Although this blog has been "active" for almost 3 years now, it's only over the past 8 to 9 months that I would really consider myself a card-carrying member of the China blogging community. And it is a rapidly evolving community. In this short amount of time I've seen some blogs burst onto the scene and fizzle while others become instant hits. I've been able to connect with some great bloggers while others remain mysteriously hidden behind their anonimity. I've seen some China sites that serve no other purpose than to link to other China blogs while one (which boasts over 900 Google followers and 1,500 hits a day) never links to anybody.
After subscribing to an embarrassing number of blogs I've begun to realize that personal recommendation is the best way to find out which ones are worth reading. Blog contests, including the award I openly display on this blog, usually just end up being minor popularity contests and many link pages are just created for SEO purposes (again, I am partially guilty). So as my contribution to the China blogging community I am offering my suggestions for worthwhile China reading in a "Top 5" format - blogs which have been consistent, interesting, and usually much better than mine.
Disclaimer: This is a personal list and by no means comprehensive. This kind of list will eventually replace my boring blogroll in the near future, but for now it is a post.
Top 5 China Blogs that You Have to Put on a China Top 5 List
- Danwei - part translator, part aggregator, this news source is one of the top English language blogs about China. Several posts and links per day cover a wide spectrum of topics.
- Wall Street Journal China Journal - great write-ups and links to all the top news stories dealing with China. I'm disappointed they stopped linking up to smaller blogs like this one, though. Now they only mention major news sources.
- Time China - although they post a few original articles, they mostly just link to TIME content about China. Still, it keeps me from having to find the content myself.
- Shanghaiist - the only city-based website I know of that appeals to readers all over China. Also aggregates news and blogs. They post quite often but sometimes feel more like a tabloid than a news source, unfortunately.
- ESWN - Roland is apparently a very well-respected blogger and does a great job aggregating all the best blogs in English and Chinese.
Top 5 Blogs That I Wish Posted More Often
- Imagethief - Will, a PR professional, tends to write things that make me laugh and then say to myself "I think he's right...wish I would have thought of that." Well-known for his sarcastic humor.
- Sinosplice - John Pasden, better known for his work with ChinesePod, doesn't blog as much as he used to and now tends to focus his writing on linguistic topics that I find fascinating.
- The New Dominion - one of the only other blogs about Xinjiang is very well-written by a guy who goes by the name "Porfiriy". His blog is a bit more political than mine - which is completely unfair seeing as this blog is currently blocked while his is available for viewing here in China. Ahh!
- Black and White Cat - I've heard this is written by an employee of CCTV, the state-owned TV station here in China. Very news focused and not much personality, but when he writes it's worth a read.
- China Sports Review - David does a great job writing about all things China-sports related. As long as he continues to keep this blog active I suggest anyone interested in the China sports scene to take a look at this blog.
Top 5 Personal Chinese Blogs
- Mark's China Blog - Mark is strictly news-oriented, but I enjoy reading his personal comments on whatever he's been reading.
- Matt Schiavenza - A blog that jumps between news and personal posts. Matt is also part of the Lost Laowai blog (mentioned below).
- Jottings From the Granite Studio - Jeremiah covers a very broad spectrum of topics which are usually very interesting, although more often than not very scattered.
- Ben's Blog - Ben doesn't post very often now that he's out of the country, but I put this up just because a lot of the posts in his archive are great. It would almost be a sin for me not to mention his barber shop posts where he spent one month working all sorts of odd jobs.
- The Humanaught - Ryan, an expat web developer who is well-known in the China community, is an entertaining diversion from all the news I voluntarily inhale.
Top 5 China Blogs with Multiple Authors
- The China Beat - This blog is much more academic in nature and is written by a very highly respected team of bloggers. I admit that most times I just skim their articles because it's just too much to digest, but if I find an article whose topic I'm interested in, it's incredibly insightful.
- Fool's Mountain - Less scholarly, more opinionated posts by all different types of authors. I think they're well known for their comments but I tend to just stick to reading the post, which is good enough for me.
