We’ve spliced together Hu Jintao, China’s outgoing leader, and Beautiful Agony, a website that…

Beautiful Agony began as an experiment*, to test a theory that eroticism in human imagery lies not in the body, but in the face; that film of a genuine, unscripted, natural orgasm can succeed where the most visceral mainstream pornography fails, and that is, to actually turn us on.

Hu Jintao and Beautiful Agony were made for each other.

Hu Jintao began as an experiment, to test a theory that a robot in human imagery can perform basic tasks that require no facial expression; that it can deliver speeches — scripted of course! — and function according to prewritten programs. Like a human, it can even orgasm, turned on or not.

This picture.

*The “experiment” has been ongoing for several years now, at least. It’s basically soft porn. NSFW, unless you work in one hell of an office.

(H/T Brendan O’Kane)

We’ve been waiting for this. Caption: “Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, Zhang Gaoli, who have been elected members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), arrive to meet with Chinese and foreign journalists at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 15, 2012. (Xinhua/Ding Lin )”

Xi Jinping is the one in the very middle. He led the others on stage:

Looking good, boys. Except you there, without the red tie. WTF, man?

[WHICH NEWS ORGANIZATION WILL BE FIRST TO PUBLISH A PHOTO OF THE NEW SEVEN? WE'RE STILL WAITING. Reuters at 3 to 1 odds, I think. Rolling updates after jump.] (UPDATE, 12:41 pm: Mark MacKinnon wins! We’re tired of waiting for an official photo though. The image above has been appended.) (UPDATE, 12:55 pm: Xinhua wins, of course.)

China’s seven highest leaders: Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, Zhang Gaoli.

Xinhua breaking the story on Twitter, as expected:

Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

— Xinhua News Agency (@XHNews) November 15, 2012

The new top Chinese leadership: Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, Zhang Gaoli.

— Xinhua News Agency (@XHNews) November 15, 2012

XI JINPING NAMED CHAIRMAN OF CPC CENTRAL MILITARY COMMISSION

— Xinhua News Agency (@XHNews) November 15, 2012

Xi’s speaking on TV right this moment. His first words were to apologize for being late: “Sorry to have kept you waiting.” (Difference No. 1,134 between Chinese and American politics.) He’s speaking very deliberately. The translator is doing very well. More reactions later.

UPDATE, 12:25 pm: Mark MacKinnon of Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, with the win!

Now for a picture that’s at least 100 KB…

UPDATE, 12:41 pm: Xinhua just tweeted a picture — screenshot? — of Xi Jinping’s speech. They’re still new to this Twitter thing.

Twenty minutes past time, and no sign of Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, et al. But don’t freak out: join in on the fun. Twitter is at #WhyXiJinpingIsLate, and it’s lively.

Featuring…

• Andrea Yu
• Mikhail Gorbachev
• The ghost of Mao Zedong
• The ghost of Jiang Zemin — even though he isn’t dead
• George W. Bush
• Clint Eastwood
• Zhou Yongkang
• Jill Kelley

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By TAR Nation

The Party Congress is, mercifully, over. For those of us here in Beijing, it feels good, like a massive cold-water colon cleanse. Now with the brown-nosers out of the city, we can reflect.

Now that it’s over, I mourn the loss of the banners.

The propaganda rags had a few different roles to play during the Congress. 1) Don’t report bad news. 2) Make sure everyone loves the Congress. 3) Love our dear leaders. 4) Publish editorial rimjobs about the Party Congress. 5) Convince people that change will happen gradually, after they die. 6) Hate the US and their pussy-ass elections. 7) Bang on about the Party Congress, no matter how boring and un-news-like, until you kill yourself, go on, do it, just kill yourself. Do it. You pansy. Go on. You don’t have the balls, do you? Do it. DO IT!

In this mess, every newspaper, under severe stress to prove that they love the Communist Party more than the other guy, fitted their websites with giant banners to make sure that there is no doubt: The Party has them by the short and curlies.

Every organization tried to have the biggest, reddest, communist-est banner ever. Web designers from People’s Daily to China Daily woke up from their painful slumber ‘neath the Midgard serpent and designed page banners that would get them appointed to the head of the Red Guard.

The rules are thus: They’ve got to be big, they’ve got to be red and they’ve got to show a lack of creativity hitherto unimagined.

