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

    年底將至，谷歌(Google Inc.)發布了2008年度“搜索最多”、“上升最快”等熱門搜索關鍵詞排行榜。同其他地區一樣，中國內地按絕對數量衡量的搜索最多關鍵詞也基本都在意料之中。中國內地年度搜索最多的網站包括國內門戶網站、視頻分享、電子商務和文件共享類網站。

    至少在我們看來，更有意思的是顯示上升趨勢和熱門搜索的排行榜。某些詞榜上有名毫不奇怪，如四川地震、北京奧運會、不合格奶粉事件等；但另外一些熱詞則反映了引起中國谷歌用戶共鳴的一些問題（整體來看，與中國本土競爭對手百度(Baidu)相比，谷歌的用戶通常受教育程度更高、經濟實力更強、多為城市人口）。下面選擇列出谷歌中國內地熱門搜索關鍵詞部分排行榜前十名，并給出必要的鏈接和解釋。

    中國內地年度上升最快關鍵詞：

    1. 陳冠希：香港演員，他與當地多名女明星的不雅照片曝光，在中國內地引起轟動。

    2. 奧運會開幕式。

    3. 四川地震：中國三十年來最嚴重的自然災害。

    4. 不合格奶粉名單：了解到多個品牌的奶粉摻加了有毒化工原料三聚氰胺的消息后，人們紛紛上網搜索這一名單。

    5. 艷照門：陳冠希不雅照丑聞的通稱。

    6. 畫皮：改編自中國傳統名著的一部熱播電影，講述一個吃人女鬼的故事。

    7. 赤裸特工f.b.i.：一名上海女白領的 名；她在Myspace博客上發布了自己的多張裸照。

    8. 國足歡迎你：網友翻唱奧運歌曲《北京歡迎你》，諷刺備受譴責的中國國家足球隊。

    9. 劉翔退賽：中國著名跨欄運動員劉翔退出奧運會比賽，讓全國人深感惋惜。

    10. 神七：中國首次太空行走。
　 
    年度熱點中國事件：

    1. 四川地震

    2. 奧運會開幕式

    3. 不合格奶粉名單

    4. 西藏暴亂：1989年以來西藏發生過的最嚴重的騷亂，引發國際社會關注和中國政府的粗暴回應。

    5. 手足口病：今年年初，中國內地爆發手足口病疫情，多名中國兒童感染。

    6. 神七

    7. 2008臺灣大選；經過激烈競爭，國民黨奪回總統寶座，為中國內地與臺灣加強聯系創造了條件。

    8. PVC袋：估計這個關鍵詞是在6月份中國禁用多種塑料袋后流行起來的。

    9. 2008全國兩會：指的是10月份召開的中國人民政治協商會議和全國人民代表大會

    10. 雪災：去年冬天襲擊中國南部的50年來最嚴重暴風雪災害，造成幾百萬人受困，農作物受損，商業和運輸也受到破壞。

    年度熱點國際事件

    1. 格魯吉亞

    2. 美國大選

    3. 金融危機

    4. 達爾富爾

    5. 緬甸熱帶風暴

    6. 津巴布韋

    7. 科索沃

    8. 泰國局勢

    9. 冰島破產

    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. 次貸危機是什么

    4. erp是什么

    5. cpi是什么

    6. oem是什么

    7. sap是什么

    8. 山寨機是什么

    9. 大小非是什么

    10. ppi是什么

    年度新詞匯：

    1. 山寨：原意是強盜占領的山頭。現在這個詞指代仿制品、不合格產品或簡易制品，如改裝汽車等。

    2.囧：古漢字，音jiong，幾千年前指'光透過窗戶'的意思（與該字形狀類似）。近來這個字在中國年輕人中重新流行，被用作字符圖釋，表達一種壞心情，因為這個字看起來很像愛德華•蒙克(Edvard Munch)的名畫《吶喊》中大喊的人的臉。

    3. 很黃很暴力：今年首個網絡流行詞；語出中國中央電視臺(CCTV)在關于網絡審查新規的節目中采訪的一個13歲女孩。很多 民認為女孩所說的話是央視事先教導的，對她進行攻擊、發起人肉搜索并模仿制作了很多惡稿版本。

    4. 叉腰肌：另一個關于中國足球的惡搞詞匯，這次是針對女足的。據說中國女足在奧運會上表現不佳就是因為“叉腰肌”力量不足。

    5. 三個俯臥撐：網絡流行語；語出某高中生死亡事件中的一個沒有說服力的不在場證明。

    6. （呆呆）：音mei，古文同“梅”；這個字恰好由兩個“呆”字組成，意思就是很傻很笨了。

    7. 打醬油：另一個網絡流行語；記者在路上詢問一名男子對某事件的看法，他拒絕回答，說自己是出來打醬油的。

    8. 泡良族：指的是自視為現代版唐璜的男人，他們通常將已婚婦女作為獵艷對象，有時是因為貪圖對方錢財。

    9. 鳳凰男：指家境貧困的農村男孩通過自身努力和他人幫助，進入大城市并獲得成功。鳳凰男多希望和城市女孩結婚，但常因兩人文化背景和生活習慣不同而出現問題。

    10. 做人不能太CNN：很多中國人認為CNN等國外媒體對西藏暴亂的報導有失偏頗，才出現了這種說法。還有由此演變而來的“做人不能太CCTV”，意思大概是不要太一本正經。