Guangzhou-based blogger John Kennedy has been doing some great translations from Chinese blogs over at Global Voices Online. His latest is a look at Chinese blogger reaction to Google's new Chinese name: "Gu Ge," which basically translates as "Valley Song." In a nutshell, Chinese bloggers aren't too impressed. My favorite reaction comes from a blog called "Lian Yue's Eighth Continent." Lian Yue has written a tongue-in-cheek "pledge" by the Google to the Chinese government:
“Valley Song” letter of guarantee to the Chinese government
1. We promise to be unable to find any erotic materials, and all results will point to Sina’s [major Chinese portal site] society news.
2. We promise to be unable to find any trash information, and all results will point to Sina’s celebrity blogs.
3. We promise to modify search technology and equate the name list of government officials provided by China with the following keywords:
4. Incorruptible, humorous, austere, self-denying, loving of the people like their own sons, ironhanded, love, have sex!
5. We promise “have sex” is the result of Baidu’s malicious attack.
6. We believe that 1990 follows the year 1988.
7. We also believe that June 5 is the day after June 3.
8. We promise to be unable to find any international news or any sensitive mainland news.
9. Google’s logo in China will become ‘000000.’
10. ‘000000′ shall be pronounced ‘Gu Ge’ [valley song] but we recommend the pronounciation ‘Hu Ge’ [big brother Hu Jintao].
Read the whole post with other Chinese blogger reaction here.
John is doing a great job translating content from the Chinese blogosphere. Other recent posts include a full translation of a Hong Kong magazine's interview with blogger Wang Yi, who talks about his strong belief in democracy and Christianity, and how the two reinforce each other. Other recent posts include an item about podcasts as an answer to the Great Chinese Firewall, and a post about Chinese blogger critiques of historical revisionism in Chinese TV dramas.
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