Summary
I am one of China's Generation Y. I had a joyful childhood, heavy-burdened school life and physical comfort when I grew up. I cannot clearly recall what China was like when I was little, but I clearly remember the doubts that China left in the little girl growing up. For instance, I wondered why news on TV always displayed a happy China while I could see that people around me were suffering. Why, when people complained about certain things on the dinner table, were they always told: “Be cautious.” I wasn't brave enough to ask anyone to satisfy my curiosity at that time because I was one of the “outstanding model students” at school. Being a model student, you were not expected to ask questions irrelevant to your study.
In 2000, I stood on “Western” land for the first time in my life. I went to England for a higher degree. As a spoiled post-80s young person who had rarely done any housework at home, I had to learn everything from changing quilt-covers to feeding myself. I felt lonely in a foreign land and the Internet proved to be my best friend; from talking to people back home to doing research for my essays, I wouldn't have been able to live without the Internet. What I experienced during my stay in the UK contradicted most of my previous understandings of the West, and my Internet searches provided me with answers to my earlier doubts.
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- Cyber-Nationalism in ChinaChallenging Western media portrayals of internet censorship in China, pp. x - xiiPublisher: The University of Adelaide PressPrint publication year: 2012