My sister recently left to study abroad for a semester in China, where she's getting to know millions of her closest fellow Chinese. She started to blog about her experiences but what really struck me were two comments: 1. it's the first time ever that she doesn't have access to specific sites (her high school wasn't that restrictive when she was younger) and 2. she can blog but she can't read her blog after it's posted.

It's odd to think that there are hundreds of websites that simply don't exist in the Internet that the Chinese know. It's also a little scary to think that millions of Chinese don't have access to their own citizen journalists because the blanket of censorship is so strong there. That inability to freely exchange information will have long-reaching effects on China's people as they move into a more-and-more capitalistic society. Information is particularly valuable in a capitalistic society because (proprietary or not) information can be turned into profit. Information also helps regulate private industry. It'll be interesting to see how the heightened control over information in China affects her experiences as an American studying there. Plus, we'll get detailed analysis about the air quality levels there!