‘I paid a bribe’

From giving cigarettes to cops to reduce traffic fines to treating judges to a meal in exchange for a favorable court ruling, Chinese Internet users are spilling their stories of bribery and corruption.

A raft of new websites allowing people to confess to making bribes without naming the recipients have spring up, to an apparently welcoming audience. An official from the company that started the "I paid a bribe" website told the China Daily newspaper that the site had 60,000 users within its first few days of opening.

Corruption is a well-known fact of everyday life in China, but that doesn't make it any less pleasant to those who have to pay for favors. Apparently the chance to grouse online is just what some web users needed.