Fang, a great admirer of the lifestyle created by blogging, believes the essence of blogging is that every blog is a person’s online home, and a visual living environment takes shape out of millions of blogs, each maintaining its own characteristics. Chatting online with fans in November 2005, Fang said people have overstated the infiltration of unsavory material on blogs as opposed to portals or BBS (bulletin board system).

“In a bad mood, you might shout bad words in public, but at home you are always more self-conscious of your manners,” reasoned Fang, alluding again to blogs being virtual homes. He does agree that things like pornography, defamatory material and intellectual property theft on blogs should be expurgated by blogging companies themselves, which would see the development of blogging as being helpful to nurturing a healthy Internet environment.

Fang said the achievements of Bokee only mark the beginning of his adventure with blogging. Refusing to answer where Bokee has started to make a net profit, he asserted that blogging represents a revolutionary commercial model as much as a new lifestyle.

In February, Bokee welcomed its 10 millionth subscriber. According to a report by the Internet Society of China released the same month, over half of the surveyed Internet users chose Bokee as their most-visited blogging website.

The explosive growth of blogs in China and huge potential of blogging have spurred lucrative business opportunities. Fang’s Bokee raised $10 million from four multinational venture capital firms in August 2005, paving the way for its prospective initial public offering on Nasdaq. The investment has been the largest venture capital injection in a Chinese second-generation website.

“We are now bracing ourselves for a new and larger round of capital injection this year,” Fang said. “Our goal is not only to remain the No.1 blogging website in China, but also to become the largest one in the world.”

China Blog Facts

62.2% of Internet users, or 69 million, are blog writers or readers.

Of all registered bloggers,

48% visit blogs four times or more a week;

50% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher;

35% add new content at least once a week.

Source: China Web 2.0 Current Situation and Development Trends Survey Report by the Internet Society of China