The Wenzhou high-speed train crash on July 23 was highlighted by Sina Weibo, Twitter's Chinese counterpart, as 2011's most discussed issue last week.

I can still recall the sleepless nights soon after the crash, which killed 40 people and injured over 200. I kept refreshing my Weibo eagerly to get the latest news.

What swarmed into my Weibo were comments angry at and skeptical of the Ministry of Railways' poor response, much faster than official updates of the accident came. It wasn't long, after poring over all sorts of criticisms and so-called inside information, until I was fretting, worrying about when China, the fast developing giant, would crash too.

In real life, however, it is another world. If you step into a local food market these days, people are living their lives, bargaining, gossiping and joking. It seems prosperity will not be interrupted any time soon.

Sometimes, the image of China shaped on Weibo might be very different from what you see on the street. But both sides are real. Weibo is one of the few platforms through which ordinary people can publicly broadcast their opinions on politics and news. The virtual Hyde Park attracts a critical public, revealing truths the major media do not always cover.

Weibo reminds the government that the authorities must listen to the people, and therefore it is considered by many a significant contributor to the development of democracy in China.

Criticisms on Weibo are more issue-focused rather than getting to the bottom of our economic and political systems. The government's response is also treating the symptoms but not the disease. The government needs to do more than responding to Weibo posts.