Hop in a cab and the driver immediately launches into a tirade. In street stalls, too, people are talking. Loud, spunky, outspoken. A few years ago, silence was golden, and the walls had ears. Among the most popular programs on television these days is Say What You Think .
Television crews roam the streets and urge people to do just that.
And check out the music. Not so long ago the nation's repertoire was regime-limited to a handful of classical movements and one opera. Now punk bands rage at Scream Club near Peking University. Things are freer. They are exposed to way more influences than we ever knew.