It appears I have no taste when it comes to these things, as none but one of my pics took home a trophy.

As for myself, I came in 2nd to Beijing Boyce in the Personal Blogs category. I’m tickled, really. I mean, the fact that 155 people went and clicked a little plus sign to indicate they like this blog is a really nice thing.

Chinalyst is even handing out cool little “Runner Up” trophies for all half dozen “First Losers”.

And though I truly appreciate everyone who went the extra mile and voted for me, I’m afraid I’m not going to accept it.

The truth is, I feel a bit wrong displaying an award I created.

So, I’m happy to give the [deep breath] 2007 China Blog Awards Runner Up For Best Personal English-Language China Blog to the runner up runner up, Mysterious And Misplaced Logic of a Maniac Gone Awry – a great blog that everyone should read (and at least 149 people do!).

Props to the following:

• Best China Business & Law Blog: China Law Blog (584 votes)
• Best General China Blog: Sinocidal (289 votes)
• Best China News Blog: The Opposite End of China (201 votes)
• Best Personal China Blog: Beijing Boyce (198 votes)
• Best Technology China Blog: Mobinode (108 votes)
• Best Travel China Blog: China Travel News (49 votes)

And lets not forget the Zui Hao Best Blog Post portion:

• Best Political Post: Ill-informed Chicago columnist scares the hell out of China
• Best Humour Post: Classics and a beer and the best cabbie ever
• Best Advice Post: How to Find (and watch) Stolen Media
• Best Language Post: Learn a Language by Taking Advantage of “Hidden Moments”
• Best Feel Good Post: First day at the Barbershop
• Best Rant: Why is the Confucius Institute Online Stealing Content?

Cheers to everyone who took the time and participated. And a big thanks to fiLi who made it all happen!

I have been meaning to run through my picks for a couple weeks now, but continually seem to get distracted. As I’m distracted by shiny objects, and it’s summer… it’s little wonder it’s taken until now.

So, here are they are…

The Humanaught’s Official China Blog Award Picks:

• Business-Law Blog

  China Law Blog: I’m with the masses on this one. I wish I could say it’s because I’ve carefully reviewed everyone in this category, but the truth is, I rarely -if ever- read any of the blogs in this group aside from CLB. Despite being in China, involved with business and, with a mouth like mine, likely to need legal help… this category generally bores the bits off me – CLB is the exception though. Few people can write a dry topic like Business-Law with wit and humour – Dan just happens to be one of them. [vote]

• General Blog

  Yellow Wings: This has got to be the toughest category for me to choose from. There are a lot of great blogs in it. Picking Yellow Wings over its parent blog, Sinocidal, was a tough call, as “Chou Chou” writes at both and Sinocidal rocks as well. However, for pure enjoyment of reading, I can’t get enough. Few things make me laugh Smarties out my nose the way he does. [vote]

  NOTE: Technically my favourite blog in this category is, of course, the Lost Laowai blog… but that’d just be shameless promotion (COUvoteforLLWGH).

• News Blog

  Imagethief: Another category with a lot of amazing blogs, however, Will’s blog gets my vote. Though perhaps not as “newsy” as Danwei or Shanghaiist, I don’t really feel those two fit the bill as “blogs” really. What I love about Imagethief is that Will consistently writes posts that cut right to the core of things, all in his unique and humorous voice. [vote]

• Personal Blog

  The 88s: Ah, my category. Currently I’m 5 votes away from taking this one (hint hint), but really, that’s a bit of a disservice to the other blogs in this category – many, if not most, of which are better than mine. Though I’ve not been able to read The 88s for a while now (his blog host, blogsome, is blocked in China and I’m too lazy to proxy out), the blog contains some of the best writing I’ve read – China related or not. Whether sharing his Chinese inlaws’ visit to the US or talking about what “new China” really means, I’m always blown away. [vote]

• Tech Blog

  PandaPassport: This is another category that has a lot of blogs I don’t read very often. I think I just get sick of all the “hype” involved in ChinaTechSpeak blogs (I’m running out and registering that domain right now). However, Rick’s blog is always light-hearted, never takes itself too seriously and he usually has tech tips I can actually bite into (such as where to find the best stolen media ). It’s little wonder CNET recently chose him to be the new host of the Little Red Blog. Disclosure: Rick’s a good friend of mine, and even if he wrote total crap (which he doesn’t), I’d chose him over those other guys. [vote]

• Travel Blog

  Weird Meat: As the only blog in this category that I’ve read, I guess it would get my vote regardless, but this blog is just such an amusing concept for a travel blog. You can’t live in China for any length of time and not eat weird shit, but to my knowledge this is the first blog that makes it a sport. [vote]

Well folks, there they are – my picks for the 2007 China Blog Awards. What are yours?

NOTE: Also, there’s still time to submit what you feel are the best blog posts you’ve read in the English-language China blogosphere. Just go over to the Zui Hao Report and post them for all to vote on. If you’re post’s been nominated, be sure to let your readers know to vote for it as well.

I’m currently being beat (in no small amount) by Shopgirl, so please:

Go vote for me

Don’t let me live in that shame.

You can also vote for Lost Laowai while you’re there.

Additionally, if you have a blog and you want to display a graphic begging for votes (as I am), I’ve created an image you can use – and it even comes in four fruity flavours.

Just right-click and save the file. Please don’t link to the files, but rather save it to your own site. The images are 200×240, feel free to resize it as needed.

Best of luck to all in the runnings!

fiLi, as some may know, is the brains behind the Chinalyst, a community/aggregator for English-language China blogs. It seems that his site is therefore the perfect venue to get these awards off the ground.

There have been attempts in the past for a blog awards focused completely on China, but for whatever reason, they seem to have fizzled.

For my part in this, I’ve designed the award itself (see the picture above), and my site, the Hao Hao Report, will be hosting the China Blog Awards 2007 – Best Story segment (dubbed the Zui Hao Report).

The China Blog Awards will solely use visitor voting to determine who the winners (in each of the respective categories) are. No panel of “we know best” judges, no “so hot on Technorati” rankings… just pure, old-fashion democracy (note: those from the State of Florida will have to submit to an IQ test before being allowed to vote).

China Blog Awards 2007 Schedule

The China Blog Awards will work according to the following schedule :

• Till 30/06/2007 – China blogs that haven’t registered to Chinalyst can still be added till the end of the month to allow a fair start for all. Existing Chinalyst blogs may change their categorization, description, tags etc. to help promote their blogs.
• From 01/07/2007 till 31/07/2007 – Voting will open for all. Blogs may still register during this process.
• 08/2007 – Best China Blogs announced.

Voting
Voting will open on July 1st and will appear on all blogs on Chinalyst. You’re invited to take a look at all the blogs registered at Chinalyst sorted by categories. You can also access blogs through the posts view and clicking on “source” for any of the posts.

Largely, the Zui Hao Report will be following the same schedule, with one exception – nominations are open now! Simply visit the site and start submitting China-related stories you think are fan-frigin-tastic. Check out the complete description of the China Blog Awards 2007 – Best Story competition.

If you’ve got a blog that is related to China, be sure to get over to the Chinalyst and get it registered in their system so people can vote on it. For members of The Hao Hao Report, you’ll only need to re-register at the Zui Hao Report if you registered recently. Otherwise, your account was copied over. Voting is open to all, but to nominate stories, you’ll have to register (for free, of course).

One final thing, this is all for fun! We’re not awarding any prizes or money, but rather simply providing a forum for us to all reflect on the best of our blogosphere. Of course, should any one wish to sponsor a prize, we’d be more than happy to consider it.

Good luck everyone!