Sohoxiaobao, not the prettiest but definitely one of the earlier blog service providers in China, has been out of operation for a week now.

We've reported here on Sohoxiaobao before; some of you might remember the story of Chinese police officer and artist Wu Youming who lost his job due to his blogging, and then there was the time the highly-read blogger ProState in Flames found his Sohoxiaobao blog shut down “for non-technical reasons.”

ProState in Flames has since started blogging at independent portal Bullog, and not that posts don't often get harmonized there as well, but it was at Bullog that ProState brought us the news of Sohoxiaobao's closure by posting the official notice that can now be seen on the site's front page, of which Flickr user Shizhao has also taken a screenshot:

Notice of SOHO Xiaobao's temporary closure

Due to lack of self-discipline of the part of a few netizens in posting sensitive information to their former blogs not in accordance with the discussion requirements, SOHO Xiaobao is temporarily closed. We are currently in the process of applying to have it reopened.

Service has now stopped; all data will be saved, and usage will resume upon further notice. Thank you everyone for your understanding and support!

At the same time, everyone is asked, in their care for SOHO Xiaobao, to be cautious of what they write during the Olympic period, and the posting of illegal information is strictly forbidden.

SOHO Xiaobao
July 18, 2008