DIALOGUE OVER SIP OF TEA
Linhuan Town residents begin their morning with a cup of tea.
Over the past centuries, the flourishing tea culture in the town with over 20 teahouses has established a custom of conversing while drinking tea, which also prompted the inception of an NPC deputy studio in the teahouse, where deputies at the county and township levels come and chat with residents every month.
Sitting around a boiling pot of water, Liu Jinhua and several fellow villagers are sipping tea while discussing a suggestion to be raised with the deputies this month -- building a proper public toilet.
"We've got different ideas about where to build it, so we are here today to discuss and find the best venue," the villagers were told.
During the past five years, over 300 pieces of suggestions involving this town have been accepted by the deputies and dealt with, with the issues ranging from road construction, irrigation, street light installation to protection of old trees.
There are also mediation rooms in the teahouses. A lawsuit could be averted over a pot of tea, thanks to the mediators.
Democratic consultation and management at grassroots like the town of Linhuan also enable foreigners living in China to chip in.
In Shanghai, about seven hours' drive from Linhuan, Noyan Rona, a Turkish banker who has lived in the city for more than 20 years, is keen on addressing flaws in his community.
From environmental hygiene, food safety, translation of road names to the installation of railings, many of his suggestions have been adopted. One suggestion has even been incorporated into a revision of the individual income tax law.
Rona believes that making suggestions is not about complaining, nor just about raising questions. It is about observing things from a certain perspective and over a period of time, and offering solutions.
From "offline exchange of views" in teahouses, under the trees, in the courtyards, and conference rooms, to "online discussions" enabled by more than 1 billion Chinese internet users, the Chinese people have explored diverse and effective consultation means with their wisdom and innovations.
When the authorities solicited public opinions online for the drafting of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), a key blueprint for the country's economic and social development, in August 2020, more than 1 million comments poured in.
Laurence J. Brahm, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, said that Chinese democracy, which is different from that in the West, is a system of consensus-building. "It is quiet, and in many ways, like Tai Chi."
