I just revisited the article on the Yale Environment 360 forum, Under Sooty Exterior, A Green China Emerges, that I left a response to last week. It seems like we have tapped into a voice that was not represented previously, and so it seemed like I was alone in my championing of China’s environmental movement, but once this voice gets tapped, there’s something there. If it started for me with Tisha and Rambo and, later, Jack in Tiger Leaping Gorge in 2005, remembering these feelings and holding strong to them is what is making this happen.

That is what is making this happen for me, but perpetuating and strengthening it is tapping into a network of people who are also not jaded by Western preconceptions about What Is China–people like Fred Pearce, who wrote the above article, and Jim Fallows at the Atlantic Monthly, mentioned previously. Adding to these represented voices are people like Zn Huang, who posted on the Yale forum. Zn writes, “We are very grateful for all those who are creating awareness through positive documentaries and education. It is the first step to change for a greener and more sustainable future. I am looking forward to the documentary and hope it gets released either through national tv or through other mass distribution channels. I hope it becomes part of the curiculum in Chinese education.”

This is exciting!