one

　　of my

　　older

　　students,80­year­old Mr Gou，prefer to sing in English.

　　Lately we’ve talked about the 60th anniversary celebrations and I’m lucky in the diversity of ages that I get a good sample of what China’s thinking.Most look forward to the time off，some have been inconvenienced (by their offices being shut to make way for rehearsals) and some worry about the cost of it.

　　I sometimes feel that even a 60­year­old China is still not very well known or understood.Foreign friends with little time to spare on business and tourist visits to Beijing complain about the similar things：aggressive driving，bad air and a lot of ostentatious displays of wealth such as big cars，paunches and loud shirts.

　　It’s a shame，because those are the conspicuous minority.To know Beijing you have to make an effort to meet and talk to the majority—the likes of retired Doctor Rose，who runs the English corner，or Mr Tang，the retired railway station inspector.These are friendly，knowable folks with all the patience possible to explain and share China with a curious foreigner.I feel very lucky to have them to talk and listen to.

　　They’ll likely never—or rarely—step into a Starbucks.Their means are modest and they don’t have any flashy cars to park on the footpath.No，but they’ll teach you priceless，disappearing Beijing knowledge and crafts.They’ll invite you to

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