Think about China for a moment. What comes to mind?
For me, it's the "tank man" of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, calmly holding back a column of tanks. I was in middle school at the time, and I remember wondering about the source of his courage and the focus of his conviction.
For you, it might be Nixon's historic 1972 trip to China to meet with Mao Zedong, then the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
Or perhaps you think of this summer's Beijing Olympics and its significance for China as a chance to flex its muscles on the international stage.
Or the recent earthquake that struck the Sichuan Province – and the Chinese government's surprising openness to media coverage and popular criticism.
These memories and others spring to mind, and they all share something in common: They're all about China as a nation.
But what about the private lives of the Chinese as a people? What hopes do they have? What anxieties? How much have their lives really changed? How do they view the outside world – and us?
Frontline's "Young and Restless in China," airing on Rocky Mountain PBS tonight at 9, addresses these questions and more. The film gets up close and personal with a broad spectrum of today's young Chinese – all movers and shakers in their own ways. Meet an entrepreneur who is testing the limits of Chinese capitalism; a rapper embracing free expression; and a lawyer/activist pushing state-owned corporations to environmental compliance. All told, nine compelling stories about nine fascinating lives.
I'm not sure what intrigues me more: that just a few decades ago, none of these stories could have been publicly told? Or that just a few decades ago, none of these stories could even have happened?
Watch "Young and Restless in China," tonight at 9, and let us know what you think. What does it mean to be young and Chinese today? How do the lives featured in the film resemble our own, and how are they different? Do we as Americans live a freer existence?
For more eye-opening coverage of China, be sure and tune in next Tuesday night at 8 for "Jesus in China." This Frontline/World documentary examines the wave of Christianity sweeping across the country – and the Chinese government's efforts to control it.
-Elizabeth Mayer, RMPBS
