Wikipedia Unblocked in Mainland
At times, like Saturday night when I had my head in a box of delivery pizza and college football on T.V., I forget that I live in China.  Other times, like when I try to use Wikipedia, it cannot be more clear where I am.  That is because since October 19, 2005, the web's most comprehensive reference site has been censored by the Chinese government.  Rumor has it, the first Wikipedia ban in 2004 came as a result of a 15^th anniversary article on the site about the Tiananmen Square riots.  China then initiated a mass edit of articles on the Chinese Wikipedia that offered radical (democratic) political ideas.  The site was blocked again later that year and a third time last year.  Today, the ban on the site has been lifted and Wikipedia in Chinese and English is accessible to all.  In honor of this monumental extension of freedom by the Chinese government, I will call on an old friend to explain today's events.  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to China...Wikipedia:

As of October 10, 2006, it appears the block has been lifted, with users from around the country on Chinese-forums.com reporting that Wikipedia is accessible. We'll see how long this lasts. Chinese Wikipedians have expressed fears about the detrimental effects that a permanent ban would have. First of all, the block deprives a useful resource from the majority of Chinese speakers in the world. Moreover, since Mainland Chinese form a significant portion of the Chinese Wikipedia community (46% of all users in March 2005), a long-term block could severely stunt the growth of Wikipedia similar to the block in June 2004. Finally, as the presence of contributors from multiple communities and viewpoints has helped in ensuring neutrality in some controversial topics (e.g. Taiwanese independence), the sudden removal of one community could exacerbate systemic bias on the Chinese Wikipedia. There has been much speculation over the cause of the block. Possible reasons offered include controversial articles in Wikipedia itself and recent controversial events in the news that Wikipedia has covered, though as of now none of these are confirmed.
                                                                         -Wikipedia 10/10/2006