By+staff+reporter+GONG+HAN

ON April 20， 1994， China accessed the Internet for the first time through a 64k international special line， the 77th country in the world to do so. This news was not a big deal at that time， as many people did not even know what the Internet was.

Now two decades have passed. As of December 2013， Chinas Internet community had reached 618 million people， with a penetration of 45.8 percent. Half a billion people used mobile phones to access the Internet. Chinese netizens now account for 73 percent of the urban population and 25 percent of the rural population， covering over 80 percent of young people.

Along with the rapid economic rise of the past 20 years， the Internet has changed several aspects of Chinese life – information， communication， socializing， commerce， entertainment and finance. It creates a vigorous e-commercial wave， opens up new channels to express public opinion， and even influences Chinas political ecology.

As Ma Yun， executive chairman of the Alibaba Group， said， the Internet is not only a technology or an industry， but also a value. It is open and transparent， and knows about sharing and responsibility.

To China， the Internet is not merely a technical revolution， but a profound social reform， propelling China towards greater vitality and openness.

Another Form of Openness

When China first got access to Internet in 1994， it was limited to a small circle of computer professionals.

In early March 1995， Zhu Ling， a female student at Tsinghua University， fell into a coma. Several of her classmates translated her condition into English and put it online， requesting medical expert consultation worldwide. With the help of online experts she was correctly diagnosed with thallium poisoning.

In autumn 1996， a huge advertising board was erected in Zhongguancun， a technology hub in Beijing. It said： “Distance to the information highway – 1，500 meters northwards.” The place was Chinas first Internet bar， with 50 computers， at a charge of RMB 30 per hour.

In 1997， China Internet Network Information Center （CNNIC） released Chinas first authoritative Internet statistical report. Among 620，000 Internet users nationwide， over one-third were in Beijing， and one-10th in Shanghai. Nearly 80 percent of them were young people aged between 21 and 35. In those days connections were slow and prices high. It took several minutes to download a picture， and average salaries were no more than RMB 1，000. Some surfers at the Internet bar spent RMB 2，000 in a single trip.

In 1998 Chinas online population reached 1.175 million， with increasingly curious young people entering the brave new world through this portal.

“In addition to opening up in econo- my， politics and culture， such as establishment of special economic zones and joining the WTO， access to the Internet is another form of opening-up，” said Hu Yanping， founder of the Data Center of China Internet （DCCI）.

Expressing Public Opinion

Fang Xingdong established www. blogchina.com， Chinas first blogging website， in August 2002. Because of its bold content， Ashes of Love by Mu Zimei drew so many readers that it crashed the server. From 2005 to 2009， Han Han，one of Chinas most popular bloggers， became an online celebrity， although years later he was caught ghostwriting. Han commented on hot social issues with a rebellious attitude， making his blog popular among fans and gaining more than 100 million hits.

The prevalence of blogs in China is a significant milestone for the Chinese Internet. By the end of June 2009， China had 181 million blog users of whom 113 million were active bloggers. Most users were young people， with an increasing proportion in the white-collar class.

In face of hot social issues， bloggers are passionate about expressing personal opinions online. According to Xie Wen， former president of Yahoo！ China， the biggest change from earlier systems is decentralization. Unlike topdown broadcasting， the exciting thing about social media is that everyone is a content producer and transmitter. This change has greatly broadened Chinese peoples means of expression. For the first time the public is able to comment and voice opinions about public events through the Internet. The year 2008 was called “Chinas first year of network consensus.” By discussing current events like the Wenchuan Earthquake and Beijing Olympics， Chinese netizens were able to participate in the moulding of public opinion. The network consensus developed into a field investigation in 2009 after the Yunnan “hide-andseek” incident. Invited by the Publicity Department of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee， netizens formed an investigation committee to conduct field surveys.

Microblogs made their spectacular world entrance in 2010. With the ability to broadcast instantly to large numbers of followers， microblogs have re-revolutionized the Internet.

According to The Report on Chinese Social Opinion and Crisis Management（2012）， from 2003 to 2012， Internet development not only changed technology and media platforms， but also unconsciously transformed peoples ways to participate in public affairs.

“The Internet has prompted the construction of a democratic legislative sys- tem. The once-silent public has gradually participated in the discussion of politics. The change embodies an enhancement of civic awareness and power， and more importantly， the publics responsibility to participate in public affairs，” said the report.

One positive result of this participation is that government sectors have

widened the publication of governmental information. By the end of 2013， there were 258，737 microblog accounts for government affairs on the four portals （sina.com， tencent.com， people.com and xinhuanet.com）， a growth of 46.42 percent over 2012. There were 75，505 microblog accounts of Party and government cadres， a growth of 19.22 percent over 2012. Moreover， the Internet has become a new bottom-up supervisory tool against corruption.

Rebuild Lifestyle

After being granted a 3G license in 2009， iPhone was released in Chinas mainland， and the year 2009 was “the first year of Chinas 3G mobile Internet.” Mobile Internet users are a major component of Chinese netizens.

According to the Mobile Internet White Paper released by the China Academy of Telecommunications Research， mobile Internet has become the fastest growing， most competitive and innovative field in the information industry. Aggressive enterprises are making great efforts to chisel out a niche in the mobile Internet.

The great success of Wechat allows Tencent to maintain its leading position in the age of the mobile Internet. At present， Wechat users exceed 400 million. Compared to computer Internet， mobile Internet has penetrated every corner of society and quietly changed peoples lifestyle. Mobile phone users are able to quickly and efficiently check news and weather， reserve restaurants and cabs， take photos and manage finances. As you enjoy the tremendous change brought by mobile Internet， you might realize that you must give more time to your cell phone， although you are free from a network cable.

Many Chinese travelers checking into foreign hotels ask for WIFI passwords. It seems that our attitude toward Internet has changed from ignorance to love to dependence.