Back to Work

Well, the Great Net-Nanny Nuisance Firewall of China has slightly loosened its noose grip on Internet content. I can usually get into my Yahoo account now--yesterday I had to use the French server to log in. Now, the content filter is working within most news sites to prevent people inside the Middle Kingdom from reading particular articles (I just clicked on a China-related article on the Washington Post site and it was blocked). It seems they're filtering keywords that have to do with recent and/or ongoing incidents. Many bloggers who are not already blocked (my blog is inaccessible on the mainland) have found interesting ways around the filter by typing with symbols in place of letters. I'm just wondering how much longer that will last.

On another topic, my boss said that the school has been providing Chinese classes for the Korean students and will see if I can join in. I just have to hope it's not too advanced for me to understand, otherwise it's back to my plan of getting Jia to kick my ass when I'm lazy and not studying.

One other note that I seem to have forgotten for some time: On my ride to and from school, I have noticed a significant increase in the amount of graffiti in Shenzhen since the Spring Festival break. I've grown accustomed to seeing names with phone numbers painted everywhere (usually for counterfeit diplomas or prostitution), but this is definitely Western-style graffiti (some in English). It's only a matter of time before they paint over it all though--just as soon as they finish digging the subway lines all over the city in anticipation of the 2011 Universiade.