China: Bloggers bust another really big lie · Global Voices
John Kennedy

One of the less glamorous side-effects of censorship, the impact the 17th Communist Party National Congress had on Chinese media made a faked photograph of a rare tiger the top story throughout the Chinese blogsphere for the entire past month. The whole affair ended this weekend when an obscure blogger in Sichuan province found that the tiger in question was not rare at all but actually came from a poster, copies of which were snatched up all across the country and are now on sale for jacked-up prices online [zh].
And yet, the discovery of the poster made this just the latest [zh] scandal this year to bring bloggers recognition as a fact-finding force officials across the country could easily benefit from [zh].
Meanwhile, part one of China's decade-long moon plan the lunar probe Chang'e I was sent up into space late last month, inspiring bloggers to post pictures of water bottle replicas, chart the probe's movements down to the second, and even jump the gun on images Chang'e isn't expected to send back until the recently-revised date of November 26.
On November 11, overseas Chinese websites began posting a rumor [zh] that something had gone wrong with the probe, citing moves taken by top aerospace officials to investigate the possibility Chang'e 1 having been given a scrap oil drum smuggled in from the US, among others. On November 12, an official report was released announcing a 45-minute down in communication with the probe planned for the same day. On Nov. 18, a short communique suddenly appeared announcing the probe to be in perfect condition and working normally; the hundreds of readers who left comments on it generally appeared suspicious.
So in lack of any solid evidence that Chang'e has flown off somewhere, just the precedent from last year in which authorities covered up a similarly high-profile project failure for over a month, do the South China Tiger (华南虎/周老虎) truth-diggers have a new task on hand? Less enthusiastic [zh] and plausible [zh] attempts have been made to suggest that the probe is par for the orbit, but the question [zh] remains open; Cat898 blogger Extraterrestrial Senior Citizen mulls it over in a Nov. 18 post, ‘from the climate at Chang'e 1 to that on the internet‘:
中国人习惯于用科学来说明政治,用艺术来阐述政治,嫦娥一号,在十七大之后发射升天,被许多人看做是政治政治伟大,盛世来临的象征,所以是不能冒泡泡的.但科学来不得一点儿虚假,就如同眼睛里容不得丁点儿沙子一样.
但从开始,科学家们就给了我们许多的希望,比如什么时候发躲,什么时候变轨,什么时候绕月,把原本一次十分严肃的科学探索,硬要变成了许多人关注的全民精神教育活动.除了给自已的人民一些什么喑示,对于这次科学探索,好象没有多大意义.
科学家们说,嫦娥一号绕月成功之后,在11月18号左右,能传回月球的写真照片, 还有媒体用略带遗憾的口味告诉咱老百姓，照片是黑白的。所以全体民众是伸长了脖子等在11月18号看嫦娥的黑白美人照。可还没有等到18号，也只是在14 号到15号左右，就有消息传出，就咱们家嫦娥出事儿，可能跑了。相信当时许多看到这测消息的网友，与笔者有样，怀疑传播这测消息的人，是别有用心的。但到 11月17日终于国家有关专家们坐不住了，站出来“避谣”，说我们的嫦娥一号一切正常，偶而与地面失去联系，也科学家们掌控之中。并且特别是指出了凯迪网站这传言的源头。但到11月18日时，科学家们终于肯说了点实话。说嫦娥一号要等到本月26日，才能传回嫦娥的美人照。并并且对网友质疑“体检”时间为何会持续十余天之说，朱毅麟专家说：“即使一颗绕地的卫星，设备检测也要花上一个星期，对于绕月的卫星，多花几天时间不足为奇，也是为了卫星更安全、更保险。”
这话是在网友质疑之后说的，并且嫦娥一号真的没有能于18日发回嫦娥的美人照片。所以网友们传的至少不全部是谣言。到目前为止的嫦娥事件说明，持怀疑态度的网友们，取得小胜利。这个小胜利让网络，有点象整风之前的延安。（可能是笔者想远了）领袖们好不容易有空，到学校去讲点话什么的，但老是有人质疑，（领袖那点三国、水浒里的帝王将相，那能与学者专家什么斯基，什么斯基们比？）最后搞得领袖们，领导们都不敢往学校跑。后来就整治了一下。
当网络压倒喉舌们，当网友让许多代言人都没法讲话时，笔者开始但心，“嫦娥事件”，“华南虎”之后，可有得我们走着瞧了。
And using politics to interpret reality is Cat898 blogger Wild Mountain Flower with a post from later the same day, ‘Questioning Chang'e 1 is the spine of the country and the people‘:
我是中华人民共和国公民，我有权对政府干的事说三道四（虽然不那么管用）。我是国家的主人翁，主人有权对公仆们指手画脚（在网上）。说嫦娥一号这样那样的问题，正是对国家关心的态度。试问一下，嫦娥上天这么久了，网友们一直不当回事，这才是最可怕的事。国不知有民，民也不知有国呀。当年的清兵和英军打仗，老百姓在一边看热闹。 假若嫦娥真的出问题，我们不关心，不问，“那是他们的事，爱咋地咋地”。麻木不忍，把自己排除在公民之外，不关心国家大事， 试想，这样的国家还有什么希望？
回想当年的大跃进，瞎指挥，反对的人少吗？彭大将军更是直接上书毛泽东。
不准人对政府干的事直疑，一有反对意见就扣帽子，打成反革命。这样的现像一去不复返了。奴才们三呼万岁的时代结束了。
我不反对我国发展空间技术，相反，我极力支持。我只是问一声，什么时间让我看一下照片？ 嫦娥真的有事也别瞒着，苏美等国不是失败多次才取行功的吗？何况他们还死了好多人。
取于说真话，取于怀疑，这才是中国的脊梁，民族的脊梁。 那些万岁不离口的奴才们是不会理解的。
Thinking back to my youth and the Great Leap Forward, and the confused instructions, did many people object then? Marshall Peng‘s closest superior was Mao Zedong.
No one was allowed to call the government on the things it did; the slightest opposition and you got a label: anti-revolutionary. The days of flunkies cheering are gone.
So. I'm not opposed to our national scientific development; on the contrary, I super-support it. I just want to ask a question: when do we get to see the photos? If Chang'e really is in trouble, don't cover it up; didn't the USSR and USA and others fail multiple times in their tries? Never mind how many of their people died.
To make a habit of speaking the truth, of doubting, this is what will be China's backbone, the backbone of the nation; those flunkies who can't get “long live!” out of their mouths wouldn't understand this.