Seeing is believing!

Standing in the lobby of the Great Hall of the People for the "two sessions", I felt the passion of journalism as I stood among members of the National Committee of the CPPCC and deputies of the NPC.

I wished I could be like the Monkey King in China's epic "Journey to the West". He is able to split himself into as many Monkey Kings as he wishes. With such a skill, I could seize the chance to talk to as many members as I wanted, giving me access to all strata of Chinese society.

That's just one of my wishes.

One's first experience with the "two sessions" is like falling in a florid kaleidoscope in which I can touch almost every part of China politically, socially and economically.

Beyond the thrill of being able to talk with CPPCC members and NPC deputies, I was impressed by the government's decision to further open the door to foreign journalists.

Almost every time I attended a conference, I encountered my foreign colleagues-in-arms.

The advantage of being a Chinese journalist is little more than a command of our native language. However, even that advantage looks increasingly slim since many foreign journalists speak good Chinese and some of them had Chinese assistants. Plus a lot of key documents have already been translated into multiple languages by the government to facilitate reporting.

Figures indicate that there are more than 600 international media professionals registered to attend the event, not to mention those who are not on the list but are actively participating into covering news about "two sessions".

I was deeply impressed by the comment made by Peter Wilson, the political councillor of British Embassy in Beijing.

I bumped into him when the National Committee of CPPCC ended its opening ceremony. He had been invited to attend.

"It's very nice to attend the opening of an important conference like this, which really does make an attempt to understand what the Chinese people are thinking and then transmit those views to the leadership."

What happens in China is actually triggering worldwide attention since there is an increasing recognition now that China plays an important role in the world both, politically and economically.

"You are too important a country to remain a mystery to the world ... what direction China is heading in is important because it affects all of us," he added.

(China Daily 03/07/2007 page6)