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Blogroll — China-related blogs

UPDATE: Newer, sexier blogroll can be found here

Q: Why have a blogroll?

A1: Cuz “news” is just so much digging a hole to fill it in anyway. A blogroll helps you ignore the events of the world.

“…journalism largely consists in saying ‘Lord Jones Dead’ to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive.” — letter from GK Chesterton

A2: There’s some really good stuff out there on China, Mandarin, language… I’m deeply indebted to other bloggers who have led me to some what I read. Bloggers who are insightful and write well tend to have good taste in the blogs they read, so following the links in a blogroll has led me to some of my now-favorite blogs. I’d like to return the favor.

Q: So why not just put it in the sidebar?

A: The trouble is, a naked blogroll doesn’t quite say enough. When you only see a list, you’re kind of left wondering, “What does this list mean?” Some bloggers blogroll promiscuously, referencing everything that has anything to do with their subject or interests. Others keep the list at a prudish half-dozen — kind of a “limited edition” way of creating blogroll envy so that other blogs 吃醋 [chī cù] about not being on the list. Each way has its advantage, but they both need some explanation.

Thus [drum roll] Beijing Sounds’ blogroll is a now a post, forever after to be linked from the sidebar. At the expense of not getting as much traffic as it would in the sidebar, it allows me the space for long-winded explications about my linking choices, should the mood strike me. The worst of both worlds, probably, but what the heck.

All of the following are worth reading, by the way. No point in mentioning sites that have no value. But I’ve created some categories to explain my choices. Most are China-focused but a few are mostly something else with a smattering of China/Chinese mentions.

Q: What am I supposed to do if the links don’t work?

A: You might check here for a very harmonious tool. And I’d really appreciate it if you let me know (bjshengr at g m a i l dot com) if a link’s broken.

Formidable Iconoclasts

 These sites offer consistently high quality and original thinking. Dangerous reading here.
Pinyin.info The blog is just an excuse to read the great content on the website. If you were being petty you might complain that the site recycles material. But that’d be like complaining that your best philosopher friend brought out an already open bottle of 18-year-aged single malt whiskey for your fireside chat. The selections are just that good.
Language Log Liberman is the greatest intellectual force for good among a great group of linguists here. Pullum is probably the funniest. Victor Mair, well-known linguist and observer of all things China, is a frequent guest contributor.

Sharp Observers

 Anyone in this category has posted an article so good I set up the RSS feed immediately and never looked back. I’ll keep reading for the next five years even if everything else is just so much unsalted oatmeal. .
Imagethief (beware the uncontrollable urge to chortle if reading at work) Sinosplice (quality blog entries and language resources)
bokane.org (high quality but infrequent posting in recent months) The China Expat (posts both whimsical and edgy)
Danwei (true stalwart; also classifies as “community builder”) Ben’s Blog (some unusually good anthropological insights)

Community Builders

 This is the most eclectic category. Here are the blogs that are particularly good at linking you in to the conversation about China or at early detection of China trends

Comments 4

  1. Brendan wrote:

    Aw, shucks. Thanks.

    Great post above on the subtleties of erization. The kid’s explication of the difference between wan and wanr is priceless — and it strikes me that it could be a helpful reminder to prospective language students wondering whether they should learn TV-announcer Mandarin or proper Beijinghua that erization is always more fun.

    Posted 17 Jan 2008 at 7:41 am
  2. Ken Grey wrote:

    Hi Brendan, erization IS more fun!…and so too are the myriad of other subleties which distinguish Beijinghua. TV-announcer Mandarin absolutely has its place,but that place is decidedly not in the special compartment of our hearts reserved for the Real Thing!
    A couple of unexcusable errors in some of my recent postings remind me,painfully,tha(A)I’m getting old,and(B)we have to constantly reinforce if we are to stay fluent……all the more so if we are away from home base. My latest Chinese New Year resolution is to “Keep up!” Xin Nien Kuai Le

    Posted 10 Feb 2008 at 9:33 pm
  3. stuart wrote:

    It’s a harsh lesson the day you learn that you have ‘no value’. ;)

    That said, it’s hard to disagree with your assessment in relation to the sites listed above, both in terms of category and quality. Rest assured, bjshengr will remain on my blogroll

    Posted 28 Dec 2008 at 5:56 pm
  4. syz wrote:

    @stuart: ha! Technically, I don’t think what I said necessarily implies that (and it certainly wasn’t intended to), but it does come across as pretty dismissive. Ouch.

    Even more pain from the fact that I’ve updated this old blogroll and you’re still not there!

    I don’t remember when I started reading FoundinChina regularly, but it’s been in my reader for a while. I’ve been thinking of a blogroll update sometime in early ‘09, so look for that.

    In the meantime, I’m honored and humbled to be blogrolled at FIC, especially because it was (as I dig into the records) specifically because of the Qomolangma incident, which never fails to make me chortle.

    Posted 29 Dec 2008 at 4:07 am