Chinas heartthrob & most popular blogger challenges govt

But Hans most vexing challenge comes from a more formidable nemesis: The unseen censors who delete blog posts they deem objectionable and the publishing police who have held up the release of his new magazine,A Chorus of Solos,a provocative collection of essays and photographs. The government wants China to become a great cultural nation,but our leaders are so uncultured, he said. If things continue like this,China will only be known for tea and pandas.

Since he began blogging in 2006,Han has been delivering increasingly caustic attacks on Chinas leadership and the policies he contends are creating misery for those unlucky enough to lack a powerful government post. With more than 300 million hits to his blog,he may be the most popular living writer in the world.

Han has enjoyed widespread fame since he published his first novel at 19,but his popularity has ballooned in recent months through blog posts.

If Hans tongue is sharp,he is careful to deliver his barbs through sarcasm and humorous anecdotes that obliquely take on corruption,censorship and everyday injustice. In one recent post about redevelopment projects that often end in violence and forced evictions,he suggested that the government build public housing in the form of prisons. The benefits would be twofold,he explained: Tenants could make no claim on the apartments and those who make a fuss could simply be locked up in their homes.

Although his posts are sometimes harmonised,published by one of Chinas most popular web portals,has so far been allowed to continue. Ran Yunfei,a writer and blogger in Sichuan province,says that Han is partly insulated by his celebrity,but also by his avoidance of the most politically charged topics.

He uses humour and wit to laugh at the injustices he sees, said Ran,whose own blog is blocked in China. Perhaps the reason hes tolerated is because he does not name names directly and he doesnt go after the heart of the problem,which is Chinas one-party dictatorship.

Hans other trump card is his financial independence. With 14 books to his name and a successful career as a race car driver,he is not susceptible to pressures that constrain other critics,many of them academics or journalists whose jobs tend to evaporate when their public musings cross an invisible line.

But the government has lately found a way to pique Han by holding up the release of his magazine. Asked what he will do if his endeavor is thwarted,Han offers trademark sarcasm: Ill just become a better driver, he said.

His first novel,Triple Door,plumbed the adolescent angst of those withering under the pressures of family and school. With 2 million copies in print,it is the best-selling book of the last 20 years.

Han says he was given wide latitude by his parents. His father was the front-page editor of a local party newspaper and his mother worked for a social service bureau helping the needy. My mom gave me an appreciation for the underdog, he said.

Hans attention is largely drawn to societys deeper problems: a surge in nationalism; the lackluster quality of contemporary culture; and the albatross of sky-high real-estate prices that keep Chinas nascent middle-class in a constant state of anxiety.