Sunshine Award

I was recently nominated for “The Sunshine Award” by fellow blogger Christopher Ribeiro, whose Wish You Were Here blog is a terrific mix of East Asian photography and fixed gear biking. So to continue the great “circle jerk”, and to make up for the lack of a blog roll, I’d like to nominate my own favourite bloggers. Working in media as I do, it’s part of my job to keep up with what’s happening in China, and with the media here so neutered much of the best writing is done online – but my interests are broader than that.

The rules pertaining to the award are:

1. Accept the award.
2. Post the award on your blog together with the name / link to blog of the person who granted the award.
3. Answer the questions below.
4. Pass the award to 10 other blogs providing links to their blogs.
5. Contact your 10 bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So, without further ado (because too much ado would be just wrong, don’tcha know)…

1. Favorite color? – deep red
2. Favorite animal? – cats, golden eagles
3. Favorite number? – 7
4. Favorite food? – tough one!  Fresh bread, good cheese, many Italian dishes, fois gras, Twiglets…
5. Favorite drink? – red wine
6. Facebook or Twitter? – hard to separate, as they serve different functions: Twitter for news and information, Facebook for friends and family.
7. What is your passion? – reading
8. Giving or getting presents? – giving.
9. Favorite day of the week? – it’s not the day, it’s what you do with it.
10. Favorite flower? – snowdrops

And now the ten blogs which I like to read. This will include pro journos and amateurs doing it for shits and giggles.

1. China Hearsay

Stan Abrams’ combination of law/finance/IP/business subject matter and snarky sarcasm makes for great reading. Nerdy but fun.

2. Michael Tomasky

Formerly the US politics blogger on the Guardian, Tomasky now writes for Newsweek and the Daily Beast. A proud pinko liberal, he effortlessly demolishes Republican/rightwing/Teaparty arguments and presents well reasoned debating points. His pop culture references are pretty fun, too. He’s like your ideal American dad.

3. Sinocism

Bill Bishop is the news aggregator for China, performing an indispensable service for the news-hungry English-reading population. I interviewed him for Agenda on his use of social media – it would have been better to have been more in depth and broader in scope, of course, but there’s the limits of what we can do.

4. China Accounting Blog

I have a bit of a fascination with the “Big 4” – KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and PwC. Maybe it’s because they all rejected me when I graduated (don’t blame them – I would never have fit in). Here’s the best place to learn what they’re up to in China and how the government is trying to control them, amongst other beancounter topics.

5. Michael White

The Guardian is the only progressive broadsheet newspaper in the UK, if you don’t count the Independent (which I don’t – too wishy-washy), which is a bit ridiculous. Their website, fortunately, is fantastic, updated at lightning speed and with oodles of quality content above and beyond the newspaper itself. Their politics blogger (and assistant editor) has been around the block several times (former Washington correspondent, no less!) and writes hard-bitten, wry, insightful stuff.

6. Round The World Barstool Blues

While the better known Beijing Boyce writes more about the promotions, openings and events in Beijing nightlife, Froog gives a more personal, drinker’s perspective of Beijing’s many hostelries. He is also a devoted music fanatic; his commentary on my own posts is always great value, even if he does think “Black Star” is a good song.

7. China Media Blog

Brilliant dissection and analysis of China’s media, innit. Unsurprisingly based in Hong Kong.

8. Rectified.name

The personal, anecdotal China blog seems to have fallen out of favour – maybe most people are consuming content via Twitter or Google Reader rather than going to websites direct and feeling part of a community. This blog is a commune of writers who are all knowledgeable about China and have fun with writing about it. (Seems to have fallen into abeyance somewhat over the summer, though).

9. Patrick Chovanec

Another Agenda interviewee (it’s great to interview people whose work you admire), this blog focuses on China’s macro economy and is despite that a relatively easy (for a zero-financial training clod like myself) and insightful read.

10. China Daily Show

Sometimes the absurdity of China defies parody or satire, but these guys do a pretty damn good job of it.