will tell.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

Apart from MyLaowai? Sinocidal was brilliant (Chinalyst - now gone, link points to Chinalyst entry). Rebecca McKinnon does a great job. There are a few others I like, too - why not visit MyLaowai.com and click through some of the links on the far right?

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

This is the part that will probably get me in trouble. I honestly do believe that this nation represents an enormous threat to its neighbours, and the peoples of large swathes of Africa and South East Asia. The history of China, and particularly the last 60 years, has been one of constant aggression against other nations (Tibet, East Turkestan, Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, Burma, India, Taiwan to name but the most obvious). Were the CCP to have their way, the entire world would be at their mercy. I wish that people would make more effort to understand China and Chinese culture, because they would then be in a better position to demand more ethical behaviour from their own Governments and media in relation to China and the CCP.

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

Be consistent about what you want to do and how you want to do it. Keep the format simple, and don't take yourself too seriously.

Q: What advice would you give someone considering coming to work, study or live in China?

Find someone like me, someone who has been here and in business for a long time, preferably someone who travels a bit, and buy him or her a drink. He or she may fill you in on a few things you won't pick up quickly on your own.

Mine's a dry martini, by the way.

Q: Your blog has recently received some criticism regarding some of your blog content. Any thing you would like to comment on that?

There is an important point I would like to clarify. I have been accused by some of being a racist, for the way in which I refer to the Chinese people from time to time. I completely understand where this is coming from, and much of it stems from the way in which the word 'Chinese' is used in English. I write about Chinese in the sense of a nationality, not in the sense of an ethic group. I have serious issues with this nationality, the way its leaders operate, and the way in which it interacts with other peoples. I do not have any issue at all with people of this ethnic group - I love Hong Kong, I think Taiwan and Singapore are great, and I do business with ethnic Chinese all across Asia. It's only this one country, China, that I refer to when I use the word 'Chinese'.

My Lao Wai - Thanks for taking the time for the interview.

Chinalyst Sidenote - I've recently been made aware of some criticism written regarding Chinalyst, the blog awards process and the winning blog. I'll try and summarize it this way - Chinalyst is aimed at promoting China blogs, not passing  judgment or censoring blogs. Chinalyst doesn't endorse any content published by any of the blogs listed and I neither support or not support any of them. In the interview, I bring things as they are whether I approve of them or not. China Blog Awards was trying to promote the China expat blogosphere, drive new visitors to China blogs listed and promote a discussion regarding China related content. I hope that with the site, the blog awards and this series of interviews we've succeeded - at least partly - in doing that.

Chinalyst has been running the China Blog Awards 2008 for the last month. Voting for the best China blogs opened on 01.12.2008 and closed on 31.12.2008. Voting is now over and the results are in .

Best overall China blog for the year 2008 is Wo Shi Laowai - Wo Pa Shui with 508 votes. Congratulations MyLaoWai!

Following are the winning blogs according to category.

Business-Law Blog

1. The China Observer (411)
2. Experience Not Logic (162)
3. China Sports Review (112)

Best General Blog

1. chinaSMACK (395)
2. A Modern Lei Feng (135)
3. This Ridiculous World (96)

Best News Blog

1. The Foreign Expert - Translations and Review (387)
2. The Opposite End of China (253)
3. Imagethief (82)

Best Personal Blog

1. Beijing Boyce (260)
2. Thomas Crampton - China, Media and Technology as seen by a recovering journalist (175)
3. Absurdity, Allegory and China (120)

Best Technology Blog

1. Digital Marketing Inner Circle (438)
2. MOBINODE (177)
3. Digital China Guide (71)

Best Travel Blog

1. Xinjiang: Far West China (143)
2. China Travel 2.0 and Chinese traditional culture (57)
3. Chengdu Letters (56)

Blog Awards Winners are invited to put the following "Best China Blog Awards 2008 WINNER" banner on their websites linking to this page as proof of their winning by using the following code :

<a href="http://www.chinalyst.net/node/55211" title="This blog won the Chinalyst Best China Blog Awards 2008" ><img src="http://www.chinalyst.net/files/chinablogawards_120x240_winner_2.jpg" title="This blog won the Chinalyst Best China Blog Awards 2008" alt="This blog won the Chinalyst Best China Blog Awards 2008"></a>

To view the results per category, please visit the blogs sorted by voting according to category :

• Business-Law Blog
• General Blog
• News Blog
• Personal Blog
• Technology Blog
• Travel Blog

To view the China Blog Awards winners of 2007 please visit "China Blog Awards 2007 : Best China Blogs winners".

