Great firewall of China
August 18th, 2008 at 07:01am Under China
When I’m sending messages home from an internet cafe in an unfamiliar part of the world, I like to check out what the locals are doing there. In China, I saw a lot of people playing complicated multi-user games; they all seemed to be shooting each other. Posters on the walls showed fantasy characters with huge swords and angular haircuts.
But among the gamers, there were a few lonely bloggers. And now it turns out they weren’t so lonely after all.
There are, in fact, more than 47 million of them. In spite of the Great Firewall of China, the famous censorship system that prevents people from reading and dispersing information, the Chinese have become the word’s most prolific bloggers.
With the world watching Beijing this month, Chinese bloggers are using all kinds of methods to bypass the firewall and get heard - including hosting their sites on foreign servers.
One of the most high-profile Chinese bloggers is Isaac Mao: in a fascinating interview he talks about the whole phenomena, and why he’s proud to have ‘blogger’ on his business card.
- Kate James
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The cable car ride from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping is a 5.7 km. stretch that dangles above the South China Sea and over rolling green hills of the North Lantau Country Park. Hiking trails crisscross these hills and we saw some hikers testing the precipitous slopes. Out of the fog and light rain we had our first glimpse of the Tian Tan Buddha in the distance. It was a magical moment.
We got off at Ngong Ping Village where our first stop was the Tea House. I love to drink tea but have never done so in a tea ceremony. The ritual started with the cleansing of tiny cups in a bowl of hot water. Then a spoonful of green tea (our choice) was poured into a small pitcher filled with water heated to a temperature level that brings out the best of the selected tea. Our hostess transferred the hot tea to a filtered glass pitcher to remove any residue. She then filled all our cups. And just as they do in wine tasting, she held her cup to her nose to better appreciate its aroma. We followed suit. The first sip, she explained, is to quench the thirst. The second cup is to leisurely savor the rich flavor and the third is for sheer enjoyment.
After graduating from tea school we made our way toward Po Lin Monastery where we started the climb up 200+ steps to the Giant Buddha seated on top of the hill. It took 10 years to build the Buddha which measures 34 meters in height. There is a commanding view of the surrounding mountains and the valley below from the brow of the hill.
Hong Kong residents and our hosts, Kent and Wendy, had a special treat in mind when they took us to the village of Tai O. The bus deposited us at the harbor and we walked the short distance to the dried fish market. Tai O is well known for its dried fish and seafood. As it was the Chinese New Year holidays, the restaurant we chose was packed with families celebrating the Year of the Fire Pig. Our hosts ordered local specialties like shrimps with extra thick shell which were challenging to eat but quite juicy, deep fried bean curd sprinkled with salt (the best tofu I’ve ever had), steamed Chinese broccoli, and a dish of minced pork and squid topped with salted dried fish. It was incredibly good.
After lunch we strolled to the bridge and caught a boat out to sea to watch for white dolphins. Our skipper took off at top speed and didn’t let up until we were in open sea where we sat awhile to admire the rocky contours of the island and to gasp in awe when white dolphins bobbed in the waters. Returning to the village, we cruised through a community of stilted houses, with their laundry hanging out to dry next to pots of colorful flowers and an occasional raised dinghy. Tai O is dubbed as the “Venice of Hong Kong”.