Harmonized
That’s the word some Chinese are using when sites are blocked or redirected by the government, as in the phrase, “wiki.biti.org.cn 被和谐.”
It’s a play on the theme of a “Harmonious Society,” Chinese President Hu Jintao’s answer to Jiang Zemin’s “Three Represents”, which itself was an answer to Deng Xiaoping’s “Four Modernizations.”
Let’s try our new word out in a real-life situation:
”对不起，小王，你不能看我的博客，因为它在WordPress.com上面，而WordPress.com 2006年二月份被和谐了。“
“I’m sorry, Xiao Wang, but you can’t read my blog. It’s on WordPress.com, which was harmonized in February 2006.”
Tags Harmony, Harmonious Society, China, Censorship, GFW, CSL
May 18, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Never heard that phrase before - but then again - I do not understand Chinese. Sounds better than “blocked” though, even though this attempt to sweeten up
Btw, if your offer still stands bout meeting up for dinner in Beijing in July, I have been allowed audience time by the misses. Would be nice to see you (and your wife?) IRL over a bit of BJ Duck if you have time
May 18, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Sounds great. I love a good duck. Jinjin will most likey come to. What days will you be in BJ?
May 18, 2007 at 8:30 pm
According to flight schedules we’ll touch-down on the 1st of July about mid day. Our plan is to stay in BJ for about 3 days and then head to Harbin by train and grab a bus to C’s hometown.
Then I guess we’ll need the rest of the day to get settled at the hotel, de-jetlagged and perhaps do some slowmo shopping/sightseeing/eating. So my guess is that dinner on the 2nd or 3rd would fit well if you guys are free? We’d prefer the 2nd I guess, but we are free both days. I’ll bring my better part as well of course. I am sure I will not be allowed to be set loose in a million city alone
My wife already has decided which restaurant to go for BJ duck (her friend told her which one was considered the “original”), so if you don’t mind, I better check with bout that one so I wont have to endure a wife related beating.
Our hotel will be close to Tianmen Sq and therefore according to C, close to the BJ duck restaurants. The exact position of our hotel is still a blur to me, since I don’t know BJ. I’ve let the misses take care of that part. Last time I looked it was due north-east of The Forbidden City, but it may be changed if a cheaper/better hotel pops up.
I have one tiny problem. Neither one of us has Chinese mobile cards yet, so I can’t provide a phone number. Let’s talk in details when we get nearer to the date. Should phone-card woes appear when we arrive, there’s still mails and blogs, eh?
Look forward to seeing you and JinJin.
May 18, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Sounds great. I imagine she is planning on Quan Ju De. It’s easy enough for us to get to the Tiananmen area.
May 19, 2007 at 1:03 am
You’re absolutely correct in your assumption. C just read your guess, and she said that it was the same restaurant (chain?) she had in mind.