As some of you have already noticed, this blog has undergone some major renovation over the past month. I've been trying to add a hint of professionalism in the design to accompany what I hope is high-quality writing. At one point I wanted to move everything over to my own hosting, but after a few snags and a bit of frustration I was forced to just add a domain name to this site and redecorate it. Even though Blogger has its limitations, I'm proud of how it has turned out and if you're reading this through e-mail or an RSS reader I suggest you take a look.
Best China Blog Voting
On another note, today marks the opening of the Chinalyst "Best China Blogs" awards. From now until the end of December any person with a computer connected to the internet (which is you if you're reading this) can cast a vote for their favorite China blog in one of six different categories (Business, News, Personal, Technology, Travel, & General). I've had a difficult time deciding whether this blog should be categorized as a "Personal" or a "Travel" blog, but since most every post has been focusing on particular place or part of Xinjiang, I've decided to put it in Travel.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog I would greatly appreciate the 10 seconds it would take for you to vote for FarWestChina. It's really simple: just go to the FarWestChina Chinalyst page and click the "+"to vote. You don't have to register, type in your e-mail address, or do anything like that. Just click and you're done. Simple, right?
Click on the picture to go vote!
Other Blogs of Note
While I'm at it, I'd like to take this chance to point you to a few of my favorite China blogs. These are just a couple, and if you're really interested in all of the stuff that I read on a regular basis, take a glance at my sidebar or just go to my links page.
- Wall Street Journal China Blog: This seems like a no-brainer, but I mention them because I love their "Best of the China Blogs" series they do every day. It's a human blog aggregator and it allows little blogs like mine to get some visibility every once in a while. Two of my posts have been mentioned by WSJ, the Chinese Wedding post and the Xinjiang Cotton Crisis post. Thanks guys!
- Imagethief: This blog focuses on PR within China, written by Will, a PR professional living and working here in China. Thanks Will for your advice and encouragement - I'm still trying to implement a lot of what you said.
- The China Teaching Web: As a teacher here in China, many of the posts on this site have been invaluable. Robert, one of the writers there, does a great job of analyzing various issues and common problems faced not just by teachers but by anyone who calls China their home.
- The China Observer: For those of you more business-minded, this new blog written by Joel has some great insight into China's economy and business sector. There are so many big China business blogs out there but as a small-time blogger myself I tend to root for the newer, smaller guy.
- China Sports Review: This blog, as its name suggests, focuses on sports here in China. I have no idea who writes it, but it's good stuff. There's plenty to learn and enjoy, such as their latest post about changing ages in China sports.
- Bezdomny ex Patria: Chris is from New Zealand but now resides in Beijing and does a great job translating interesting news articles about China. If only my Chinese was that good.
- Waiguoren Critic of South China: Matt is another fellow expat who lives in Shenzhen. It's stories like his that help remind me that I'm not the only person who thinks life over here in China is crazy.
Finally, as a side note and to close this rather lengthy post, I also want to point anyone who is interested to a very simple blog put up by my talented Uncle Bob. It's pretty new and has nothing to do with China, but I think his paintings are superb and you should just take a look.
Thanks again to everybody for reading and I look forward to the next year of blogging. Writing is a fairly new hobby for me, but I like it, and I hope you do as well. Peace, and happy holidays!
5 Comments:
Sure, I'll vote for you.
I'm still a bit confused with Chinalyst, it doesn't pick up my feeds for some reason...and I use feedburner same as you.
The winners will likely be the ones with the most traffic, which sort of makes sense. However, there are some excellent blogs that are relatively unknown.
@ Matthew:
Yea, I had problems with Chinalyst picking up my feed as well. I just sent a quick message to the moderator and they got it all fixed up. Apparently it's a recurring problem and I can see that you're not the only one - there's quite a few active blogs that have no site feeds. Too bad.
@ Mr. Insurance:
While you may be right about the traffic, there are a couple things to consider: 1) It would be easy to manipulate this contest. Just keep voting for your own blog, move it to a less-popular category, etc. BUT 2) the whole point of this is to promote Asian blogs not only among readers but also among the writers. At least with me, this has already been accomplished.
Thanks for mentioning our blog, Josh. I have recently cast my vote for your blog. We appreciate the information that you provide about a fascinating part of China that I hope to visit one day. Good luck!
Thanks, Josh, for the mention. Cast my vote for your blog too. :)
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