Eric's Beijing Diary

Had an interesting talk last night with a journalism student from Fudan University. I have been curious about how journalism is taught in Chinese universities, because the Chinese newspapers I read don't seem to follow internationally recognized standards of journalism. I mentioned China Daily and Global Times. She said, "We don't like Global Times." She started talking about the South China weekly, which interested me, because this paper is widely recognized as an independent voice that tries to present information as openly as possible within the rather restrictive limits placed on any journalistic enterprise operating in Mainland China. She also told me that students within the Journalism school have unrestricted access to the Internet.

It's crazy. For some reason completely beyond my comprehension, this town doesn't have manhole covers. The local people just seem to accept this and drive around them, but every once in awhile someone who is not from here gets stuck. Three or four men show up from nowhere and help the driver get out of the hole. All's well that ends well, I guess. Still, it's a little strange. No idea why they operate that way. Perhaps it's a temporary thing, because the streets are pretty torn up. Maybe they are redoing the sewer system. This is a mountain village, but it sees a growing number of tourists are coming this way, partly because this village is right on the old highway from Lanzhou to Chengdu, and partly because people like me are stupid enough to write about it in their blogs. Anyway, it's a friendly place, so every time it happens, a bunch of men show up to muscle it out of the hole.