Striving for peace and harmony

A Beijing newspaper was recently critical of its fellow citizens for trying too hard to paint a perfect, unrealistic picture of their country. "We should exhibit the true and natural China to the outside world," the editorial said. "We also have problems, but we should not be afraid for everybody to see them."

It is a sentiment shared by many of my Chinese friends, but they are still very sensitive to barbed criticism about their complex homeland.

"Don't worry, it's nothing personal," I tell them. "Us Westerners, generally speaking, like to complain loudly about pretty much everything.