Penis-Shaped People's Daily Building Sparks Quick Cover-up by China Censors

Chinese authorities have rushed to censor
the country’s microblogging site, Sina
Weibo, after users started mocking a picture
of the new Beijing headquarters of the
People’s Daily newspaper, which resemble a
giant penis.
A search on Sina Weibo for “People’s Daily”
and “building” results in a message that says
the keywords have been blocked “in
accordance with relevant laws, regulations
and policies, search results cannot be
displayed”.
Some comments about the 150 metre tower,
which is still under construction, were
recorded despite the censorship.
“Of course the national mouthpiece should
be imposing,” said one user.
“It seems the People’s Daily is going to rise
up, there’s hope for the Chinese dream,”
said another.
Detractors used Photoshop to put the
People’s Daily building inside China Central
Television (CCTV) HQ, which has been
nicknamed the "Big Underpants" building.
The People’s Daily building was designed by
Prof Zhou Qi of Southeast University School
of Architecture. Zhou won the design
competition between at least four
architecture firms in 2009.
The newspaper itself has been called “Raping
People Daily” by Chinese netizens for
“chronically misleading the people with
false reports”, according to blog Hug China.
“It was understood that the propagandists in
Beijing do not like this nickname, but that
they chose the bizarre design of the new
headquarters reveals that it may not
necessarily be so,” it said.