Google is getting into the year-end spirit with its annual rankings of the “most searched,” “fastest rising,” and other “hot” terms for 2008. For China, as elsewhere, the general list of most-searched words and phrases, in terms of absolute numbers, is fairly predictable. China’s is primarily made up of domestic Web portals, video-sharing sites, e-commerce and file sharing sites.

    More interesting, to us at least, are the ancillary lists (in Chinese here) that highlight rising trends and hot searches. Some of these are unsurprising as well (Sichuan earthquake, Beijing Olympics, milk powder), but others shed some light into the issues that have resonated with China’s Google users (who, overall, tend to be more educated, wealthier and urban than those who use Google’s more popular homegrown rival, Baidu). So here, with links and explanations as needed, are a selection of Google China’s top-tens.

    Fastest rising search terms in mainland China

    1. Edison Chen: Hong Kong actor whose x-rated photos with various local starlets were leaked to the world and aroused huge interest in mainland China.

    2. Olympics opening ceremony: our highlights here.

    3. Sichuan earthquake: China’s worst natural disaster in three decades.

    4. List of substandard milk powders: People searched for this after learning that many brands of milk powder had been laced with melamine, a toxic industrial chemical.

    5. Sexy photo-gate: Broader term used to encompass the Edison Chen scandal noted in the top spot above.

    6. Painted Skin: Hit film about a flesh-eating vampire woman, based on a traditional Chinese story.

    7. “Naked agent f.b.i.”: Screen name of a Shanghai white collar worker who posted revealing photos of herself on her Myspace blog.

    8. National soccer team welcomes you: A spoof on the Olympic song “Beijing Welcomes You,” in honor of the much-maligned Chinese football team.

    9. Liu Xiang withdraws from competition: China’s star hurdler brought the nation to tears when he pulled out of the Olympics.

    10. Shenzhou 7: China’s first spacewalk mission.
　 
    Domestic events hotlist

    1. Sichuan earthquake

    2. Olympics opening ceremony

    3. List of substandard milk powders

    4. Tibet riots: The worst unrest in Tibet since 1989 drew international attention and a harsh response from the Chinese government.

    5. Hand foot and mouth disease: There was a worrying outbreak of this disease among Chinese children earlier this year

    6. Shenzhou 7

    7. 2008 Taiwan presidential election: This year’s hotly contested election returned the presidency to the Nationalist Party, setting the stage for closer relations with mainland China.

    8. PVC bag: We’re guessing this became a big search term after China started to ban many types of plastic bags in June.

    9. 2008 National Two Meetings: Refers to the annual meetings in October of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (CPC).

    10. Snow disaster: The worst snowstorms in half a century hit southern China last winter, trapping millions, ruining crops and disrupting business and transportation.

    International events hotlist

    1. Georgia

    2. American presidential election

    3. Financial crisis

    4. Darfur

    5. Myanmar tropical storm

    6. Zimbabwe

    7. Kosovo

    8. Thailand Situation

    9. Iceland bankruptcy

    10. Vietnam stock market

    Most searched “what is…?”

    1. What is melamine?

    2. What is human flesh search engine?

    3. What is subprime lending crisis?

    4. What is erp?

    5. What is cpi

    6. What is oem?

    7. What is sap?

    8. What is Shanzhai ji? (山寨 , knock-off cell phones)

    9. What is non-tradable shares?

    10. What is ppi?

    New vocabulary

    1. Shanzhai: Originally referred to the mountain strongholds of bandits. Now, the term refers to all manner of knock-off, substandard or improvised goods, such as these makeshift vehicles.

    2. : This is an ancient Chinese character, pronounced jiong, used to mean “light shining through a window” several thousand years ago (kind of what the character itself looks like), among other things. Recently it has found a new life among Chinese youth as an emoticon to express a bad mood, since it also looks like a face crying out in a pictographic version of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”

    3. Very yellow, very violent: The year’s first Internet catchphrase came from a CCTV interview with a 13-year-old girl, part of a program on the government’s new regulations on Internet censorship. Netizens who believed the girl had been coached by CCTV into making the statement lashed out against her, launching a human flesh search engine and numerous parodies.

    4. Psoas Muscle: Another musical spoof regarding the Chinese soccer, this one aimed at the women’s team. It comes from one theory about the poor showing of the Chinese team: that it was due to the players’ relatively weak lower back muscles.

    5. Three push-ups: Another Internet catchphrase, this one derived from an unconvincing alibi used in the death of a high school student.

    6. This character, pronounced mei, is actually a variant of the word for plum blossom. But it also happens to look like a double version of the character 呆 (dai), which means silly or stupid. Hence now means “very silly or very stupid.”

    7. Getting some soy sauce: Another catchphrase that originated with a man on the street’s don’t-bother-me response to an intrusive reporter.

    8. Pick-up artist subculture: Men who see themselves as modern-day Don Juans, seducing women who are often married, sometimes targeting them for their money.

    9. Phoenix man: Refers to a man who grew up poor and in the countryside, but thanks to their efforts and the support of others, is able to move to a big city and become successful. Phoenix men often hope to marry city girls but often encounter problems resulting from their different cultural backgrounds and habits.

    10. Don’t Be Too CNN: This phrase emerged as a viral response to foreign media coverage of the protests in Tibet, interpreted by many Chinese as biased and inaccurate. A variant of the existing phrase “don’t be too CCTV,” which meant something more along the lines of “don’t be so serious.”

