Reporters get to see real China

Brazilian Marcos Linhares did much personal research and thought a lot about China before coming to Beijing. He was thinking ahead to what aspect of the country he would speak to people about after returning home from the Olympics.

Linhares, a reporter on a Brazilian TV station, found his answer yesterday after visiting a sports training school in Beijing.

"The school principal told me that academic performance is among the main criteria for selecting students," Linhares said. "That's important. China's quality education must be why the country is winning so many Olympic gold medals and developing so fast."