In Which We Praise Yao

The Economist
The number of Internet users in China grew an astonishing 50 percent in 2007, ending the year at 210 million users, according to the Chinese government. And there's still a long, long way to grow, as 210 million represents just 16 percent of the Chinese population.

More than 70 percent of China's Internet population is under 30. As such, "there is enormous pent-up demand for entertainment, amusement and social interaction," says Richard Ji, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Chinese Internet companies have seen their share prices rise sharply; their collective market cap is now above $50 billion, having doubled just about every year since 2003, according to the Economist.

Welcome, Chinese readers who know enough English to do a Google search for Yao Ming! We're sure that you'll find lots to like here at FTT, including lots of text mentions of Yao Ming, because we're sure you all love that Yao Ming nearly as much as you like the image we found for you.

Yao's on my fantasy team, so I like him too!

(Goes to check Web logs to see if there's anything. Nothing. Not even a Chinese cricket, or an insulting SalesGenie ad search.)

Screw you people. Your cheap electronics and sweatshop labor practices have done more to ruin the economy and ecology than Hummer and Haliburton combined. The upcoming Olympics are going to make Munich '36 look like Light N' Easy Propaganda. You are firing freaking *rockets* in the air to stop the horror of rain. And your new love for inflation is going to be the death blow for the American economy, and ensure that my kids will grow up in squalor and deprivation, regardless of my bad gambling picks. Yao's gutless, too. 7'-6" and he can't play defense. I wash my hands of you. Fah.

(Sudden realization that the time zone difference could be the cause of lack of traffic...) Hey, did you know that Yao's up to 2.2 blocked shots per game now? That's a career high!