Thanks to all the blogs, bloggers and voters who participated. We hope you had fun and got to know a few more good China blogs.

See you again next year.

Thanks to all the bloggers, blogs and voters for taking part in choosing the best China blog for 2008.

A summary post will be published soon.

Happy new year ! ^_^

Voting is now open. Chinalyst, the community website for English language China blogs, is pleased to invite you to vote for the best China Blog Awards.

Chinalyst has grown over the past year to become a home for over 200 English-language China blogs dealing with diverse China topics - China news, business, law, technology, travel, expat life, English teaching, Chinese studies etc., - all providing invaluable China information that cannot be found elsewhere. The China Blog Awards is our small tribute to those blogs and the hard-working bloggers behind them.

A few weeks ago Chinalyst announced the China Blog Awards for 2008 and it is now time to vote according to the following categories:

• Business-Law Blog
• News Blog
• Personal Blog
• Technology Blog
• Travel Blog
• General Blog

Voting will close at the end of 31.12.2008 and winners will be announced soon after.

How to vote?

Next to every blog display here's a small voting box with a plus sign at the bottom. Want to vote for a blog? press the plus sign. The vote will then register, the number of votes will update and the plus sign will turn green. Changed your mind or made a mistake? select the "reset vote" link at the bottom of the blog description.

You can browse the blog categories or just go through the posts in the main page and go to the author's blog by clicking on "source" available on the links under the post.

Please note that anonymous voting is allowed, and is limited to one vote per one IP for a duration of 24 hours. This system of voting isn’t perfect and it is subjected to obvious biases, and yet – keep in mind we’re doing this for fun and the promotion of China’s English blogosphere. We trust that our fellow bloggers will do what they can to play fair.

You should also note that anonymous users are served 1 hour cached pages, and so to see live updates on the number of votes you must be logged in.

Link, link, link

Blog Awards are a great opportunity for promoting link-love between the China blogs. If you write a blog and you like a certain blog then please consider writing a few words about the blog you like, linking to it, encouraging your readers to visit it, and maybe asking your readers to vote for it.

Link-love between the China blogs helps promote the China blogosphere and China related content on the web.

Promoting your China blog

If you want to promote votes in your blog, then look for the direct link to your blog on Chinalyst and link to it. You may use the following banners in anyway you like:

Registering a new blog at Chinalyst

For those who would like to add their China blog to the community for the China Blog Awards 2008 - You can add your China blog to the community after registering. There's more information in the site guide .

Any suggestions, comments or feedback are very welcome.

Good luck!

Chinalyst, hosting the English language China blogs community, is pleased to announce the China Blog Awards 2008.

Chinalyst has grown over the past year to become a home for over 200 English-language China blogs dealing with diverse China topics - China news, business, law, technology, travel, expat life, English teaching, Chinese studies etc., - all providing invaluable China information that cannot be found else where. The China Blog Awards is our small tribute to those blogs and the hard-working bloggers behind them.

Last year, Chinalyst hosted the 2007 China Blog Awards and the best China blogs 2007 were announced.

China Blog Award

The China Blog Awards will be based on the Chinalyst China blog categories :

• Business/Law blogs
• News blogs
• Personal blogs
• Technology blogs
• Travel blogs
• General blogs (that don't fit into the other categories)

Titles will be Best China Business/Law blogs, best China News blog etc. accordingly.

Registered blog owners may change their blog's categorization at any time before voting opens. Please feel free to tell us, if you have any ideas for other categories.

Voting

There are no judges, no rankings, no nominations. This China Blog Awards is only based on voting and if you have a China blog registered at Chinalyst then you're in.

