Chinese Wikipedia publishes 100,000th article

November 18, 2006

With the title "Pedder Street Clock Tower" the Chinese edition of Wikipedia has reached its 100,000th article. With this milestone reached the Chinese Wikipedia becomes the 12th largest Wikipedia currently developed, and the second largest Asian language Wikipedia just after its Japanese counterpart.

The Chinese Wikipedia was created in October of 2002 and currently supports about 120,000 users. New articles for this growing encyclopedia are being made at a rate of 200 per day.

The Chinese Wikipedia community has been organized and active even in the face of what could be seen as a challenging environment. The first Chinese Wikimedia Conference, for example, was held in Hong Kong in August 2006. Additionally, Wikimania 2007 will be held in Taipei, Taiwan.

The government of China, however, instituted a year-long ban on the Chinese and English versions of Wikipedia in October of 2005 out of concerns regarding various articles about Tibet, Taiwan, and other subjects. In October, 2006 Beijing unblocked the English version of Wikipedia, and in early November the Chinese version was unblocked as well. Then, on 15 November both versions were again blocked with no warning or explanation.

The aim of the various Wikipedia sites is to provide a high-quality information source in as many languages as possible.