General
Q. Chinasmack? ChinaSmack? ChinaSMACK? China Smack?
A. chinaSMACK.
Q. Can you provide the original Chinese next to the English translations?
A. For many of our posts, you can view the original Chinese text simply by placing your mouse over the translated English text.
Q. How are your translated netizen comments and reactions selected?
A. We try to select comments that are popular, representative, or interesting. Some of the Chinese websites that we use as our sources may automatically show the most “popular” comments at the top (typically ranked by “upvotes” made by other visitors). We will usually translate these under the assumption that these are comments that are representative of or have at least resonated with many other Chinese netizens. Other Chinese websites do not do this, and we must select comments ourselves according to what we think is representative or interesting. Since we try to report on stories that are popular on the Chinese internet, there are usually thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of comments which makes it impossible to read and review every comment.
It is important to remember that it is impossible for our selected comments to represent all Chinese people and that the comments selected and translated will be affected by many factors including what comments are available at the time of selection and translation. What comments are available can be affected by many other factors, including moderation by the moderators of the Chinese websites or authorities. The comments we select and translate can offer you a glimpse and insight into what Chinese netizens may think or feel about certain news, information, trends, or issues but it is wise to remember that there are limitations.
Q. Can you publish my story of a bad experience or injustice in China?
A. Regularly, there have been individuals who have contacted us asking that we republish or share their personal story of an injustice or bad experience they have had in China. While we are sympathetic to what you have experienced, chinaSMACK does not publish such stories. Please see our About page for an understanding of what we report and how we do so.
Q. How can I join or guest post on chinaSMACK?
A. Please contact us. If you would like to submit something for Diaspora @ chinaSMACK, please read our submission instructions here. To submit something for the Advertising @ chinaMSACK section, please contact us with the contact form there.
Q. Can you help me translate something?
A. Translation services from Chinese to English and English to Chinese are available. Please email us for more information.
Q. How can I support or help chinaSMACK?
A. Subscribe to our RSS, subscribe to our email updates, follow us on Twitter, or Like us on Facebook! You can also visit our Support page for a longer list of things you can do to help us! Leaving us a comment or sharing us with your friends is something we really appreciate!
Q. Doesn’t the stuff you post make China and Chinese people/culture/society look bad?
A. It is important to remember that what we translate does not represent all of China or every Chinese person.
Q. 你为什么丢中国人的脸，把一些见不得人的事登给外国人看？你不觉得很没有面子吗？
A. 说实话，我懒得跟你解释。你不明白就算了。
Q. Is there an RSS feed for the original chinaSMACK section?
A. The main chinaSMACK RSS feed includes all updates from all sections of the chinaSMACK website. An RSS feed with updates from just the original chinaSMACK section is available here.
Q. Why is the website sometimes so slow? What are the unusual blank areas in your posts?
A. Certain parts of the website includes information from websites and services that may be blocked in China (or other countries) such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. As a result, any page of our website that includes information from these blocked websites may cause the page to load more slowly than normal. When we embed YouTube videos and YouTube is blocked in your country, you will only see an empty blank space. While we have designed the website to minimize this unfortunate effect upon your browsing experience, we thank you for your understanding that these things are beyond our control. You may want to consider purchasing a VPN or proxy service.
Comment Policy
Q. Why is my comment not appearing?
A. If this is your first time commenting on chinaSMACK, your comment is held in moderation. Please check your email, including your Spam folder. You should have received an email with a verification link. Once you click on the verification link, your comment will be approved and soon become publicly visible. This is only required once and your future comments will not need to be verified again before they are posted.
If you did not receive an email, please email us from the email address you used in your comment and include the name you used in your comment, the approximate time you submitted your comment, and approximately what you wrote in your comment. We will take a look at what happened and respond as soon as possible.
If this is not your first time commenting on chinaSMACK, you are using a different name and email address than previously approved or verified. Please use your original name and email address or you must be approved again. We do not guarantee that you will be approved and discourage individuals from using multiple aliases or identities.
If you are using the same name and email address you used previously, then you are being moderated.
Q. Why am I being moderated?
A. There may be a number of reasons including, but not limited to, the following:
- Spamming: Posting commercial or advertising messages.
- Flooding: Repeatedly posting the same or similar comment.
- Sock-puppetry: Commenting under multiple false identities.
- Impersonation: Commenting as someone you are not.
- Trolling: Repeatedly and consistently harassing other people.
- Long Arguments: Arguments and disagreements are okay, but if we feel an argument is repeating itself and has gone on for too long, we may moderate the participants.
- Stupidity: Unacceptably stupid comments may be moderated.
As is true on all websites, commenting is a privilege, not a right. We ask that commenters contribute constructively and positively to the discussion by posting additional information or insights related to the post’s subject. Please avoid going off-topic in addition to the violations listed above. Jokes and silly behavior are okay (even encouraged), but please avoid becoming abusive.
Those who have been moderated for violating our comment policy are typically taken off of the moderation list following a subsequent and satisfactory review, usually after a month. Please do not post appeals and complaints in the comments as they are unlikely to be answered. Furthermore, please remember that you being moderated does not mean others are not.
If you have any questions or feel you are being moderated in error, please email us.
Q. Why are racists and racist comments often allowed?
A. We do not moderate comments on the basis of racism alone. Racism, bigotry, and prejudice are a major part of the internet and human society in general. While many foreign websites prohibit and moderate comments for racism or hate speech, most major Chinese news portals and discussion forums do not. This combined with our conscious effort to provide an honest look into the Chinese-language internet means we often translate Chinese netizen comments and discussion that may include racist sentiments.
Just as we do not hide racist attitudes among certain Chinese netizens, we decided from the beginning we would not hide racist attitudes by individuals commenting on our website. This does not mean we endorse or promote such attitudes, it only means “Chinese people and foreigners are not so different after all“.
We believe we live in a time and increasingly globalized world where racism and bigotry cannot be fought by pretending it doesn’t remain and persist. We also believe those who want better have the responsibility to speak up and speak out.
We understand many individuals will be uncomfortable with this policy, but we do hope you will understand our reasons.
Q. Why is there so much profanity?
A. We also do not moderate comments on the basis of profanity alone. Again, we allow profanity in our comments for the same reason we translate the profanity used by Chinese netizen in discussions on the Chinese-language internet.