The voting implemented is a positive Digg style voting mechanism (no minuses "-" or "bury"), which allows all visitors to vote for all their favorite China blogs. Every visitor can contribute one vote per blog for as many China blogs as they like. The blog that gets the most votes within a certain category is declared "The best China <category> blog".

Support Forum

A new China Blog Awards forum has been added to allow you to express your opinion and discuss everything related.

China Blog Awards Schedule

The China Blog Awards will work according to the following schedule :

• Till 30/11/2008 - China blogs that haven't registered to Chinalyst can still be added till the end of the month to allow a fair start for all. Existing Chinalyst blogs may change their categorization, description, tags etc. to help promote their blogs.
• From 01/12/2008 till 31/12/2008 - Voting will open for all. Blogs may still register during this process.
• 01/2009 - Best China Blogs 2008 announced.

Voting

Voting will open on the 01/12 and will appear on all blogs on Chinalyst. You're invited to take a look at all the blogs registered at Chinalyst sorted by categories. You can also access blogs through the posts view and clicking on "source" for any of the posts.

Please note that anonymous voting is allowed, and is limited to one vote per one IP for a duration of 24 hours. This system of voting isn’t perfect and it is subjected to some biases, and yet – we’re only doing this for fun and the promotion of China’s English blogosphere. We trust that our fellow bloggers will do what they can to play fair.

Registering a new blog at Chinalyst

For those who would like to add their China blog to the community for the China Blog Awards 2008 - You can add your China blog to the community after registering. There's more information in the site guide .

China Blog Awards notes

• It is highly recommended for blog owners to login to Chinalyst and edit their blog's description to add an introduction. It is also recommended that an image or logo be added to the blog description to attract readers and voting.
• Blog Awards are great for promoting link-love between the China blogs. If you write a blog and you like a certain blog then link to it asking your readers to vote for it. Link-love between the China blogs helps promote the whole China blogosphere and China related content on the web.
• This whole thing is just for fun! Like any system, I'm sure that the system can be abused, but I'm counting on the general good of the China blogosphere that this will not happen.
• Any suggestions, comments or ideas are very welcome.

China Blog Awards banners and badges, created by Daobydesign.com, are available for you to use those in any way you see fit:

Good luck and enjoy.

Yep, the Great Firewall of China is at it again, and many of the China blogs have already covered the fact that Feedburner is blocked in China.

First thing, Chinalyst's RSS is also available through http://www.chinalyst.net/rss.xml , so you don't have to use Feedburner to get the Chinalyst RSS feed. I won't be able to track it for statistics, but it's important that you know this option is available.

Second thing, a request to the blogs aggregated at Chinalyst - I'll just quote one of the Chinalyst reader/bloggers - Chris :

I think those China blogs who aggregate with Chinalyst, you may want to change your feed URL in the Chinalyst configuration for your site if you have previously provided a feedburner link (I'm talking to you, Danwei).

The problem still remains when I see your post in a Chinalyst feed and I want to click on it to be sent to your site to read more, feedburner gets in the way. You know the rest...

To change your feed address, login with the username you registered the blog with at Chinalyst, go to your blog's page and select edit, then replace the feedburner address with a direct RSS or Feedsky address. 

If you have any thoughts or requests regarding this issue, let me know by commenting here.

Thanks, and happy Chinalysting.

Chinalyst has been running for almost a year now, first setup to find a way to help boost the China related blogs that were scattered all over the web. Chinalyst has grown steadily to include hundreds of subscribed readers and thousands of visitors every week. My goal is that all this reader base and traffic will be driven back to the China blogosphere.

To get some feedback, I asked a few bloggers to share some of their stats with me about Chinalyst. Some stats, like readers coming in from Chinalyst's RSS, can not be measured, but it is possible to get a feel of the traffic coming in from the actual site.

Bill of PanAsianBiz, a China-related problogger with an extremely popular blog, has been kind enough to be the first to share some of his stats and thoughts about Chinalyst:

According to Google Analytics - from July 4th - Sep. 4th I had 1,060 traffic sources for my blog... Chinalyst was the sixth top referring site.

Chinalyst sent me 1,892 visitors (1.2%) who viewed an average of 2.57 pages. The page view figure is tops among all of the referrals.