Award for the Reddest goes to:

People’s Daily!

People’s Daily went a bit off the rails on the whole “red” thing. They even turned their text red on the home page of their website (as did CCTV).

I swear I didn’t Photoshop that. It actually, actually has a headline that says: “Delegate in Wheelchair.” At least it’s not “Delegate who just wouldn’t listen.”

The first thing people learn about People’s Daily is that it’s, much like Playboy, not read for the articles. It’s the editorials. They are viewed as the express opinions of the government itself. If the government likes garlic on Tuesday, China likes garlic, and if you don’t, you’re a turncoat vampire Japanese traitor.

This is to be expected. Of all the newspapers with a government hand up their fundament, People’s Daily has fingers out its eyeballs. The Ministry of Finance has the main stake, and People’s Daily Online will be paying taxes for the first time in 2013.

Of course, the content is full of scathing indictments of the current press-hating institution, like, “China’s path to democracy,” “Scientific Outlook on Development becomes CPC’s theoretical guidance,” “People’s Daily calls for winning new socialist victory at party” (from Xinhua) and “CPC develops democracy over last decade,” which, I’m sure, is a surprise to all of us. It’s not real democracy. It uses the term “Democracy with Chinese characteristics” without a hint of shame.

Next up, the award for the Biggest Banner goes to…

China Radio International!

Yeah, it’s that big. Golden workers and shafts of light bearing aloft the flying penis. CRI usually stays away from politics, in that they don’t discuss anything of substance. They discuss what netizens are talking about until they’re blue in the face. They abide by the Propaganda Department to the letter and intercut it with stories of traditional horse plucking in Zhejiang Province and other drek. Their stories involve a lot of “nowadays” and “in modern times,” like they’re explaining things to cavemen.

Their pandering takes form in “Socialist System, Path and Theories Incorporated into CPC Constitution,” “Lawyers Rights Guaranteed in China’s Judicial Reform” and — please read this one reposted from Xinhua — “Mom Communists Taking Babies to National Congress.”

They also have things like… well… this: incidents where I don’t know what to make fun of first.

Next up, Most Effeminate Banner Featuring the Hammer and Sickle:

Found on Shanghai Daily. Wisps of clouds and doves flying over Tiananmen. That’s what I think of when I think of the Hammer and Sickle. I definitely don’t think of how mechanization rather than a hammer-and-sickle commune during the Great Famine could have prevented the deaths of 43,000,000 people. Nope, for me, it’s all about the aviary. (Note, figure of 43 million deaths taken from Judith Bannister’s figures, which are based on info from China’s State Statistical Bureau as well as China’s State Family Planning Commission. Don’t be a dick about it.)

Hopefully, the fact that pigeons were banned for the coronation was not lost on all.

Shanghai Daily does good work now and again and keeps the crazy to a minimum. But, this column is about making fun of the Chinese media, so here goes: They’re… racist pedophiles…  probably.

Now we’re onto: Blandest Banner. The winner is…

Xinhua!

That’s plastered on their homepage, but if you’re curious about suicide and click on their “Special Report” (note: it’s NOT special), you get this banner:

Why is the bland banner on the home page and the flamboyant banner on a link no one will touch? Only Xinhua knows.

Next: Banner with Most Sparkling Disney Magic:

The Global Times.

Readers may be surprised to learn that the ultra-nationalistic disgrace Global Times did not have a banner on their home page, mainly because it’s big and red all year round. But this more than makes up for it.

Their coverage consists mainly of how legitimately legitimate and normal the legitimacy is of the legitimate Chinese Communist Legitimate Party. Usually, I would end with observations about the Global Times editorials, but, concerning the Party, they are so full of flattery, bullshit and hating the West, I can’t wade through it. Do it yourself, here.

As much as I really, really hate the Global Times and their evil psycho-king Hu Xijin, there are a lot of people working there. Some of them are good. In fact, the greatest reporter I’ve ever met worked there, before he was fired. So, keep a light on in the window for people there who get pictures like this into the “special coverage.”

The party congress is over, and thank Christ for that. Anyone who wanted democracy or freedom of the press has stopped jabbering on about it because, for that to happen, they would probably need to have another one of those fucking meetings. So, screw it.

