2015-09-06
320
By
Liz Carter
inShare1 Dec 5 2012, 12:37 PM ET
Web users behind the Great Firewall bantered over topics ranging from competitive singing to government accountability. Sometimes, they were even the same thing.
Reuters
What a year it has been on the Chinese Internet. In Chinese politics, 2012 brought a long-anticipated leadership transition at the highest levels, but incoming president Xi Jinping hasn't dominated the headlines all by himself. A post on Weibo, China's Twitter, by well-known economist Han Zhiguo listed nine stories, cultural phenomena, and memes that got the most buzz in China over the past year. Without further ado:
1) The most famous voice: The Voice of China
The Voice of China, a singing competition based on the popular European show The Voice of Holland, routinely topped charts and dominated chatter on social media, often edging out discussion of political and economic matters. Controversy over the show's voting system was also a hot topic and became, for some, a proxy for discussion of democracy and transparency in China.
