How's your mother? And your father?

These were two super nice guys I met on the train back from Hangzhou. On the left is Thomas, a Hong Kong native who works for a real estate firm. Mr. Zhang is a manager at a company that makes baby food.

Mr. Zhang, who sat next to me, saw that I was scribbling Chinese characters and initiated a conversation. With my very, very limited Mandarin, it didn't get much further beyond sharing about our family and work lives, where we live and what I was doing in China. But then Thomas took off his headphones and translated. They both served as great Chinese language instructors during the two-hour ride.

Turns out both of them are fairly happy with their lives. Thomas wants more freedom to information but Mr. Zhang, who is married with a teen daughter, says things are much better now than when he was growing up. He says he doesn't mind getting information that's been pre-filtered. Echoing a sentiment I've heard from many local Chinese, he said: "As long as the economy grows stronger, I don't concern myself with the rest."