As a final remembrance, I have come up with a banner for the Beijing Cream, featuring how dissidents were sent on vacation, security buckled down, Internet shut down, pigeons and ping pong balls banned and the crushing, crushing boredom of it all.

TAR Nation writes the BJC column To Serve People. He’s usually around on Mondays.

This story just gets more interesting by the minute. Via @fightcensorship, we’ve learned that Andrea Yu will be appearing on the cover of the November 16 issue of Oriental BQ Weekly Magazine. The red letters read: “Australia watches the 18th National Congress,” and on the second line, “Andi,” which is the Chinese rendering of Andrea. “Hodgkinson” is Yu’s real (given?) surname.

On Global CAMG Media Group’s official website, Hodgkinson is referred to as “Andi Yu,” as in, “CAMG’s Andi Yu interviewed China Policy’s David Kelly during the PRC’s 18th National Congress in Beijing.”

So what we have is Andrea Hodgkinson giving her name as Andrea Yu to foreign reporters but who is known in China as Andi. Got it?

And just so there’s no doubt who we’re dealing with, here’s Will Cannon’s tweet from the official @CAMG_Media account:

https://twitter.com/CAMG_Media/status/268238591862394881

The question needs to be asked: what is this woman doing? We’re working off very limited information here, but so far, it looks like she’s ruining the career advancement prospects for all foreign journalists who’ve ever worked for Chinese media. Posing for a magazine cover — however tasteful — probably won’t endear her to most serious female reporters, either.

There’s an adage in journalism that one never wants to be a target of journalism. Yu/Hodgkinson is squarely in the crosshairs. How she reacts will probably determine whether she’s able to save the last vestiges of her reporting credibility.

There is a bright side for her, though. Should she choose, she can easily switch to being a bona fide, glamorous, well-compensated flack. There’s no shame in that, as long as pretenses get dropped.

UPDATE, 4:22 pm: “Will Cannon” is no longer the name associated with the CAMG Media Twitter account, and the above tweet, not unexpectedly, has been deleted.

Yesterday, while writing about an Australian reporter who had become somewhat of a Chinese Internet star because of her Mandarin-speaking ability, I was most struck by something she said in English. At a press conference inside the Great Hall of the People, she mentioned she was representing “Global CAMG Media International.” I googled that phrase and found no results on the first page. The closest match was “CAMH,” which is completely different. That should’ve sent up a red flag, instead of a yellow one. But this was still the early stages of the story, and the news seemed to be the question itself, not the identity of the questioner, so I went ahead with the post.

Well, one short day later, the focus is now squarely on the questioner. Her name is Andrea Yu, and it turns out she’s far from a journalist. She was first tracked down by China Real Time Report, to whom she admitted that she gets called on at press conferences because “they know my questions are safe.” Hmm. If your eyebrows aren’t yet raised, please turn your attention to her second interview, with Stephen McDonnell of Australia Broadcasting Corporation (via Shanghaiist), who cut her a lot less slack. Ms. Yu, meet a journalist:

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: Is it a little disingenuous for you to be up here I suppose with the appearance of being an independent international journalist when really you’re working for a Chinese company?

ANDREA YU: Yes, that’s a good question. It is interesting, and a lot of people have asked me about that. The fact is, I chose to be employed by them, and I’m representing their company.

So when I ask questions in press conferences and anything like that, I’m representing the company as well as representing Australia.

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: The company though, it’s controlled from Beijing, right?

ANDREA YU: Ah, well we do have a head office in Melbourne, so…

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: The majority shareholding is from Beijing – that’s right, isn’t it?

ANDREA YU: Ah, yes, yes that’s true.

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: Because I mean you could say that it’s as if the Chinese government has brought you up here as a sort of friendly journalist to essentially ask itself questions that it likes about its own performance.

ANDREA YU: Yes, you could say that, but you could only say that if you knew who my company was and we are fairly, I would say, not very well-known at this stage.

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: Here’s the Chinese government, they’re inviting someone up here – they know that you’re working essentially for them, and you’re coming up here and asking them questions about their own performance. Isn’t that right?

ANDREA YU: I really don’t know if I can answer that question accurately, the way you’re wanting me to answer it. I know you’re looking for a certain answer here, but…

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: I’m not looking for a certain answer, I’m looking for your answer.

ANDREA YU: No, my answer is that I think it’s a very large system and I honestly don’t believe that people within the Chinese government knew beforehand who I am and who I’m working for.

