'Red' Twitter: China's revolutionary take on microblogging

China may not be a fan of Twitter, but it certainly has embraced the model of the social networking site.

A local propaganda department in the Chinese city of Chongqing has created the "Red Microblog." It looks just like Twitter, only instead of encouraging people to write what's new, the site calls for "text messages praising the country or the city," the Telegraph reports.

Malcom Moore at the Telegraph writes:

Messages on the home page included: "Work hard, be honest and treat others well", "There is no sky larger than the hand, no road longer than the feet, no mountain higher than the people, no sea wider than the heart", and "Those who go with the flow are forever going up and down in the waves; only those who go against the wind fearing no hardship, can reach the other side fast."

The site is part of China's Propaganda chief Li Changchun's call for local government to embrace new media.

According to a quick test by WebsitePulse, Twitter is still blocked in China, but microblogging is alive and well in the country, with a number of mimic sites and 75 million microbloggers.