Chinalyst visitors to my site spent an average of 4:14 on the site, a full one minute more than the second longest referrer. One in five of the visitors are returnees, third best among my referring sites.

Chinalyst visitors have the lowest bounce rate....in  other words they come looking and find what it is they want...

All in all, Chinalyst is a great source for bringing traffic to my site.

Bill further adds that ...

One of the best things I have gained from Chinalyst, however, is NOT the traffic...but the exposure to other China related sites in English...I have been doing a series introducing those sites that were the top ten in the various categories of the recent blog awards...and it seems my readers are happy to know what else there is to read.

I appreciate Chinalyst being a gathering point for bloggers focused on China.

Bill has enabled the Adsense revenue sharing feature in Chinalyst and adds that Chinalyst brings in over 3US$ a week in Adsense earnings. It's nothing big, but it might be nice to get a few beers from Chinalyst every once in a while.

These are surprisingly great stats. If you combine incoming traffic from the site, the incoming traffic from the RSS feed readers, the Search Engine Optimization boost with incoming links, and the side beer-money, I believe that Chinalyst does do a little for the China blogosphere. I pointed out to Bill that I believe his stats would be even more impressive if he would use summary feeds instead of full text feeds on Chinalyst, as suggested in the Chinalyst guides.

So, if you have some interesting Chinalyst stats from your China blog, please do share those with me. If you have any ideas or requests, I'm very interested.

While running the China Blog Awards things heated up quickly within the China law blogs category. I was preoccupied with various things in my personal life as I started receiving endless e-mails regarding comments that were posted on some of the China law blogs competing for the awards.

As I was unable to look into the issue, I quickly disabled the comments to cool things off till I can have a closer look. That brought in even more e-mails about unnecessary moderation in Chinalyst. Running the China Blog Awards, this is the last thing I thought I'll have to deal with, thinking that all of us China bloggers are one big happy family, and I can honestly say that I really do not like this new role forced upon me...

I've brought back the comments on the two winning blogs and will leave the blog with the problematic comments disabled. It has been a very difficult decision for me to make, but some of the discussion written there goes against all that has led me to build this site. Naturally, I also do not have the legal and financial resources to defend Chinalyst's freedom of speech in problematic legal situations.

My apologies if anybody was offended by anything written or by my decision. I ask that you please keep your comments decent and non-offensive. It will help me to focus my energies on more productive activities in promoting Chinalyst and the English language China blogosphere.

Fili

Chinalyst has been running the China Blog Awards 2007 for the last month. Voting for the best China blogs opened on 01.07 and closed yesterday. Voting is now over and the results are in.

Best Business-Law China Blog

China Law Blog with 584 votes.

China Briefing Blog is 2nd place with 444 votes .

All Roads Lead to China came in 3rd place with 160 votes .

Best General China Blog

Sinocidal with 289 votes.

PanAsianBiz is 2nd place with 151 votes .

China Snippets came in 3rd place with 140 votes .

Best China News Blog

The Opposite End of China with 201 votes.

PanAsianBiz is 2nd place with 151 votes .

Danwei came in 3rd place with 85 votes .

Best Personal China Blog

Beijing Boyce with 198 votes.

Mysterious and Misplaced Logic of a Maniac Gone Awry is 2nd place with 149 votes .

Midwesterner in the Middle Kingdom came in 3rd with 126 votes .

Best Technology China Blog

Mobinode with 108 votes.

China SEO blog is 2nd with 69 votes .

China Webmasters Guide came in 3rd with 57 votes .

Best Travel China Blog

China Travel News with 49 votes.

Shanghai Gossip is 2nd with 36 votes .

China travel industry blog came in 3rd with 33 votes .

Notes:

• Since announcing the China Blog Awards 32 new China blogs have joined Chinalyst, and Chinalyst now registers 141 China related blogs. There are still many China blogs out there...
• 7,532 votes were cast for the awards.
• The purpose of the China Blog Awards was to drive traffic to the China blogosphere and promote link-love between the China blogs. Thanks to all the China bloggers that have kindly taken this opportunity to recommend blogs they enjoy reading.

