A truck driver in Chengdu, Sichuan province lost nine boxes of freight worth more than 600,000 yuan ($95,160) on April 3 due to a bumpy road. Luckily the local media came to help two days later and the goods, which had been picked up by passers-by, were returned to the driver piece by piece. Originally labeled a moral tragedy it has shown the good side of society, says an article on eastday.com. Excerpts:

As residents have gone from indignation to a glow of satisfaction, this incident reveals the "worlds of fact and illusion" that exist in China now. At present, TV and newspapers are still the main channels of information for most Chinese people. But the popularity of new media such as micro blogs suggest that these traditional media will soon be consigned to the history books. However, it is from traditional media reports that the people who found the lost goods returned them to the driver.

The recurrence of similar public events has forced us to consider how to make a rational judgment based on little factual evidence. For example, a passer-by might find it hard to decide whether or not to help an elderly person who had fallen as he/she would have no way of telling whether the aged genuinely needed help or was setting a trap.

The common perception of many Chinese people is rooted in being unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. If we fail to figure out if it is reality or illusion that has determined the public's behavior, it would be impossible to construct an appropriate system.

(China Daily 04/11/2012 page9)