Jeremiah’s “Oh, China” Moments, Part 1

Two things interesting things to talk about in China this week.

First off, China has blocked the Internet Movie Database. I assume that some of you visit the site occasionally enough that I don’t have to explain what it is. Actually, I’ll go ahead. It’s a Web site with detailed information on movies, TV shows, stars, producers, etc… from anything which has come out, oh, ever. The purpose of the site is more as a reference than anything else. China has blocked it, apparently, because it includes information on movies about Tibet. The site doesn’t endorse any movie, really, so you can only assume the fact that it shows up on the Internet and someone probably left a comment like “Tibet rocks! China sucks!” on the message board is what pushed the authorities here over the edge. At least Wikipedia is still available…right now.

Secondly, I was riding the bus to work this morning. Each bus has a TV or two airing the Jiangsu Broadcasting Network. Today the news was on, and one of the packages (the profile pieces with interviews, etc…) was on a 3-year-old who smoked cigarettes. It showed his proud dad, him in a variety of cool poses, him engaging in the age-old Chinese tradition of ashing on the floor, and then it would occasionally be animated with smiling faces, because, I guess, Cute Baby!

Oh, China.