Nannies with smiley faces

As bum raps go, neighborhood committees cop it pretty bad. Shunned by many in their community, their notoriety has spread far beyond China's borders, often as a symbol of State interference in people's private affairs.

Committee members have been associated with policing family squabbles, stopping suspicious strangers, keeping records on everyone in their area and even helping to monitor the one-child family policy - though heaven only knows what that involves.

Now, this institution dating back more than 50 years is being transformed as surely as the nation's economy. State appointees are being replaced by elected members and sinister practices are metamorphosing into more mundane - and socially popular - daily tasks.