Time's The China Blog Has Something To Say

When Time Magazine's The China Blog first came out about six months ago, I hated it.  In fact, I hated it so much I did a post on it:

It is ironic Time's China blog offends me so much since its overriding goal seems to be to say nothing so as not to offend anyone.  Actually, that is what offends me. 

Time starts a China blog and then leaves out the good stuff that makes a blog a blog.  It reads like none of its writers have read any other China blogs before starting this one.  It has no heart, no voice, no soul.  It has nothing to say.  No reason for being. 

There are excellent China blogs out there with which I nearly always agree.  DiligenceChina, ChinaBusinessServices and ImageThief come to mind.  There are excellent blogs out there with which I usually agree, like Chinese Law Prof blog, EastWestNorthSouth, Silicon Hutong, and Angry Chinese Blogger.  There are excellent China blogs with which I sometimes strongly agree and sometimes strongly disagree, like the 88s, Peking Duck, Sinocidal and China Confidential.

I immensely enjoy all of these blogs (and many more) and I strive to read them every day because they might have something to say that nobody else is saying.  It may be a new tidbit of information, a new story, a new way of looking at things, or a new idea.  I do not know what I will find on these blogs, but I do know that if I do not check them regularly I might find myself out of the China loop on something and I cannot brook that.  I have been checking Time's blog each day, but just to see how long it can go without saying anything of any import. 

Every Time China blog post is a rehash of what someone has already said, mostly weeks or even months ago.  Here is a list of their posts so far:

• China's one child policy creates brats
• Beijing is polluted
• "If you take your eyes off China for even a few days, a lot can change"
• Beijing is clear today
• Bird flu is back
• Where are the children's playgrounds?
• A building was here yesterday and now it is gone
• Migrants and Money
• Danwei, China Digital Times, EastSouthNorthWest are great. "I'm now going to write about them. Then maybe they'll write about us."
• It's not easy being green.

And remember, it is not some ESLer in Nanjing I am picking on here, it is the Time-Warner empire, which has the money and the people to do so much better. 

So Time -- get bloglike or go home.  More advice: if you want to tell people CLB has it all wrong about you, do a post entitled:  Screw China Law Blog.  I dare you.

Well they ignored me and I ignored them.  Until recently.  The other day I read a good article in Time Magazine on China's courts and blogged on it.  Time's China Blog then blogged on my blog post and that drew me in.  Once in, I found myself going back and reading a number of its archived blog posts.  I also found myself being impressed.  Time's China Blog has hit its stride.  It is well written and, most importantly, it has started to leverage its  China contacts to write really interesting stuff.  And not just what you might find in Time Magazine either.  Blog stuff.  Posts on controversial issues and posts with opinions.  Good stuff.

No boycott. 

I just added Time's China blog to the blogroll. 

What do you think about that?