Chinalyst has been running the China Blog Awards 2007 for 3 weeks now. On 01.07 voting for the best China Blogs opened and will keep running for another week till the 31.07. This is the last chance for you to vote and make a difference.

Here's a short summary of the voting so far:

• Since announcing the China Blog Awards 20 new China blogs have joined Chinalyst, and Chinalyst now registers 129 China related blogs. There are still many China blogs out there...
• So far ~4300 votes have been counted for the awards.
• The purpose of the China Blog Awards is to drive traffic to the China blogosphere and promote link-love between the China blogs. I hope the China blog awards contributed for a slight boost in traffic for the Chinalyst China blogs this past 3 weeks. A few China bloggers have kindly taken this opportunity to recommend blogs they enjoy reading. Aside from promoting your own blog, write about the blogs you regularly read and link to them.
• As of today, here are the top China blogs in each China blog category:
• Business-Law China Blog : China Law Blog (196), All roads lead to China (132), China Briefing Blog (116).
• General China Blog : Sinocidial (201), The A modern Lei Feng (70), Yellow Wings (55).
• News China Blog : The Opposite End of China (161), Danwei (52), PanAsianBiz (51).
• Personal China Blog : Mysterious and Misplaced Logic of a Maniac Gone Awry (120), The Humanaught (110), Shopgirl's Shanghai (90).
• Technology China Blog : China SEO Blog (48), China Blogging (39), China Webmasters Guide (34).
• Travel China Blog : China Travel News (28), Forever Sleepy (26), Shanghai Gossip (26).
• Time to make that last effort...

Chinalyst has been running the China Blog Awards 2007 for a week now. On 01.07 voting for the best China Blogs opened for all and will keep running till the 31.07.

Here's a short summary of the first voting week :

• Since announcing the China Blog Awards 9 new China blogs have joined Chinalyst, and Chinalyst now registers 118 China related blogs. There are still many China blogs out there...
• So far 1609 votes have been counted for the awards.
• The purpose of the China Blog Awards is to drive traffic to the China blogosphere and promote link-love between the China blogs. I hope the China blog awards promoted a slight boost in traffic for the China blogs this past week. A few China bloggers have kindly taken this opportunity to recommend blogs they enjoy reading. Aside from promoting your own blog, write about the blogs you regularly read and link to them.
• Some of the blogs have received an impressive amount of votes due to efficient blog promotion. I've been tracking the process and for those who emailed for details, here are the methods I saw used this weeks sorted by their efficiency:
• Calling all forum members that the blogger is affiliated with to come in and vote. Some have even went as far as putting detailed explanations on how to vote for their blog on Chinalyst in their forum and email signatures.
• Calling all blog readers to vote for the blog with a direct link.
• Putting one of the China Blog Awards Nominee banners on the blog with a direct link to the blog on Chinalyst and a small text "Go vote for me".
• Writing about the China Blog Awards in general and pointing to the categories.
• As of today, here are the top blogs in each China blog category:
• Business-Law China Blog : China Law Blog (36), All roads lead to China (35), China Business Law Blog (25).
• General China Blog : The Opposite End of China (77), Sinocidial (33), Lost Laowai (26).
• News China Blog : Imagethief (24), Danwei (17), Jottings from the Granite Studio (17).
• Personal China Blog : Shopgirl's Shanghai (45), The Humanaught (40), Midwesterner in the Middle Kingdom (25).
• Technology China Blog : China SEO Blog (24), Tech China Blog (19).
• Travel China Blog : Forever Sleepy (16), China Travel News (15), Shanghai Gossip (12).

There are 3 more weeks till voting closes. Everything can change.

Good luck.

Voting is now open. Chinalyst, the community website for English language China blogs, is pleased to invite you to vote for the best China Blog Awards.

A few weeks ago I announced the China Blog Awards and it is now time to vote according to the following categories:

• Business-Law Blog
• News Blog
• Personal Blog
• Technology Blog
• Travel Blog
• General Blog

Voting will close at the end of 31.07.2007 and winners will be announced soon after.

How to vote?

