Sometimes articles in The People’s Daily have to be read twice to make sure they are not spoofs. Yesterday there was one about the success of the recent ‘civilization campaigns’ that have been launched to improve the manners of us Beijingers. A recent survey suggests that our behavior is, indeed improving. "This is a result of patriotism and widespread participation in preparing for the Olympic Games." I guess there’s something here called a "civilization index which gauges our behavior. Last year our score was 73.38 (out of 100). That was a 4.32 improvement over 2006, and an 8.17 point improvement over 2005. Come on Beijingers, with only 184 more days until the start of the Olympics, we should be able to reach 100.
Does this mean I’m only 73.38% civilized? A scary thought!