Diary: Yang Rui

Having finished the cleaning of the Witchell Professional Whole Fruit Power Juicer, I generally like to relax on my RS2300 Reclining Chair with Foot Massager in my apartment in downtown Beijing, in China. How do I get to my apartment? How long did it take me to brush my teeth last night? I can ask these kinds of questions all day, and they're the questions that most modern Chinese will be asking as well.

The name of my TV show, DIALOGUE is pronounced exactly the same way that an ordinary, modern English speaking person would pronounce it. All in capitals. My life was ordinary, like that of many ordinary Chinese. I received a degree in English literature and international journalism from Shanghai Foreign Studies Department (English) and I hold an MA in Mass Communications from Wales University Cardiff College, UK. My Master's degree from Wales enables me to communicate effectively and massively with the guests that I often interview on my TV show, DIALOGUE, for which I have won many awards, including an honorary degree from Dunstable College, also in the UK.

Spending my Sunday afternoons at home, I spend my free time reading the newspapers, catching up on the latest from Weibo, and watching CCTV9 News on the news channel. When I say "news", what exactly to I mean? Do I mean news in the sense of new and noteworthy events, or do I mean in it the sense of a broadcast or published report of news? Both are equally valid and can be useful in debates and discussion about modern ordinary Chinese people.

Ten different people might have ten different definitions of what "news" means. Americans have theirs, and the Chinese are told to have theirs, each definition has some problems, and it's why we have to learn from each other in order to improve.

With regard to democracy, we have a long way to go. It's clear that American democracy is not the way forward for us Chinese. We are still in a transition period learning from the Americans in order to prepare for democracy. The democratization process has many links to the economic development of China, and often, there will be many moments or difficulty and pressure before American-style democracy isn't realized in China. Some critics criticizes the National People's Congress as a rubber-stamp parliament, and it's true that there is room for improvement. But the room for improvement is improving already, and only time will tell what the future holds for ordinary Chinese.