Next to every blog display here's a small voting box with a plus sign at the bottom. Want to vote for a blog? press the plus sign. The vote will then register, the number of votes will update and the plus sign will turn green. Changed your mind or made a mistake? select the "reset vote" link at the bottom of the blog description.

You can browse the blog categories or just go through the posts in the main page and go to the author's blog by clicking on "source" available on the links under the post.

Getting more readers and votes

It is highly recommended for blog owners to login to Chinalyst and edit their blog's description to add an introduction. It is also recommended that an image or logo be added to the blog description to attract readers and voting.

If you want to promote votes in your blog, then look for the direct link to your blog on Chinalyst and link to it. Ryan has made a banner that you can use :

What else? link, link, link

Blog Awards are a great opportunity for promoting link-love between the China blogs. If you write a blog and you like a certain blog then consider writing a few words about the blog, linking to it to encourage your readers to visit the blog, and maybe ask your readers to vote for it. Link-love between the China blogs helps promote the whole China blogosphere and China related content on the web.

More information is on the previous post - China Blog Awards - Best China Blogs 2007.

This is the first time Chinalyst is running the China Blog Awards. Any suggestions, comments or ideas are very welcome.

Good luck.

The China Blog Awards 2007 voting will begin in 4 days on July 1st, and so there's still time to register China blogs or to update blog descriptions to attract more voters (example).

Voting

Voting will open on the 01/07 and will appear on all blogs on Chinalyst. You're invited to take a look at all the blogs registered at Chinalyst sorted by categories. You can also access blogs through the posts view and clicking on "source" for any of the posts.

Registering a new blog at Chinalyst

For those who would like to add their China blog to the community for the China Blog Awards 2007 - You can add your China blog to the community after registering. There's more information in the site guide .

Chinalyst, the community website for English language China blogs, is pleased to announce an all-new China Blog Awards for the China blogs registered with the community.

Chinalyst has grown over the past year to become a home for over a 100 English-language China blogs dealing with diverse China topics - China news, business, law, technology, travel, expat life, English teaching, Chinese studies etc., - all providing invaluable China information that cannot be found else where. The China Blog Awards is our small tribute to those blogs and the hard-working bloggers behind them.

Unfortunately, during the last year there were a few unsuccessful attempts at building a China Blog Awards with AsiaPundIt's China category and even one with an optimistic 10k RMB prize. For some unknown reason, those faded away quietly and finally disappeared. But, at its core, being the heart of the English-language China blog community is what Chinalyst is all about. As such, we hope to provide the right platform for the voting procedure.

China Blog Award features

For the China Blog Awards we've implemented a few new Chinalyst features:

Categories

Aside from the free-style tags option that was available, we've added China blog categories and went through the blog list to categorize each blog on Chinalyst.

The categories are:

• Business/Law blogs
• News blogs
• Personal blogs
• Technology blogs
• Travel blogs
• General blogs (that don't fit into the other categories)

Registered blog owners may change their blog's categorization at any time (moderated). Please feel free to tell us, if you have any ideas for other categories.

The China Blog Awards will be based on the Chinalyst categories - Best China Business/Law blogs, best China News blog etc.

Voting

Naturally, we've also implemented voting. There are no judges, no Technorati rankings, no nominations. This China Blog Awards is only based on voting and if you have a China blog registered at Chinalyst then you're in.

The voting implemented is a positive Digg style voting mechanism (no minuses "-" or "bury"), which allows all visitors to vote for all their favorite China blogs. Every visitor can contribute one vote per blog for as many China blogs as they like. The blog that gets the most votes within a certain category is declared "The best China <category> blog".

New Forum

A new China Blog Awards 2007 forum has been added to Chinalyst to allow you to express your opinion and discuss everything related.

China Blog Awards Schedule

The China Blog Awards will work according to the following schedule :

• Till 30/06/2007 - China blogs that haven't registered to Chinalyst can still be added till the end of the month to allow a fair start for all. Existing Chinalyst blogs may change their categorization, description, tags etc. to help promote their blogs.
• From 01/07/2007 till 31/07/2007 - Voting will open for all. Blogs may still register during this process.
• 08/2007 - Best China Blogs announced.