- Lost Laowai China Blog - This blog, an extension of the Lost Laowai website, has a great mix of entertaining as well as informative posts. I wish they posted more often.
- CN Reviews - Recently redesigned, I began seriously watching this site during the China blogger conference. I'm interested in the different direction it looks like this blog is headed.
- ChinaGeeks - The newest of these five blogs, C. Custer and his team are part of the Chinese translating phenomenon that is very popular right now. I prefer this site over others because of the type of material they translate.
Top 5 China Blogs that I Couldn't Easily Categorize
- Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Hanzi Smatter - people get the dumbest tatoos sometimes, and here they find out what it really meant.
- Favorite Photo Blog: Expatriate Games - a great photographers who happen to reside in China.
- Second Favorite Photo Blog: Asian Ramblings - another good photographer who is also a fellow teacher.
- Favorite Business Blog: IP Dragon - Although the China Law Blog is the best business blog hands-down, I prefer this one because it deals with intellectual property and copyright issues in China, one of the primary things I studied in college.
- Favorite Story Blog: SHE in China - I don't like how disconnected this blog is from the rest of the China community (this is the one that links to no one), but it is an entertaining read that I can easily relate to as a foreigner in China.
No doubt there are many more China blogs out there, and I read many of them, but these are my favorites. If you think I'm missing anything, by all means leave a comment. Enjoy.
13 Comments:
I am honored to be included here Josh. The list you put together really is a pretty comprehensive look at China from some a variety of unique perspectives. Well done and thanks!
Thanks for including us on this and please give us feedback on where we should go with CNReviews.
Okay, you have given me some serious reading! And i do appreciate the links!
SHE in China is BEST among those you mentioned.
Thanks for the list, I'm going to check out some of these that I have never read before! Your blog is my favorite so far!!
Great selection of blogs - virtually all of which would make my Top 5s as well.
You're right that blogrolls and awards largely devolve into link exchanges and popularity contests. Personal endorsements like these are way more succinct.
Occassionally I reflect on how the English-language China blogsphere has changed/evolved over the years and it's great to see some of the ones I read before coming to China still going and see a LOT of great new ones having appeared.
Only wish I had more hours in the day to read them all!
Thanks for the mention(s) Josh! And will try to light a fire under the bloggers at LLW for ya! ;-)
Glad the list has been helpful and fun for all of you. Elliot, you made my short one-sentence descriptions look pretty pathetic with your personal blog recommendations this week!
Dana...thanks! Glad to hear it.
Ryan...I hear you about not having time to read them all. I find that I could waste half my day just reading other people's stuff instead of actually getting work done on my own. It's hard to balance sometimes. Thanks for the comment.
Great post Josh! This is the first time in months that I have been able to access your blog! Hurray!
Love SHE in China and of course the boys posse of Matt, Ben, Ryan...
Do you know of more good blogs written by women aside from SHE in China and Shopgirl's Shanghai???
@chinatravel - Thanks! Don't know how long the block will be lifted, but I'm enjoying being able to comment on my own blog as well.
If you're looking for a great list of women bloggers, check out this comment from the great CNReviews post. Lists 14 female bloggers in the China community (and, presuming this is Rebekah, you are mentioned as well). Check it out:
http://cnreviews.com/people/bloggers/interesting-china-blogroll_20090421.html#comment-25368
Josh: Thanks for the nod. I'm happy to be your second favorite (EG is much better than moi.) Funny, I often seem to be my students' second favorite teacher. Always the bridesmaid....
I don't read a lot of China blogs, I'll take a look at some you've listed here.
Ha! I knew the moment I wrote that, Steve, that I hadn't written it correctly. It's supposed to read: "Another Favorite Photo Blog", not "Second Favorite". Dang it!
I hear you on the student thing, though. After a couple of years here I think most of them are getting tired of me. :)
Josh: Cool beans. Don't sweat it.
One of my favourite blogs is James Fallows who lives in Beijing and writes for the Atlantic,
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com.
Dragonhunting is another one, though he doesn't write that often but has that dry sense of humour we Canadians love.
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