"It was a really heated debate, quite different from the symposiums I had seen before. But I was pleased to see the hearing worked -- the administration ultimately cancelled ticket fees."

    Neither Cui nor Hangzhou is the sole case. More than 2,000 hearings had taken place across the nation by the end of 2005. They covered a wide range of topics: educational fees, ban on fireworks, air ticket pricing and even resettlement compensation for households moved out of prime inner city real estate.

    The hearing system fosters "awareness of public participation", says a professor of the China University of Political Science and Law. "People are more willing to cooperate with the authorities in implementation of a public policy if they can contribute to the policy-making process," says Ma Huaide.

    Both administration and citizenry are shifting mentality. Recollecting his own experiences, Cui says his "overall quality" has improved a lot. He subscribes to nine daily newspapers and several magazines to keep tabs on the latest developments in society.

    "I'm neither a National People's Congress (NPC) nor a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) representative, but I can state with confidence that I'm a qualified spokesman for the people around me," he says. The NPC and the CPPCC are China's top legislature and top advisory body, respectively.

    A newborn baby to China, the hearing system has provably worked for the public good: a provincial hearing in South China's Guangdong Province successfully slashed an increase in bus ticket prices by 30 percent during the Spring Festival, or the Chinese lunar new year; college students in Beijing are guaranteed a hearing if they are expelled for being caught plagiarizing in examinations; representatives to a hearing on cooking gas prices vetoed an account totaling three million yuan (400,000 U.S. dollars ) prepared by the local company in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, after they found it was cooked.

    Perhaps more important than the short-term results is the enthusiasm for public affairs generated by the hearing system. Chinese have grown gradually more accustomed to speaking out their views at hearings, rather than stepping back or passively receiving orders from the above, says Prof. Ma.

    In April 2005, Yuanmingyuan Garden, the "Old Summer Palace" built in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) but plundered by the British and French during the Second Opium War (1856-1860), made a move that induced an unprecedented hearing.