Facebook is the largest social networking site in, well, the world. But not in China. Facebook and Twitter are blocked by China’s Great Firewall. The micro-blogging service Sina Weibo is the whip in China. HTC knows its market and therefore slightly retooled the Status/Salsa for the China market. Gone is the Facebook logo and a Weibo burning eye logo is on the dedicated button instead.

The rest of the phone seems unchanged. It runs HTC Sense 2.1 on top of Gingerbread and a 800MHz CPU. There’s a 3.4-inch 480 x 320 screen, aluminum body and a 5MP camera. HTC just changed that one little button for the different market.

Of course there are some difference within the OS as the tight Facebook integration was replaced with an equally tight Weibo integration. The micro-blogging service is baked into many of the phone’s apps. Sure, the hardware is rebranded, but the phone is built for Sina Weibo. [SinaTech via MicGadget]