She had never used a computer before, and she had no idea what a blog was.

But it was this online innovation she knew nothing about that helped save her life.

Chen Dongxiang, 12, from a remote mountain village in Central China's Hunan Province, had been suffering from blood poisoning since last June.

Chen Dongxiang, 12, from a remote mountain village in Central China's Hunan Province, had been suffering from blood poisoning since last June.

Soaring medical costs made it impossible for her family to help her, even as her leg was decomposing. Hope seemed lost.

But because of a blogger, Li Guozhong, her story did not end there.

Li, an amateur photographer from Hunan, was the first to report Chen's condition on his blog on May 24.

Li had travelled to her village of Huaihua last month on a photography trip. While there he learned of Chen, who had already wracked up 100,000 yuan (US$12,500) in medical bills at the local hospital.

Her mother was mentally retarded and her father blind in his right eye. The 800-yuan (US$100) annual income of her 11-member family was far from enough to cover further medical treatment.

Chen's left shinbone was putrid and the infection was spreading. If nothing was done, she would lose her left leg forever, and perhaps even her life.

Li could not bear to stand idle. Knowing he could not save the girl on his own, he resorted to the online blog he had just launched.

"Please lend this girl a hand," the 49-year-old office-bearer wrote. "Her left trouser leg was tucked up, revealing a piece of white bone from her knee to her ankle Fluid was seeping out. The air was stagnant with flies buzzing around I could hardly hold back my tears."

Li's article, together with a series of photos of the girl, triggered a wide response.

According to Ma Xiaolin, a journalist-turned-businessman who is also the CEO of the Daqi website, where Li's blog is published, Chen received some initial treatment at Huaihua's No 1 People's Hospital after her story was publicized online.

Xiao Lipin, vice-mayor of Hongjiang under the jurisdiction of Huaihua, where Chen's village is located, went to Chen's home with other local government officials in charge of civil affairs, medical affairs and social welfare, after learning about the case from the Web.

Then they helped arrange the medical treatment for the girl at the Huaihua hospital.

However, because there is no hospital specializing in bone diseases in Huaihua, her parents wished she could get treated in a better hospital in a big city.

In the past three weeks, Li's site had 58,000 hits, and 34,964.50 yuan (US$4,376) was donated by netizens for Chen's treatment.

Beijing Guangji Hospital also volunteered to treat the girl with no charge.

With the donated money, Chen arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning. The train whistled as it arrived at the Beijing West Railway Station, where medical professionals and journalists alike raced to the No 7 carriage.

Descending first was Li. On his back he carried Chen. She smiled at the nurses and media.

"I never expected my blog could create such a big sensation," said Li.

Chen, accompanied by her mother, is now settled in a ward specially arranged for her at the Guangji Hospital, which specializes in bone injuries.

The doctors there have cleaned and disinfected her leg, and given an initial diagnosis. The hospital has arranged a consultation for her before further treatment is given.

Doctors say her case is rather complicated, and it is a serious challenge to save her leg.

'Online journal'

Ma Xiaolin, 42, sees the blog as a supplement to the traditional media.

Blogs did not begin to appear in China until 2001, Ma said, and was first known as an "online journal." Then a few fame-hunters used personal blogs to garner attention in the initial stage, posting their nude pictures online.

In 2002, the term "blog" was coined as a nickname for Web log, Ma said. Last year, celebrities joined the army of bloggers with their real identities, marking a great leap forward for the new online form. Ma started up his own blog on his website last year.

"To many people, a blog is a spiritual home," he said.

Ma estimated that there are currently 1.3 million blogs in China, where there were 100 million Internet users by the end of last year. Blogs have become a rising, powerful mode of communication, he said.

Min Dahong, director of the Internet and digital media research office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained that blogs are unique communicative channels.

"Traditional media like newspapers, radio and television tend to communicate in one direction, whereas blogs as an Internet channel are more interactive," Min said.

"You can leave messages on the blog, or reprint articles published elsewhere. You can also exchange information with other bloggers or voice different opinions."

A blog is an extra information channel, useful for grass-roots or vulnerable groups. Without the Internet, Min said, Chen would still be sitting in her wooden shack facing death.

In fact, blogs have been demonstrating their rising influence long before the campaign to save Chen.

One consumer found his brand new Haier refrigerator was not functioning well last May and demanded a new one from the company. But Haier delayed his request for three days. The frustrated consumer posted the story on his blog at www.hexun.com. Haier immediately came to his home and replaced the fridge, bringing two watermelons as an apology gift.

A professional photographer discovered that the winning photo at China's National Press Photo Contest had been altered by computer, which violated the rules. He published his discovery on his blog. Two days later, the prize was retracted.

According to Zeng Huang, a council member of the China Association of Photographers, the blog added to the timeliness of the discovery and response, since most photography publications are weekly or monthly.

"If the photographer had turned to a publication, even if the latter was willing to help, it takes time to investigate. By the time everything has been cleared up, several weeks would have already passed and it still ends up with nothing definite."

A senior photographer himself, Zeng likes the immediacy of the blog. Zeng once criticized the use of mosaics by a photography magazine on his blog, which attracted readers' attention. "Obviously I couldn't send this article to that magazine, or its rivals," he said.

Ma enjoys the refreshing subjectivity and humanity of blogging over traditional media.

"It allows people to create a virtual space to express themselves and get to know others."

But both Ma and Min admit the blog also has its problems. The anonymity is conducive to fostering pornography, slander or plagiarism.

Min calls for self-discipline. "Valuable blogs are those with truth and well-thought ideas," he said.

On his part, Ma is trying harder to encourage people to launch individual blogs with real identities. "Currently Daqi has 2,000 such bloggers," he said. "By the end of the year we aim to have 5,000, accounting for 10 per cent of our total bloggers."

"If Li was not truthful about his identity and the articles on his blog, do you believe he could have succeeded in inviting so much help?" Ma asked.

Little Chen is now waiting for treatment in the hospital. She is grateful to blogs.

(China Daily 06/13/2006 page1)