Chinese friends say I'm diplomatic, though they sometimes politely remind me that I don't know what I'm talking about. They also say people write me letters because they know what Chinese people think and simply want to hear from someone outside their circle. Maybe, but some writers go about it in odd ways. They use guilt, implying life will end if a response doesn't follow. Others play for sympathy through flattery, cute stationery or sob-letters that maunder on for three or four tightly spaced pages.
Lots expect personal answers.
But this is the newspaper business. The column fits one or two letters a week, so 10 or 15 die. About 400 unused letters are spilling off tabletops in my flat, adding guilt. So I not only learn what's on young people's minds. I also feel their pressure.