China allegedly has the highest number of blogs in the world, and the highest ranked according to Technorati. I tend to focus on English voices blogging from within the country (because I can’t read nor speak Mandarin) and have four favorites I want to share. Some are marketing focused, some very funny, one is thought provoking, etc.. I am open to suggestions of other ex-pat blogs worth following.
My hat is off to these bloggers, particularly those blogging from inside the country, anyone who has tried to read, comment, or otherwise operate as a blogger with tools as diverse as Flickr to Technorati will attest to how hard and annoying it can be.
1. Will Moss: ImageThief. Moss is a PR pro now blogging from Shanghai. His work is syndicated by CNET Asia and he has been kind in his links to this blog in the past. He would be a top pick if I was asked who I would want to have dinner with during my next trip to China.
2. Kaiser Kuo: Ogilvy’s China Digital Watch. I almost did have dinner with Kaiser during my last trip, a meeting set up by our China marketing team. The man’s personal blog is very good, but his professional blog written for Ogilvy (our agency of record) is the best analysis of digital media trends. Period.
3. Michael Mann: Mann in China. Mike is a colleague running our production teams in Beijing. His diary of life as a twenty-something single guy in Beijing is very funny. His post about his driver — nicknamed “Dale” after Dale Earnhardt — is a classic
4. Rebecca MacKinnon: RConversation. Former CNN correspondent, now the leading voice on freedom of speech and expression issues for Chinese bloggers.