Girls of the English-language China Blogsphere

I got to chatting with Chris while I was up in Dalian, and we were talking about how the English-language China Blogsphere is a little under-represented by those double-X darlings some (misleadingly) call the ‘fairer’ sex…

I quickly mentioned Meg, who’s now returned to the wilds of Americana to live happily ever after with WoW and Stick. For a short time we also had young Stephanie… but she too has left.

That’s not to say there aren’t still a few ladies giving the down and dirty of what it’s like to be a Western woman in China. Here are three of my regular reads – please fill the comments with those I’ve overlooked.

  • peer-see: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Emily, over at peer-see, is by far the most prolific female blogger in our humble blogsphere. This isn’t at all to sell her husband, Josh, short – as between the two of them they’ve got a blog that’s always first on my ‘must read’ list. They’ve an intellectual wit that couldn’t be squeezed out of me for all the Sumo hugs in Japan. Check out Emily’s recent Hóng Bāo Index post.
  • Mysterious & Misplaced Logic of a Maniac Gone Awry: With a blog title that rivals my own in length, Gabrielle’s blog, out of Xiamen, is a collection of funny musings, odd pictures and pet crickets from her travels around China.
  • Aussie In The Orient: Louise, in Shanghai, has a blog that ranges in topics and doesn’t specifically focus on China. It is, however, near always entertaining. I’d been reading her blog for a while before I realized that she’s actually shacked up with photographer-cum-sometimes-blogger Phillipe Roy, a fellow Canuck and one helluva wiz with a camera.

So yeah, like I said, this is by no means a “definitive list”, but rather just a highlight of girls I read – what about you?

17 Responses

  1. Haha, actually I left her out specifically because I wanted to see how long it would take before I got a:
    “I’m a girl, I write about China, check it out at my blog: Shop Girl”

    Meg mentioned China Dirt on her blog, and that’s another one I specifically left off. No doubting it’s distinctly feminine, but in all the ways I try to block out.

  2. Jenn’s just mentioned her blog is blocked, but it’s another good girl-in-China blog, though not if you like reading anything more in depth than clever captions to some excellent photography.

  3. I must have been tempting fate with that last comment. Woke up this morning to find Shopgirl had commented on my own blog. Quote: “check out my blog about glam shanghai lifestyle”.

    No thanks.

  4. Never tempt fate by writing anything on a blog about how your computer hasn’t crashed in ages; how you haven’t caught the cold that is going around the office/school; or how you haven’t received a comment in a while from Shopgirl. The fates are listening….

    Hey thanks for the shout-out though. Unlike S***g*rl (I’m being very careful here) I am really lazy with my own publicity, so thanks for the help 🙂

  5. Well, erm… yeah ok so you’re rights about my blog being as live as a dinosaur in a museum, but that’s because I’m working on a secret weapon.

    Can’t talk about it now. They’re listening. But it’s coming. It’s going to be BIG!

    (…creeps away back into the shadows, picks the camera back up and waits for his pray…)

  6. I’m not at all opposed to self-promotion, but I think when it comes to blogs, you need to be careful how you do it, as regular commenters and blog owners tend to view the comment areas less as an open forum and more as a comfy place to chat with friends. Spam that, and wrath be released unto you.

    My philosophy has always been that if I want people to read my blog, I should illustrate that I read theirs (ie. posting relevant comments or linking to them).

    @Philippe: I’m not going to tell you again – stop taking photos outside my bathroom window. I’ll be NO MAN’S SECRET PROJECT!

  7. So, I get this feeling that people don’t like this Shopgirl . . . or is that just me?

    And as Lou said, thanks for featuring us on your blog. Publicity, at least when it is positive publicity, is always a good thing. 🙂

    Thanks again.

  8. Thanks for the kind words!

    Q: How many Vassar girls does it take to change a light bulb?

    A (said with hands on hips, head cocked to the side): We’re not girls, we’re women, and besides, it isn’t funny.

  9. @Siyan: No one is really commenting on the quality of your blog, it’s the way you SPAM other bloggers’ comments to promote it. It’s bad blog/commenter etiquette.

    Most of the time you post a comment it has nothing to do with, or to add to the conversation, but only displays a link to your blog and tells people to visit it. That’s SPAMMING.

    You don’t need to include a link to your blog, as your name is hyperlinked already.

    I usually delete your comments for this reason (as I do for other comments that taste of SPAM) – however, I’ll leave this one as a case in point.

  10. Hey I have a written section too! Hrmph. Heh.

    I don’t post in it daily like I do photos, but a few times per week usually.

    I have to admit, I do not regularly read any female bloggers in China. The Western female friends I have here have blogs set up, but they post so irregularly I barely check them without an email prompting me too. Seriously, they usually post at the most once per month. Once per month seems more like a newsletter than a blog? I dunno.

    Thanks for the other suggestions. I’ll check those out.

  11. Hey I came across your blog today and am enjoying it. Hope that foot is better soon. Anyway, I thought upon reading this, hey, I am female, American, live in Hainan, and blog about it, but I really don’t know if I’m all that intersting! Plus, my blog’s on xanga so it’s blocked in China, so probably that’s one reason not to read it.

    Then I was reading your comments and hope this isn’t considered spam since I’m not a regular commenter here. Ah well, in spite of my doubts, I’ve commented anyway. My blog is http://www.xanga.com/Mouseneb

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