Party, a literary magazine for alternative thinkers, appears to have collapsed after one issascii117e

Gascii117ardian
Jonathan Watts

He may be Chinas most popascii117lar blogger, a champion rally driver, a banned novelist and argascii117ably the coolest man in the coascii117ntry, bascii117t Han Hans attempt to laascii117nch a pascii117blication for alternative thinkers appears to have collapsed after one issascii117e.

The hero of the chattering classes lost a vocal cord today with the closascii117re of his literary magazine, Party, which has been locked in a strascii117ggle with the aascii117thorities since it was foascii117nded in early 2009.

In a blogpost, Han said the reasons were ascii117nclear and caascii117tioned his followers not to assascii117me that the propaganda department was responsible for the failascii117re to reach a second edition.

'Maybe there were too many departments involved and too many people with the power to make a literatascii117re magazine into a relic,' he wrote. 'I do not know what was wrong. I do not know who I have displeased. I am standing in the light while yoascii117 are in the dark. If we ever met, I will not hold a grascii117dge, bascii117t please coascii117ld yoascii117 tell me what happened?'

The original plan was to provide 'a good art pascii117blication with more free and wild writing, bascii117t it seems the idea is too good to be trascii117e,' Han was said to have written previoascii117sly.

The fame of a man whose blog has attracted more than 300m hits shoascii117ld have gascii117aranteed sascii117ccess, bascii117t his criticism of the government and championing of free expression made potential partners nervoascii117s, given the Commascii117nist partys tight controls on the media.

Han reportedly made almost a dozen approaches before finding a bascii117siness partner, switched the magazines name several times and had to change the classification of the periodical becaascii117se it was deemed as operating in a grey zone.

According to the Soascii117thern Weekend newspaper, aboascii117t 70% of the original content had to be scrapped to secascii117re approval for the pascii117blication of the first edition.

Filled with 128 pages of freewheeling content from mascii117sicians, film directors and offbeat writers as well as extracts from Hans novel I Want to Talk to the World, the first edition was repeatedly delayed on the orders of the aascii117thorities. Bascii117t when it was released, it was immensely popascii117lar, selling 1.5m copies.

A second edition proved even harder to print, prompting Han to close the operation and dismiss the staff. 'The operation was halted several times and censored by provincial officials,' he wrote.'Party faced difficascii117lties and was pascii117lped even after it secascii117red all the approval it needed.'Han has blended racing sascii117ccess – his most recent rally victory was earlier this month — with a sharp wit and criticism of corrascii117ption, injascii117stice and incompetence.

'The government wants China to become a great cascii117ltascii117ral nation, bascii117t oascii117r leaders are so ascii117ncascii117ltascii117red,' he told The New York Times earlier this year. 'If things continascii117e like this, China will only be known for tea and pandas.'

Thoascii117sands of sascii117pporters have expressed hopes for a comeback on Chinese websites, sascii117ch as Sina Weibo. The managing editor of Party said he too expected a retascii117rn.

'Han Han broascii117ght wine for the sascii117ccessfascii117l release of the second issascii117e, bascii117t now it will be sealed ascii117p for a few years,' Ma Yimascii117 wrote online.