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China cracks down on cavorting net floozie

'Hibiscus' nipped in bud

The powers that be in China have cracked down on a cavorting net floozie who has become national celebrity due to her suggestive online posturing.

Shi Hengxia - aka "Sister Furong" (Hibiscus) - first appeared on two Beijing university internet bulletin boards after apparently failing to gain a place at either. She stuck up pics of herself splayed over a stone ball (seen below along with another come-hither "is that a Little Red Book in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?" pose) with accompanying text declaring her many virtues.

Sister Furong: Check the pebbles on that

Phwoooar! No surprise, then, that 28-year-old Sister Furong quickly caused a national sensation which, in turn, attracted the attentions of China's killjoy net nannies. In July, the blog outfit hosting Hibiscus was ordered to "move Furong-related content to low-profile parts of the site", as Reuters explains.

Although the pics are easy enough to find, (see the good Sister's blog here, but be warned that the pics are uncompressed...), links to Hibiscus chat rooms and snaps have been pulled from web portal main pages and the Chinese media has fallen silent on the matter.

Sister Furong lamented to Reuters: "They've cracked down on me," although she should count herself lucky they didn't send the tanks in and shoot her for such a flagrant display of libertarian democratic tendencies.

It's not all bad news, though. A new film career beckons for the burgeoning celebrity after Beijing-based film company Zongbo hired Hibiscus to star in a series of short digital films destined for internet-only broadcast. This cunning plan would, Zongbo supremo Chen Weiming told Reuters, allow the material to "slip through loopholes in government web controls".

Furong enthused: "People will be able to watch these and see new sides of me and my talent," although it's clear that the China Communist Party reckons it has already seen quite enough of Hibiscus's talents. ®

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