From the start Mr. Zhao’s camera is an acknowledged, if discreet, presence. In the opening shots, unseen residents of the town are heard commenting on how their familiar world looks as they peer through the lens. Later some of their neighbors address it directly and with minimal self-consciousness, talking about their personal histories, religious practices and the hardships they have faced.

What they have to say is fascinating — in particular the reminiscences of an elderly preacher who serves as the patriarch for the local Christian population — but Mr. Zhao has an exquisite ability to balance words with images. The life stories and household interactions that fill out the film’s three chapters take place against a natural background that is shot beautifully, though never ostentatiously. Green mountains and deep, shadowed valleys frame the desultory daily routines of the villagers, while the nonhuman population of dogs, chickens and pigs receives a proper and proportional share of attention.

"I wish my kids could go to a state school," says Hu. "Parents always wish their children could receive a better education."

The contradictions of the hukou system, designed for a 1950s planned economy, become more painful with every year of China's development. About 140 million rural migrants are now working in the cities, where average incomes are more than three times than those of the countryside. Migrants have fuelled the country's spectacular growth but not reaped the benefits. And once they become parents, they face an unpalatable choice.

Chinese authorities have ordered the closure of a lead ingot factory in the country's southwest after 94 people, including 88 children, in nearby villages were found to have lead poisoning.

Reports of lead poisoning have emerged around the country since last year, highlighting the heavy environmental cost of China's rapid economic development.

Authorities organized medical tests for some 1,600 residents in four villages within an 2,600-foot (800-meter) radius of the Zhongyi Alloy Co. in Longchang county of Sichuan province's Neijiang city, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. Ninety-four residents were found to be suffering from lead poisoning, while 745 others were waiting for their test results.

The young man in question was not legally registered at birth, though everyone knew how old he was. If his family had tried to get a birth certificate when he was born, they would have put themselves in a position to be officially audited at some other, higher level beyond their village. As it was, it remained a village issue, and the extra land was allotted and everyone had enough food to eat.

Jump ahead a few years and the family finally gets a certificate that records the boy’s age as being three or four years younger than he actually is. No big deal. He’s the son of farmers, and what does age really matter as long as you have a certificate, even if it is off by a few years?

Instead of waiting in the reporters' zone in front of the microphone stand, the video reporter stands beside the officials as if she is their assistant. On some occasions, she has even held an official's arm.

Reporters from other media organizations don't seem to resent the long-haired reporter using her feminine wiles to coax high-ranking officials into interviews. They actually support her use of "physical contact" to drag senior officials in front of the TV cameras. Once the officials are cornered, the entire press corps of news-hounds can call out questions.

The China Daily also has a gallery of reporters at the Two Legislative Meetings who are making the news.

Sometimes people’s vision and memory can play tricks on them. There isn’t any special story about this photo. I just placed a plate on the carpet, and when I finished eating the grapes I thought it looked nice, so I shot it.

To me, it doesn’t look like an ink and wash painting, rather more like a decorative plate hung on the wall.

Some of the blame for that ignorance falls squarely on Americans being Americans – we simply don’t take much interest in international events like Expos, World Cups, and UN Security Council meetings; but some of it, I think, falls on whoever the Expo organizers hired to promote their multi-billion dollar urban coming out party to Americans. Put differently, if you’ve never heard of the Expo, does that dour Times Square billboard make you want to learn more? Or as one friend in the US media emailed: “It looks like a billboard for a tourism industry expo focused on travel in your Golden Years.” That is to say – Shanghai isn’t going to attract much US media to Expo 2010 if this is the approach they’re committed to taking.

This looks like a circus act. But it’s just another guy making a living on a bike in Guangzhou. Maybe two or three times a year, I’ll see one of these scrap collectors pedaling down the road hauling a couple air conditioners, a computer monitor or two, three or four processors – all precariously strapped on the back of the bike.

A group of citizens led by renowned artist Ai Weiwei sent a letter Tuesday to all 35 delegations attending the annual session of the NPC, calling for transparency regarding the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

This letter says that last year the so-called "citizen investigators" had sent 113 letters to government departments at all levels, requesting the disclosure of information. But "none of the departments directly answered a single question raised by us," the new letter said.

