Meetup of the China Web 2.0 Bigs (Part I)

Tweeters, bloggers, and Web 2.0-ers in the People’s Republic unite! David Feng’s unannounced disappearance from that Great Big Internet out there was not totally unexpected: beginning from last Thursday, David was meeting blogger after blogger. You got that right: Not a single day without a new blogger (almost) from Thursday through to Monday.

A very 2.0 weekend, then. Here’s an overview plus my two cents about the Chinese blogo/Twittersphere, and whom he met:

• Isaac Mao (@isaac): He’s not a pioneer in the Chinese blogosphere for nothing. Humorous, witty, smart and damn-sharp, I found that it was almost impossible not to befriend Isaac. Open, insightful and always one to hold his own unique viewpoint, the “Chairman Mao of the 21st Century” (to use a 2007 Chinese Blogger Conference slogan) weighs in on issues weighty and obscure, and enjoys a laugh, but is also ready to tackle weighty issues. If there’s a big blogger conference and the Chairman’s missing, the conference would be missing a huge chunk of “something”. Isaac is more than just Twitter feed and his site; the extra something (his humor) makes a face-to-face with Isaac all that more valuable.

• Kaiser Kuo (@kaiserkuo): His Twitter ID puts him as the “Guitar-playing, blog-writing, digital strategizin’ daddy in the ‘Jing”, but this brief intro merely scrapes the surface of the man. Kaiser’s wit, humor and insight made him very much on a league of his own. Niubility, Zhonglish and a host of new hybrid Chinglish was made in no time with Kaiser at the table.

• Shizhao (@shizhao): I knew the name “Shizhao” back in my hidden mission at the Wikipedia in 2004 and 2005. So when I blew the lid off the secret that most Wikipedia articles about Chinese freeways around Beijing were a David Feng thing, both Isaac and Shizhao were like — oh my God! At the dining table, I followed Shizhao almost immediately. (I admit I was tweeting in excess at the table.)

• Christine Lu (@christinelu): My, my, was it great to meet the living legend in real life. Christine’s tweeting was taken offline at the table, as the tweeting came out in real life (as in talking), and she was just as humorous offline as she was online. Christine was an incredible breath of fresh air. Insightful, witty and always in the know are just a few words that come to mind when someone mentions Christine Lu to me.

• Tangos Chan (@Tangos): Tangos is an old friend; we met for the first time at the December 2007 Mobile Monday (shortly before “blognation China” tanked). Humor and knowledge add well to what Tangos co-does (so to speak) with Luyi Chen — which is the China Web 2.0 Review. The site is so good that even our techblog86 checks in quite often, and the mutual linking is the icing on the cake.

Part II comes in a tad later. We just saved you from what must be miles of commentary. In the past few days, I’ve also been fortunate enough to meet @simpsonsparadox (our very own Meg), @fuzheado, @pdenlinger (we’ve met before), @awflasher, @winserzhao, @Chinkerfly, @herock, @DaDing, @frankyu and the rest of the gang.

By the way — if I didn’t mention you — I’m sorry! Please don’t take it personally! If David Feng is indication, you will be mentioned — sooner or later!

Elliott’s note: I’ll be posting separately on my impressions of these meetings as well. Apologize for the redundancy in advance.  But uber blogger David Feng beat me to break the story!