Voting

Voting will open on the 01/07 and will appear on all blogs on Chinalyst. You're invited to take a look at all the blogs registered at Chinalyst sorted by categories. You can also access blogs through the posts view and clicking on "source" for any of the posts.

Registering a new blog at Chinalyst

For those who would like to add their China blog to the community for the China Blog Awards 2007 - You can add your China blog to the community after registering. There's more information in the site guide .

China Blog Awards notes

• It is highly recommended for blog owners to login to Chinalyst and edit their blog's description to add an introduction. It is also recommended that an image or logo be added to the blog description to attract readers and voting.
• Blog Awards are great for promoting link-love between the China blogs. If you write a blog and you like a certain blog then link to it asking your readers to vote for it. Link-love between the China blogs helps promote the whole China blogosphere and China related content on the web.
• This whole thing is just for fun! Like any system, I'm sure that the system can be abused, but I'm counting on the general good of the China blogosphere that this will not happen.
• My personal blog appears in Chinalyst but will not be counted for the China Blog Awards.
• This is the first time Chinalyst is running the China Blog Awards. Any suggestions, comments or ideas are very welcome.

In addition, Chinalyst has also partnered with the Hao Hao Report to provide a platform for deciding the China Blog Awards - Best Story. Unlike here at Chinalyst, the Best Story nominations will be for particular, and remarkable, stories. Dubbed the Zui Hao Report (Best Report), nominations and voting will be running in tandem with the China Blog Awards here at the Chinalyst. Be sure to head over there and nominate your favourite stories now .

China Blog Awards banners and badges, created by Daobydesign.com (Ryan of The Humanaught), are available for you to use those in any way you see fit:

Good luck and enjoy.

Using Yahoo Pipes, Chinalyst is fully customizable to achieve the feed that's right for you. Kevin of The Weifang Radish sent the following tip :

I have created a filter for Chinalyst's Recently Popular content using Yahoo! Pipes. The filter removes any content from the Recently Popular feed that I already subscribe to individually, letting me focus on popular content that I don't subscribe to and would therefore likely otherwise miss.

For example, I already subscribe to the China Law Blog feed, so I've filtered feed items from China Law Blog out of my Chinalyst Recently Popular Piped feed. I don't, however, subscribe to Chinese in Vancouver, so items from this blog appear in my Chinalyst Piped feed.

Take a look at the customized Chinalyst Piped feed edit and run mode. Since everything in Chinalyst is RSSable including most popular lists, categories, forums etc. you can play around with everything and customize Chinalyst to your liking.

If you've piped around Chinalyst, do share it with us. If you have any questions - comment here.

Thanks Kevin.

The Duck Pond forums have been migrated to the Chinalyst forums.

The Duck Pond is a forum community of the Peking Duck blog, a long running and popular China English blog. We're proud to host the forums on Chinalyst, welcoming back all of the Duck Pond users and inviting all Chinalyst visitors.

Some notes on the forums :

• All users can login to Chinalyst as they did to the Duck pond. Private messages have also been preserved.
• If you're missing something, something's not working or you have a new idea or suggestion - contact me in Chinalyst contact form and let me know. I'll do my best to fix it ASAP.
• All Chinalyst features also apply for the forum users, like Revenue Sharing. Take a fe w minutes to explore around the site and take a look at the guides.

Enjoy.

During the last month, Chinalyst has grown beyond my expectations and has far exceeded the limitations on the account is was served on.

To keep up with Chinalyst's growth I've upgraded Chinalyst to a VPS account. This should result in a much faster user experience.

I apologize for the downtime some experienced while DNS servers updated to the new hosting. All should be in order, but if you think something's not working properly or you have any feedback to give on Chinalyst surfing from other countries, especially China, please feel free to comment here or contact me.

Chinalyst is now 6 months old, and I'm quite pleased to see how much Chinalyst has grown during this time. The Chinalyst community now registers 86 China related blogs and is visited by hundreds of people daily with hundreds more getting updates through RSS.