    -Sky Canaves and Juliet Ye

    年底将至，谷歌(Google Inc.)发布了2008年度“搜索最多”、“上升最快”等热门搜索关键词排行榜。同其他地区一样，中国内地按绝对数量衡量的搜索最多关键词也基本都在意料之中。中国内地年度搜索最多的网站包括国内门户网站、视频分享、电子商务和文件共享类网站。

    至少在我们看来，更有意思的是显示上升趋势和热门搜索的排行榜。某些词榜上有名毫不奇怪，如四川地震、北京奥运会、不合格奶粉事件等；但另外一些热词则反映了引起中国谷歌用户共鸣的一些问题（整体来看，与中国本土竞争对手百度(Baidu)相比，谷歌的用户通常受教育程度更高、经济实力更强、多为城市人口）。下面选择列出谷歌中国内地热门搜索关键词部分排行榜前十名，并给出必要的链接和解释。

    中国内地年度上升最快关键词：

    1. 陈冠希：香港演员，他与当地多名女明星的不雅照片曝光，在中国内地引起轰动。

    2. 奥运会开幕式。

    3. 四川地震：中国三十年来最严重的自然灾害。

    4. 不合格奶粉名单：了解到多个品牌的奶粉掺加了有毒化工原料三聚氰胺的消息后，人们纷纷上网搜索这一名单。

    5. 艳照门：陈冠希不雅照丑闻的通称。

    6. 画皮：改编自中国传统名著的一部热播电影，讲述一个吃人女鬼的故事。

    7. 赤裸特工f.b.i.：一名上海女白领的 名；她在Myspace博客上发布了自己的多张裸照。

    8. 国足欢迎你：网友翻唱奥运歌曲《北京欢迎你》，讽刺备受谴责的中国国家足球队。

    9. 刘翔退赛：中国著名跨栏运动员刘翔退出奥运会比赛，让全国人深感惋惜。

    10. 神七：中国首次太空行走。
　 
    年度热点中国事件：

    1. 四川地震

    2. 奥运会开幕式

    3. 不合格奶粉名单

    4. 西藏暴乱：1989年以来西藏发生过的最严重的骚乱，引发国际社会关注和中国政府的粗暴回应。

    5. 手足口病：今年年初，中国内地爆发手足口病疫情，多名中国儿童感染。

    6. 神七

    7. 2008台湾大选；经过激烈竞争，国民党夺回总统宝座，为中国内地与台湾加强联系创造了条件。

    8. PVC袋：估计这个关键词是在6月份中国禁用多种塑料袋后流行起来的。

    9. 2008全国两会：指的是10月份召开的中国人民政治协商会议和全国人民代表大会

    10. 雪灾：去年冬天袭击中国南部的50年来最严重暴风雪灾害，造成几百万人受困，农作物受损，商业和运输也受到破坏。

    年度热点国际事件

    1. 格鲁吉亚

    2. 美国大选

    3. 金融危机

    4. 达尔富尔

    5. 缅甸热带风暴

    6. 津巴布韦

    7. 科索沃

    8. 泰国局势

    9. 冰岛破产

    10. 越南股市

    年度搜索最多的“是什么”

    1. 三聚氰胺是什么

    2. 人肉搜索是什么

    3. 次贷危机是什么

    4. erp是什么

    5. cpi是什么

    6. oem是什么

    7. sap是什么

    8. 山寨机是什么

    9. 大小非是什么

    10. ppi是什么

    年度新词汇：

    1. 山寨：原意是强盗占领的山头。现在这个词指代仿制品、不合格产品或简易制品，如改装汽车等。

    2.囧：古汉字，音jiong，几千年前指'光透过窗户'的意思（与该字形状类似）。近来这个字在中国年轻人中重新流行，被用作字符图释，表达一种坏心情，因为这个字看起来很像爱德华•蒙克(Edvard Munch)的名画《呐喊》中大喊的人的脸。

    3. 很黄很暴力：今年首个网络流行词；语出中国中央电视台(CCTV)在关于网络审查新规的节目中采访的一个13岁女孩。很多 民认为女孩所说的话是央视事先教导的，对她进行攻击、发起人肉搜索并模仿制作了很多恶稿版本。

    4. 叉腰肌：另一个关于中国足球的恶搞词汇，这次是针对女足的。据说中国女足在奥运会上表现不佳就是因为“叉腰肌”力量不足。

    5. 三个俯卧撑：网络流行语；语出某高中生死亡事件中的一个没有说服力的不在场证明。

    6. （呆呆）：音mei，古文同“梅”；这个字恰好由两个“呆”字组成，意思就是很傻很笨了。

    7. 打酱油：另一个网络流行语；记者在路上询问一名男子对某事件的看法，他拒绝回答，说自己是出来打酱油的。

    8. 泡良族：指的是自视为现代版唐璜的男人，他们通常将已婚妇女作为猎艳对象，有时是因为贪图对方钱财。

    9. 凤凰男：指家境贫困的农村男孩通过自身努力和他人帮助，进入大城市并获得成功。凤凰男多希望和城市女孩结婚，但常因两人文化背景和生活习惯不同而出现问题。

    10. 做人不能太CNN：很多中国人认为CNN等国外媒体对西藏暴乱的报导有失偏颇，才出现了这种说法。还有由此演变而来的“做人不能太CCTV”，意思大概是不要太一本正经。