Rebel Without a Clue

This story at CNN.com reminded me of something really interesting I encountered last summer on my trip to China: government censorship.

We stayed at The White Swan Hotel, which is an absolutely lovely 5-star hotel located right on the Pearl River and right near the American consulate.  It's where virtually all of the American families who are adopting babies stay, and one of the (many) nice things about it is the Internet access.  When you're on your 10th day in steamy Guangzhou thinking "If I eat one more noodle I'm going to die" it's nice to be able to see with family and see what's happening in the rest of the world via Internet. 

I was using my new iBook G4, and every once in a while I would encounter a site I couldn't access.  A message popped up saying the site wasn't available.  No biggie.  They weren't sites I frequented often and I thought nothing of it.  But then, a few days into it, it hit me:  were these sites not available not available, or were they just not available to people in China?

I did a quick Google on "Tibet".  Plenty of sites came up.  But when I tried to click on them:  [tight close-up and cue the orchestral suspense music] THEY WERE NOT AVAILABLE!!!! I gasped at the shock of it all.  BBC news.  Free Tibet.org.  Whitehouse.com (I'm not making that one clickable, do the work yourself).  They had all been blocked.

I have to admit, I got a little paranoid, then.  I had been in China for several days at this point, and had been on my best behavior.  I had "moved along" when the authorites told me to "move along".  I hadn't raised a fist or even made any sudden movements in Tiananmen Square (it's amazing how 110 degree heat and dead-eyed soliders can suck the bravura right out of you).  I was due.  Surely the authorities were monitoring my behavior in The White Swan Hotel and would come knocking on the door any minute to whisk me away to a Chinese prison while my mother, sister, and newly-adopted niece wept dolefully (then stole my precious American toilet paper stash when I was gone).  But... it didn't happen. 

I got away with it.

Ha!  Suckers!  Up yours, China!  FREE TIBET!  POWER TO THE PEOPLE!