Looking through the Chinalyst frontpage I'm overwhelmed with the power of the English China blogosphere and the quality of information provided. I strongly believe that in the case of China, the blogosphere is the best source of information for what's going on, and I'm hoping that Chinalyst has contributed to the growth and development of the blogosphere.

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To celebrate, Chinalyst is now running a unique model for rewarding everybody who's contributing to the community, and so I'm happy to announce our revenue-sharing and referrals model.

Revenue sharing

A month or so ago, to support our increasing hosting and maintenance costs, we've implemented some small Google ads on the site. Since the site is built around the blogosphere and the community users, we've implemented a revenue sharing mechanism on all contributed content to the site.

When a blogger submits a blog, the blog and its aggregated feeds on Chinalyst belong to the blogger and he may edit and delete them at any time without any help. When a user posts a message on the forums, the user owns that message and can manage it at any time. Using this ownership model, it is now possible for the owner to receive ~50% of the ads revenue for the content that was contributed - both for aggregated posts and forum postings.

The way this works is that the users enter their Google ID in their account, information which is public information, and 50% of the ads that will be displayed on the content they contributed will be with their Google ID. A click on content in this site with the users' ad displayed will cash the users the amount paid for that click.

The more popular the content, the more content contributed - the bigger the reward. Looking at the "all-time popular content" section on the right sidebar you might notice a few bloggers that, aside from getting inbound traffic, could have made a buck or two for their wonderful posts.

Referrals

Some bloggers have been very kind in linking to Chinalyst and helping the community grow. To reward such bloggers it is now possible to refer users through a referral link. Referring a user to Chinalyst will grant the referring source ~5% of all ad revenue that comes from the content that the referred user contributed.

Summing up, Chinalyst shares 50-55% of the its revenue with the community members, and I do hope that users will take advantage of this program.

For more information on how this works and how to set this up on your user account, please check out the "Revenue sharing" and "Referrals rewards" sections under "Guides and FAQ".

Thank you for being a part of Chinalyst.

In order to get the most out of adding your blog to Chinalyst, here's a list of tips on how to optimize your blog for getting the best results in Chinalyst :

1. Use categories - Chinalyst loves categories and uses the categories when indexing posts. If you categorize your blog posts in your blog then Chinalyst will import those categories and use them as tags. It helps when users search for a specific keyword and look up a certain tag.
2. Use tags - Chinalyst loves tags and uses tags in the same way it does with categories. Tags are not only helpful for Chinalyst as search engines and blog sites like Technorati use tags to index your blog. The more you tag your post, the easier is will be for users to find you through the topics you write about. Find a plugin for your blogging platform that will insert -metatags- into your blog's HTML code.
3. Optimize your RSS - First, it would really help advertise your blog if you add an image to your RSS feed, as this image will show up on the beginning of every blog post imported by Chinalyst. Secondly, I recommend that you use summary feeds in Chinalyst, but make sure that the users have enough to read to get them interested. A summary of 400-500 characters should be just right.
4. Optimize your content - Showing up on blog aggregators and blog search sites require you to think differently about how you lay out your blog. So,
1. Use explosive titles - don't be dull, your titles are the best promotion you usually have. They are what shows up first. Make it clear what you're writing about, and use humor if possible.
2. Start with a bang - have the first two paragraphs blog away the readers with the a smashing bottom line. Readers get tired fast and Chinalyst only shows your first paragraph. This way you can get the readers' attention.
3. Add an image - Content is great, but images attracts readers better. Start your post with a relevant image that corresponds to what you're writing about. If you put an image in the first paragraph of your post - Chinalyst will show it on the front page.

Good luck.

This small Chinalyst news blog will include the following :

• Features - Every once in a while I add a new feature to Chinalyst, based on something nice that I've seen that might match the Chinalyst community or a feature that one of the members has suggested. I will detail the features and changes to Chinalyst here as they occur and will be glad to mention who came up with the idea.
• Issues/Q&A - Since Chinalyst has been up I've been getting some emails about various issues or questions regarding Chinalyst that might be of interest to other members of the community.
• Tips - Since Chinalyst was founded to promote China related blogs, then I'll try and add some tips about blogging and how to optimize the blog for Chinalyst with a bit on general blogging and SEO.