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Virtually in bed with the party

Peter Goff

Netizens in the United States and China clearly have very different things on their minds. 'Lottery' was the most-searched-for word in the US this year on America Online, followed by 'horoscopes' and 'tattoos'. And, as far as personalities go, most Americans used their keyboards to get virtually up close and personal to a busy-in-bed Paris Hilton.

Many Chinese Web surfers, on the other hand, were up to their necks in turgid political theory this year. 'To strengthen the Communist Party's ability to lead the country and improve the overall ability to build a harmonious society as put forward by President Hu Jintao, the party must strengthen the construction and management of the society and innovate the society-management system,' begins a standard Web lesson. Snappy, roll-off-the-tongue stuff, it isn't.

And that's only one 'must'; there are a heap of others. The biggest must for beleaguered students and party members across the country is they must be learned by heart. Early this year, Mr Hu launched the party's biggest ideological-education campaign since the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square incident, obliging millions to recite the latest party mantras.

In an example of the new China working with the old, some enterprising, privately run websites have cashed in on the communist ideology campaign by offering cram sheets and prepared essays on the advancement of the party's education. With millions looking to find the easiest way to digest the information, the hit rates are high and so is the profit.

In the world of money and finance, Larry Lang - or Professor Lang Hsien-ping, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong - was the most sought-after character, according to the Baidu search engine's list of the year's top searches. His TV talk show, Supervisor Lang, highlights stock-market irregularities and casts a caustic eye on some of the many suspect deals involving the privatisation of state-owned companies.

In the news realm, the successful launch of the Shenzhou VI spacecraft and the bird flu virus were the most-searched-for stories this year. Jackie Chan's The Myth was the most popular movie on the Web, and Super Girl - the local version of the American show Pop Idol - was the TV programme people most wanted to read about online.

The sports star on everyone's fingertips is still Liu Xiang , the charismatic 110-metre hurdler who became a national icon when he won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics. And topping the literary list was Ba Jin , the eminent novelist and essayist who died this year at the age of 100.

The wacky Sister Lotus was the most-searched-for personality on the internet. Despite having no obvious talents to speak of, the 28-year-old wrote flowery prose referring constantly to her own genius and, for good measure, liked to toss in sentences like: 'I am so beautiful that when men see my body they get a nosebleed.' She became the Web sensation of the summer, a star who was famous for being famous without a reason.

Despite the fact that she isn't a remotely political lotus, the publicity department told the media to 'make her disappear' a few months ago, apparently rattled that an individual could so easily garner such a large following.

But the searches do not tell us what the more than 100 million Chinese internet users would have searched for if access to tens of thousands of sites were not officially blocked - including those on porn queens, religious groups, independent news sites and political activists, among many others.

If Paris Hilton ever wants to get a look in on the mainland, she'll probably have to swallow her pride and suck up to the party. Bed linen printed with Mr Hu's thoughts on 'maintaining the advancement of the party' might be a good start.

Peter Goff is a Beijing-based journalist

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