In Beijing I stayed with an American guy and a Honduran woman, both of them teachers at one of the best highschools in China.

The guy told me that when school starts, the censors verify his school books, and whenever they find a page they disagree with, they paste a white sheet over it. This way, they indicate to students the most interesting pages, that they can easily read if they put their phone flashlight under the page.

The teacher doesn’t put ideas in their heads, but rather teaches them critical thinking, how to question things, how to articulate their own point of view, while also understanding others’ perspectives.

He hopes that by doing so he’s plating the seeds for a change in mentality in China.

“But are you not concerned,” I asked him “that they’ll bust you?”

”As long as the children are on my side, I am safe.”