Ironically, it was the Chinese government's reluctance to embrace golf—or at least come up with a set of regulations intended to standardize its inevitable growth—that allowed things to get out of control. China doesn't even know how many golf courses exist within its borders. At the press conference in November, officials at the Ministry of Land and Resources said they were using satellite imagery to get a handle on the number. Back in 2004, when the moratorium was announced, state media reported that only 10 of China's then 176 known courses had received proper approvals from Beijing.

There is also a photo slide-show of a course that got bulldozed at Dan Washburn's site, PAR for China.

The Great Wall ruins of the ancient Chu state are seen in Yexian county, Pingdingshan, Central China's Henan province. The province's cultural heritage bureau said ... the ruins of Chu Great Wall mostly belong to the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC to 476 BC) while some were built during the Warring States period (403 BC-221 BC), and they mainly lie in the province's southern cities of Pingdingshan, Nanyang, Zhumadian and Xinyang.

The big story, however, is that the Global Times in Beijing has picked up on the incident and has thrown it like a dry log on the narrative pyre whereby China is all things reasonable and the United States is all things aggressive.

Here is the heart of the Huanqiu Shibao/Global Times article entitled 美国一城市为“藏独”设纪念日 遭中美民众谴责, or, roughly, “One American City’s Plan to Commemorate ‘Tibetan Independence’ Provokes Condemnation from the Chinese and American People” [ed.: and by "the American people," the headline presumably refers to this person, the author of the above dissenting comment on the Oregonian website!]

An agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and China in 2008 to swap 10 million tonnes of copper ore for US$9 billion worth of mine and civic infrastructure looked like a genuine win-win.

But ever since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanded renegotiation of the deal in May 2009, China and the DRC have been on a roller-coaster ride of risk. Today, Beijing anxiously eyes a growing list of major dysfunctional problems - and a $100 million adverse judgment in a Hong Kong court - that could derail the "deal of the century".

Google and China will resolve their differences over censorship and an alleged attack on Google's service "soon", Eric Schmidt, the Chief Executive of Google, told reporters in Abu Dhabi where he takes part in the emirate's first ever Media Summit.

Schmidt did not give details of the nature of the talks or an exact timetable.

From my perspective, the digital camera is most significant in how it’s changed the way I organize and use my notes. Digital voice recorders have never played the same role — it might be great in other places and other situations, but recording an interview in China makes people nervous. I learned that they’re far more comfortable if I’m taking handwritten notes, so that’s what I’ve always done.

But a digital camera is quick, unobtrusive, and easy to keep in a pocket. It’s great for signs and notices — infinitely faster than my terrible Chinese handwriting. Sometimes a picture captures a key moment, and later, when I’m ready to write about the scene, I’ll put the image alongside my notes.

After the joint editorial was published, the reactions to it went far beyond what we initially anticipated, so to speak. We expected it would get some response, but we didn’t think it would be so great. It actually echoes an old Chinese saying, “In a world without heroes, ordinary people can make a name for themselves.” I don’t dare to take credit for the work of others, but at the same time I am not willing to put the blame on someone else, so I removed all the names of both media and individuals who participated in the editorial, leaving only the name of myself who has nothing to lose. As a matter of fact, every reader understands that the reason why this joint editorial has attracted such widespread attention is not because the media is so powerful, but because it shows the fervent anxiety of the people’s expectations!

China is in negotiations to build a high-speed rail network to India and Europe with trains that capable of running at over 200mph within the next ten years.

The network would eventually carry passengers from London to Beijing and then to Singapore. It would also run to India and Pakistan, according to Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a senior consultant on China's domestic high-speed rail project.

Why are there urinals in the women’s bathroom?

I’ve come across this a couple of times and had to do a double take to make sure I went through the right door. Yes, there are sometimes male urinals in the women’s bathrooms in China. I’ve asked around and they are for women who have to take their sons to the bathroom. I guess it makes sense.

It’s unfortunate that discussions of such issues tend to become polarized between the left and right in China, so that if the right advocates something the left feels compelled to simply oppose it – rather than supporting a modified version of the proposal, for example. If you ask Chinese leftists their views about the hukou system, many will say they also feel that it’s unjust and should be abolished or at least reformed, but before that can be done, rural residents’ access to farmland needs to be secured in some other way.