International cuisine is flourishing. There is even a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. Grimy old Beijing is becoming like Hong Kong or Singapore. With the smog and dust storms, it is still something of a hardship posting for foreigners, though they can today move to villas on the outskirts. It is a difficult place for foreign journalists to work.
Political debate is stifled.
Unsupervised interviews with ordinary people are discouraged. Foreign reporters may write what they like - but within limits. To interview a leader of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement is to invite expulsion. The leadership must also not be insulted. I never did.