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: But is it real journalism, what you’re doing?

ANDREA YU: Um, I’ve only just started. I’m very new to this, so I’m learning as I go.

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: So you’re not quite sure if it is?

ANDREA YU: Ah, no, I would call it – I wouldn’t call it hard news, I wouldn’t call it that, OK, I’m not going to be kidding myself there, but I’m very glad for the opportunity that I’ve had to come here and learn what I have.

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: You don’t feel though, potentially, that you’re being used by the Chinese government to show that there’s something going on that really isn’t happening?

ANDREA YU: It’s something that I think a lot of foreigners have to think about when they come here. It’s also very difficult because…

STEPHEN MCDONNELL: But what do you think about it though? Do you feel that you’re being used in that way?

This goes on for a little while, and her answers don’t get much better, nor do McDonnell’s questions get easier. What we have here, in Yu, is a mercenary who embarrassed the wrong profession. It’s one thing for a Chinese company to hire a “white face” to do quality control in a factory out in the boonies, where no one will ask questions. It’s another for the Chinese government to employ a “white face” to lob softball questions at powerful people who deserve to be held to account. Political reporters — particularly foreign correspondents — are too cynical, too bitter, and too intolerant of bullshit to give fraudsters like Yu a free pass, and if they can’t ask questions of Chinese politicians, they’ll find other outlets for their withering inquiries. So it is that Ms. Yu, who by all accounts seems like a decent individual, had to be dragged through the grinder.

You know what, though? With all the publicity that CAMG has gotten, googling “CAMG Media International” now actually turns up a result. Its main office is at Jianguomen Wai, just down the street from the Great Hall of the People. Here’s its website, and the About section:

CAMG is a media star emerging out of Oceania, implementing media and cultural projects covering the entire Asia -Pacific region.

CAMG’s main area of development is the integration of media resources in Asia and Oceania, producing high-quality content for audiences of different countries in line with the local audience listening habits and tastes

Since their establishment in Melbourne, Australia on September 12, 2009, CAMG Media Group has been committed to building a cross-cultural bridge between nations and encouraging international trade. CAMG’s mission with their partners is to develop effective ways to facilitate cross-cultural exchange and to build well-known media brands.

After more than 2 years of development, CAMG Pty., Ltd. has built a strong international team of media professionals, using the most advanced and up to date hardware and facilities. Currently, the company has subsidiaries registered in New Zealand, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Nepal, as well as in a number of other countries.

These last two years of excellent growth are only just the beginning. CAMG is continuing to grow and step-by-step is building a world-class media brand.

UPDATE, 11/15, 12:26 am: Just saw that Eric Fish of Sinostand wrote about this too. I offer it here, including the following excerpt, as a counterweight to my sentiments.

Some of my experiences and those of several acquaintances at Chinese companies (not just media) were just like this. It’s not as if you’re told up front what your real job and unethical responsibilities will be. It comes in ways that aren’t immediately obvious and in steps so small that it’s easy to descend into something you’d never intended. What seem like opportunities (ie – covering the biggest political event in China) are in fact situations where you’re being exploited. By the time you look around and realize what you’re doing, you’re in too deep and it’s hard to climb back out without seriously disrupting your life.

Back in September, Alicia snapped a picture of about 100 Audis, black, parked next to Tiananmen Square, a reminder to everyone that Ferrari may be the new kid on the block, but the Audi remains king. It remains so.

The pictures above were taken outside the Great Hall of the People by China correspondents Tom Lasseter and Mark McKinnon on this, the final day of the 18th National Congress. Full-size pics after the jump, assuming you have your VPN on.

And did you know that albinism is an inherited condition that affects one out of every 20,000 people in the United States and Europe?

Fleet of black Audis spotted from window in Great Hall of the People twitter.com/TomLasseter/st…

— Tom Lasseter (@TomLasseter) November 14, 2012

Fleet of Audis (and one white Lexus) parked outside Great Hall of the People: twitpic.com/bd15cc

— Mark MacKinnon/马凯 (@markmackinnon) November 14, 2012

As China promotes up-and-comers to its approximately 350-member CPC Central Committee, culminating in an announcement (we hope) of the all-powerful nine-member Central Politburo Standing Committee, the place you should be keeping an eye on today is @XHNews, Xinhua’s official Twitter account. Not only will it probably break the news of the new Standing Committee — yes, Traditional Media, eat your hearts out: Xinhua is breaking news via Twitter now — but it’s also currently upchucking, like a cat full of fur, golden chunks of unintentional comedy.

