Jimmy was one of Chinese guests on last night. He was touched by all your comments (you can’t access the BBC news site in China so he read them off our editor’s Blackberry.) He says: “It seems that people from other parts of the world have some misunderstandings about my country and her people, which in my opinion arises by lack of mutual understanding. I’m very glad WHYS provides the opportunity for you to talk to our country and hope that this can offer an threshold to diminish the gap between you and us. And if you want to know China better, you are welcomed to visit China to see what it is like with your own eyes.”
08
Aug
08
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BBC World Have Your Say 
Misunderstandings arise because China does not allow full free access to world information sources,plus like a lot of large countries the society is fairly insular and ofcourse the worlds media does not have the ability to cover China properly due to the Chinese government restrictions.
@Jimmy
A couple of years ago, My husband and I spent two months in China.
It was a memorable experience. We traveled from Lanzhou to Dun Haung and Inner Mongolia and other place along the Yellow River, eventually back to Beijing.
When we arrived in Lanzhou my husband realized that he had forgotten to send an email telling his colleague at the university saying what time he was arriving.
So, we arrived at the airport with no one to meet us and not speaking a word of Chinese. We didn’t even really know the name of the institute, not even sure we were in the right city.
We walked up to a taxi driver and somehow got him to understand that we wanted to go into the city. What we didn’t know was the the city was many miles away.
So, as we drove through miles of open countryside (yes, that’s right), we were truly on an adventure.
Eventually, we arrived at the outskirts of the city, whereupon the driver stopped the car and told us to get out. We were confused until my husband realized that this particular taxi was not permitted into the city (alternate circulation already).
However, the taxi driver did hail another taxi and saw us safely inside. We still didn’t have any idea where we were going but thought that any university would have people who spoke English.
To make a long story short, we were welcomed at the university and got directions to walk to the institute and eventually found our colleague. Later that evening, we were treated to the best restaurant food I have ever had in my entire life.
My experience with China was second to none. Even without knowing a word of Chinese in a strange city we were treated like royalty. We will never forget the kindness and generosity of the Chinese people. (no Olympics then…)
Thank you, Jimmy.
Sorry for the long post!
Thanks Jimmy. Where there is no access to correct information, rumours reign supreme. If China can open up more to the world, the rest of the world would stop thinking China has something to hide and have access to the real facts.
Thanks Jimmy!
To know China better we must go to TIBET.