I asked Promise if he used Facebook, which was officially blocked in China but reachable with some tinkering. “It’s too much of a hassle to get to it,” he said. Instead, he used Renren, a Chinese version, which, like other domestic sites, censored any sensitive political discussion. I asked what he knew about Facebook’s being blocked. “It has something to do with politics,” he said, and paused. “But the truth is I don’t really know.” This kind of remove among urbane Chinese students was familiar. They lived with unprecedented access to technology and information, but also with the Great
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