bill - 9:11 am on Dec 22, 2012 (gmt 0)

The Top 10 Chinese Searches on Baidu in 2012 (Hint: There's a Lot About Corruption) [ph.news.yahoo.com] Baidu loves lists as much as the next human, so the leading Chinese search engine has compiled the top ten searches for hot news topics of the year. The ten on the list [1] show that China's web users were mostly concerned with old certainties (death and taxes), prosperity (like the price of silver), and official corruption. In fact, three of the ten topical terms on Baidu in 2012 are related to corruption. Indeed, there's certainly enough grift and graft out there to fill hundreds of lists thousands of times over.

1. The Wang Lijun controversy
   
2. The price of silver
   
3. Bo Xilai is removed from posts
   
4. Gas prices
   
5. "Paper gold"
   
6. Individual income tax
   
7. Car license-plate lottery
   
8. Labor Contract Law
   
9. Double Ninth Festival
   
10. Official's daughter-in-law shows off wealth