Above, the man of animal magnetism. Xinhua, in master understatement, tells us:

Hu Jintao cast a vote in election for CPC Central Committee, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

What are some things Hu Jintao is thinking? Skyfall. Winslow Homer. Jill Kelley. A tear for the ghetto. Whether life has meaning in the shadow of our imminent demise. Why the Kansas City Chiefs are so bad. Please add your contribution in the comments.

[Twitter]

“Look, a female!” exclaims People’s Daily.

We’ve been waiting for this. In March, we saw the Ouroboros of Chinese media, when journalists took pictures of other journalists in a slideshow for China Daily. But this year? The humor hasn’t been handed to us on a platter, so we’ve had to dig a little.

No longer. Here’s People’s Daily’s “Beautiful Scenery” slideshow.

Granted, the error is probably in translation, and it’s meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Mistranslations are still funny though.

The Australian reporter included in the slideshow is the same one we wrote about in our last post. She’s now a Chinese Internet sensation who you’ll probably hear from again.

Some people do not like it:

Re that @kemc piece: of many demeaning People’s Daily photo galleries, I think “beautiful scenery” may be the worst. Title says it all.

— tania branigan (@taniabranigan) November 13, 2012

Is People’s Daily the most unreflectively sexist major media organization in the world? Check out this slideshow: english.peopledaily.com.cn/90785/8011490.…

— Ian Johnson (@iandenisjohnson) November 13, 2012

P.S. People’s Daily, from March.

Will anyone ask a question better than this 11-year-old's at the #18PC ? http://t.co/iT3GEobY

— Beijing Cream (@beijingcream) November 11, 2012

Turns out, nope — at least in terms of content. But on Saturday afternoon, one reporter attracted an equal amount of attention at an 18th Party Congress press conference. She stood up, took the mic, and asked a nearly minute-long question in Mandarin, and then wryly said, “I’ll translate for myself.” A few chuckles came out of the erstwhile catatonic crowd.

“I’m from Global CAMG Media International based in Australia,” she said. “The Australian government has recently released an important white paper on Australia’s relations with Asia in the 21st century. It discusses Australia’s relations with Asia over the next 25 years, particularly Australia’s relations with China. Mr. Zhang, please tell us what policies and plans the Chinese government will be implementing in cooperation with Australia. Xiexie, thank you.”

And then, National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zhang Ping, a native of central Anhui province, said in an Andre the Giant accent: “You speak very good Chinese.” Chuckle. “I understood everything.” (Or as the translator put it: “I can get your point properly.”)

UPDATE, 11:03 pm: The reporter’s name is Andrea Yu, and she was interviewed by WSJ’s China Real Time Report:

Ms. Yu told China Real Time, who says she has been called upon four times so far. She says her secret to being tapped is sitting in the same spot at every official meeting. She also credits her ability to make across-the-room eye-contact with moderators.

But there’s one more reason, she says: “They know my questions are safe.” Ms. Yu said her questions are pre-written by her Chinese colleagues and that she is not allowed to ask her own questions. “I’m representing a Chinese-Australian company, so I need to ask questions they want me to ask,” she said, adding: “Believe me, I would have other questions to ask if I could.”

With all due acknowledgements that this reporter’s Chinese is actually pretty good, we’d like to say there is, of course, a Laowai Comic for what happened, and that Laowai Comic is this:

Go visit his site already.

This interview never gets off on the right foot: the lag between the anchor and the reporter is a full five seconds, causing the anchor to make a “Why haven’t you acknowledged my greeting?” face.

Reporter Feng Yuxian, live from Dubai (that’s the Dubai Tower Burj Al-Arab Hotel in the background), then delivers her correspondence in fits and starts, stumbling over several lines. We feel bad for her because she’s getting no help from the anchor due to the lag, but then again, she’s in Dubai on the company’s dime. Specifically: she’s reporting on how Middle Eastern media is reporting on China’s 18th National Congress; yet again, we’re given reason to wonder how Chinese media has the money to send junior reporters around the world to report on subjects that are way over their head.

