Most people in China have difficulty to register steemit. The great fire wall of China blocked many famous websites: google, facebook, youtube, etc. Recently, I have a trip to China and found out steemit is not blocked. Though, I was not able to open the images of steemit using my cell phone with a new Chinese sim card, I had no problem to access the website and text. Using wifi, I was able to access steemit and photos without problem, though it's slow to open the images. It's surprisedly fast to upload photos in China, so I have no problem to post photos and articles at there.
I was trying to create steemit accounts for my family members in China, but failed. One step I was not able to pass is the captcha. I believe it used google, and google is blocked by China. I had no chance to test whether Chinese mobile phone can be used to set up the account, because I cannot see the image of captcha.
Yes, there are many users of steemit in China. They are only a few of netizens who know how to bypass the great firewall. Most ordinary people do not know how to bypass, or have concerns to bypass.
I believe, if steemit can make it possible for ordinary Chinese people to sign up, then it's easy to get many new users each day.
Now a Chinese company made something that is similar to steemit and targeting Chinese users. Therefore, Steemit should solve this sign up issue and attract Chinese users now.
Though, China does not block steemit at this time, it can block steemit at any time. However, been blocked may not be a bad thing. It means steemit is successful and be noticed by Chinese authority.
wow, is this true... i never considered that. the chinese and korean communities are really productive and influential on steemit, even in relatively small numbers