Small micro blog becomes Web sensation

A micro blog, which was considered by netizens the most boring blog in China, suddenly found itself on the spotlight after Web celebrities with a large number of followers talked about it.

The micro blog, named Ancient City Bell Tower and created in October 2011, plays a bell sound to tell the time every two hours.

A blogger accidentally discovered it on Jan 8 and wrote about it, which led to it being discovered by the online celebrities.

After that, the micro blog attracted great attention. Its number of followers rose to more than 612,000 by Feb 6.

Dang Jian, 31, a software engineer working in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, co-established the micro blog with a colleague. They use the micro blog to test new software.

“We wrote one line of timekeeping procedure codes every day and added more than 30,000 lines to test new technologies,” Dang said.

Dang and his partner never thought the micro blog could become so famous.

The Bell Tower, built in 1384, is one of the landmarks of Xi’an. The city has more than 2,000 years of history and the ancient building’s management office welcomes the micro blog, which publicized the building.

“It’s not an official micro blog,” Huo Xuejin, director of the management office, told China Daily.

“But we are glad to see that the Bell Tower got some attention through the micro blog. We also hope the micro blog owners do not use the name of the Bell Tower for commercial purposes,” Huo added.

Dang said that some companies wanted to establish partnerships with the micro blog, but that he and his partner will not use it to make money.

malie@chinadaily.com.cn