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*Update* – P.M. Wed 8th July 2009 – A friend has recommended a proxy-server which means I can temporarily circumvent the great firewall of China. Let’s hope this last until things return to normal. Spread the word on this site, which keeps the information flowing. See you on Twiiter and FB, for now!

*Update* – A.M. Wed 8th July 2009 – Twitter continues to be blocked and now FACEBOOK is also inaccessible. To those who follow my updates through Facebook, please do not think I have disappeared. It’s just my outlets for contact are decreasing by the day! Can’t help but feel all of this just makes the ‘powers that be’ look more and more silly. A little like this.

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So, another day, another website is blocked in China.

Anyone who has spent any length of time here will know of the restrictions that are levied against the internet on a fairly regular basis. For years the BBC was well and truly blocked, rumoured to be because a BBC article made insinuations about the nocturnal private life of  a very famous former Chinese leader. Blogs are a frequent target of blocking, as they provide a venue for their users to express opinions on anything they want. Not something which is exactly encouraged here.

Twitter seems to be the new enemy here in China and one which has been noticed quickly and has become a favourite for the ‘blockers’. The ability for the instant spreading of information is quite remarkable and the evidence for which appeared on Sunday night when the events in Xinjiang took place.

On Sunday night at around 10:30 p.m., I received a call from a friend who is a foreign correspondent here in China.  They were on the way to the airport in Urumqi to go home, having been covering a story and were calling contacts in China as they had heard through twitter that something was happening in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital. Had I heard anything? No I hadn’t, but I jumped onto my computer, logged into Twitter, punched in the key words ‘Urumqi’ and ‘riot’ and up popped lots of ‘tweets’ reporting crowds were gathering and something serious was happening. A link led me to a Chinese blog where the writer claimed he had heard gunfire on a street in central Urumqi. Another blog posted a photo claiming to show the bodies of 5 victims lying in the street. I relayed this information via sms to my colleague and as a result of this, and no doubt other information they received, they turned the car around and headed back to Urumqi to get the story.

I personally think this is quite amazing. Of course, as a journalist, you can’t take these ‘tweets’ as fact, but they are the modern-day equivalent of a tip-off. Some will turn out to be worth following, others won’t. In this example, it enabled journalists to be onto an event as it was happening when they probably would of left, being none the wiser until their plane landed.

So, my Twitter life ended after 6 days. Well, it is not over at all actually. My page still exists, all my tweets are still there, I just can’t get to them until either (a) I leave the country or (b) China decides to lift the restrictions. I will be back though. Even after 6 days, I have amassed nearly 100 followers, so thankyou!

In the meantime, I shall continue my posting here. Just keep your fingers crossed this site doesn’t get blocked anytime soon. Long live the free flow of information!