Just after the 2:40 mark, Feng can’t do it anymore. She looks away in disgust, and when she tries to pick up where she left off, her brain says: No. An exasperated sigh or two later, and we’re all just begging for the anchor to euthanize the segment.

He does not. Instead, he asks about how the Middle East views China’s rapid economic development as it pertains to future politics and policies. (The proper analogy here is a hitting coach throwing 92-mile-per-hour cut fastballs to his batter during a home run derby.)

“Okay, anchor,” Feng says. “Arabic media in…” She stops. Her head explodes.

The anchor says due to technical difficulties, they may have to cut the conversation short.

UPDATE, 11/14, 10:44 pm: Via Ministry of Tofu:

But later, it is found that in The National, the Middle Eastern newspaper she held, what is below the fold is the headline “China warned of corruption peril.” Chinese netizens, with much schadenfreude, joked that she must have been too inexperienced at lying in the face of the camera to go on.

RFH has a theory that the people who organize the National Congress intentionally make it as boring as possible to test the outer limits of what “watchdog” journalists are willing to tolerate before they throw up their hands, a la:

Chinese media, however, is spinning an alternate narrative: Hu Jintao is a charisma monster whose mere presence keeps people on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to the TV, ears pressed against transistor radios. China Daily has proof.

But let’s take a closer look, shall we? Which of China’s provinces watched Hu Jintao’s speech yesterday with more rapt attention?

Not even alt-tabbing over to porn.

They would watch even if a fire burnt down half the city.

Rapt, and he doesn't even have a TV.

Rapt, and he doesn't even remember his own name.

So much more exciting than English Premier League! OK, more exciting than Chinese Super League, anyway.

Look at how dreamy our leader is.

Someone is thinking of the children. That someone is Hu Jintao.

Smiles come naturally when Hu Jintao is on the tele.

Hu Jintao is too charismatic for one TV.

Children look upon their hero and role model, Hu Jintao.

The most excited of China's ethnic minorities.

But the winner, by a veritable landslide…

Thralled.

(H/T Susan Jakes)

Whatever your feelings about American politics, it’s hard to argue that Barack Obama doesn’t shine on the big stage with the lone spotlight. The man knows how to deliver a message, and it’s liable to be heard as clearly halfway around the world as by those closest to him.

According to Tea Leaf Nation:

In his acceptance speech in the early morning of November 7, re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama seemed to be talking to the world when he said: “We can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.”

If the President was attempting to project his words to “distant nations,” he succeeded. People in China, at least, were listening. @风青杨V, a commentator and CEO of an Internet company from the Chinese city of Wuhan, posted an image linking to the quote in English and Chinese on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter:

The picture is above. @风青杨V’s post lived a short and glorious life before getting the censor’s knife.

Of course, netizens being who they are, have figured out a workaround:

Prominent commenter and venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee (@李开复), perhaps mindful of censors, helped popularize the video when he retweeted it, but simply appended, “Good material for English-language study.”

…One commenter echoed Kai-Fu Lee’s cryptic endorsement, writing, “I don’t know why, but I really like Obama. Hehe, this really is good material for English-language study.”

It should be noted that some Chinese people did cast ballots on election day — albeit mock ballots, at an event sponsored by the US embassy. Reports Wall Street Journal:

Of the 100 or so Chinese nationals present, many took turns in a mock voting booth. They walked behind a curtain, filled out a facsimiles of U.S. ballots – the one I saw was from California—and deposited them in voting box. The embassy staff offered helpful advice, such as folding the paper ballot so no one could see the voters’ choice.

Afterwards, the new Chinese voters invariably stopped, smiled and posed for photos in front of the voting area.

…But the voting booth was the hit of the morning. “America should be very happy,” said Li Yongping, a book editor from Hunan province. “It’s free to vote. That’s the best.”

Meanwhile, the 18th National Congress continues, and on Sina Weibo… a lot of politicians are blocked. Via Blocked on Weibo:

Here’s Obama’s full victory speech:

As we prepare to begin the second day of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, here’s a roundup of some pictures from Day 1 and prior.

Our coverage so far: Clinging to life; Twitter accounts attacked.

More via China Digital Times, MSNBC and Sina.

Via Tom Lasseter of McClatchy