An anniversary and a brief hiatus – returning June 3.

I’m about to begin a rather intensive couple weeks of travel, reporting, and writing. And on top of that, roughly half that time will be spent in a location where my connectivity is going to be very limited (and possibly non-existent – don’t know yet). So,with that in  mind, Shanghai Scrap will be offline until the middle of the first week of June. Please note that I’ll be slow in answering emails during this period, especially if they’ve been sent through the blog contact form. But I will get to them.

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But before I sign off! … yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of this humble blog (celebrations were muted). Sincere thanks to everyone who reads, comments, and emails. And special thanks to the blogs that continue to link to my posts – in particular Danwei, James Fallows, and Shanghaiist. The readership spikes that come off those links are undeniable; more important, each of those spikes is “sticky,” bringing new readers who continue reading. Indeed, over the last year, my readership has grown considerably – largely due to those links. So thanks, folks, for sending your audiences my way.

Finally, this post is the 527th in the brief history of Shanghai Scrap. Compared to some blogs, that’s nothing. But if, two years ago, you’d told me that I’d somehow find the time to post 527 times in 24 months – well, I probably wouldn’t have started a blog. Anyway, for those who care … the top five posts from the last year:

  1. Giant UFO Over Shanghai [To this day, the #1 result for “UFO Shanghai” google searches. Shocking, really, how many people are still looking.]
  2. Scrap Trader Kidnapped, Held for Ransom [The post that launched a thousand radio interviews (well, a dozen). One of my personal favorites.]
  3. The US Expo 2010 Pavilion Totters [#1 comment generator of the year. Resulted in more phone calls and emails than any other post. Some not so nice.]
  4. Why China’s Block of the New York Times Doesn’t Matter (as much as it once did) [#1 post for generating psychotic emails. Seriously.]
  5. Big Dumb Recycling Machine [Twice per week, at least, I receive emails and comments from people wanting to purchase one of these from me. And at least 25% of the prospective buyers are Pakistani. For more on my commercially-minded Pakistani readership, see here.]

Lesson learned? UFOs are more popular than recycling machines, Expo 2010 pavilions, the New York Times, and kidnapped scrap traders. Shouldn’t surprise anyone, I guess. But nice to have everything placed in proper persepctive. Anyway, I’ll be back in early June. I may twitter a bit while out, but 140 characters will be the absolute limit. If you need a China blog fix before then, check out the fine forums listed in the blogroll to the right.