Jottings from the Granite Studio

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this little project of mine received some (undeserved) recent notice. Two sites, for which I have nothing but the greatest respect and admiration, China Law Blog and The Peking Duck, posted links to The Granite Studio over the weekend. The result was a doubling of traffic to my small corner of the China blogosphere these past few days.

First, let me say, “Thank you.” Especially for the too kind words written by Dan Harris on the CLB site. As I posted over there last night, the China Law Blog is really a model for a successful China blog. It’s focused, topical, well-written, and consistently interesting. It’s a must read for anybody interested in contemporary China or for those doing business with the Chinese. I was also somewhat amused at the mini-“Chinabounder-style” internet hunt for my identity in the comments section. I hope that I cleared that up.

Second, thanks to The Peking Duck’s Lisa, Brendan, Dave, and Richard for linking to my little essay on Wang Hui. TPD has quite an eclectic stable of commentators and I look forward to reading their ideas on China’s New Left. I’m sure it will be, as always, provocative, interesting, and informative. The link from TPD has also led to some lively discussion here as well. Be especially sure to read Dave’s thoughtful posts on Wang Hui and the CCP.

Thanks also to Sam at the always fascinating The Useless Tree and Chris over at Eyes East for their links to this site in the past week. Sam’s been around a long time and his classical takes on current events are consistently interesting reading. Chris is a bit newer to the blogosphere, but be sure to read up on his 5-part trip to Shenyang and his attempts to negotiate translingual practice through humor (a.ka. tell a joke).

Finally, a frequent commentator at this site, Wu Ming 无名, now has his own blog: Surf Putah. If you’re interested in progressive politics, particularly in Northern California, this is for you. He’s one of the smartest and best read people I know (and the history department’s newest daddy, to boot). Be sure to check it out.

Okay, they’re cueing the music to get me off the stage. More later.