The death of American singer Michael Jackson became top news on Chinese websites, with China's largest website Sina.com devoting a web page to the "most remarkable singer ever".
On Mjjcn.com, Jackson's Chinese official website, more than 27,000 postings were made in the hours after the news of his death was broken. Most fans expressed their disbelief.
Other fans are busy organizing activities to commemorate their icon.
A Beijing netizen "Rock" said he will organize a memorial service at night which is open to every Jackson fan in the city.
"Let's dress in black and hold candles for him," he said in a posting at the website. "Those present should control their emotions and no extreme behavior is allowed at the ceremony."
In Shanghai, Zhou Libo, a local comedian famous for mimicking Jackson, said he was really shocked.
"I planned to put into my comedy show some of of his performance at the concert in July," he said. "But it is impossible now."
At some CD outlets in Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, workers are busy putting out Jackson's CDs and videos, such as The Essential Michael Jackson.
"We expect that his songs will become popular again," said a staffer at the video shop in the Joy City Shopping Mall in downtown Beijing.
"The best way to commemorate the 'King of Pop' is to retrieve those lost memories by listening to his songs again," he said.
"This is unbelievable," said a netizen who called himself Single-Winged Angel on the death of his icon. "I believe he was murdered. Some just wanted to stop him from making a comeback."
Some of Jackson's Chinese fans commented on his death that he was a window that opened up Western culture for them three decades ago.
"He means much more than a pop star to me," said Liu Han, a 30-year-old programmer with a Beijing computer company. "My first knowledge about the Western music and society came from his songs.
A Chinese netizen even wrote a sarcastic poem in English on Douban.com, expressing his mixed feelings towards the pop star.
"Michael, praise for pop, do rest in peace forever; thanks to God, no kids in peril anymore," wrote the man who call himself Garibaldi.
Although Jackson has never been on China's mainland, he has more than once expressed his willingness to tour the world's most populous country.
In March, a senior official with AEG Live said China was Jackson's most desired market and he wanted a tour to China.
"He is a window through which the Chinese young people looked into the world a dozen years ago," said Zhang Yiwu, a professor with Peking University.
"His 'moon walk', his long hair and his negative news, all of them influenced the whole generation," he added.
Cui Jian, dubbed as China's Michael Jackson, declined to make immediate comments on Jackson's death.
Jackson died at about 3:30 a.m. Beijing time Friday, after collapsing from a cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles. He was 50. His reputation had been tainted after accusations of child abuse. He was acquitted in 2005 of charges of child molestation, and of plotting to kidnap his young accuser.
Tencent, a popular website among young Chinese, ranked Jackson's death the top story, even ahead of all international and domestic news items.
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2009)
