A Beeb crew decided to test the alleged new openness of the Chinese authorities to foreign journalists. They went to a town where there had been a recent riot over transit gouging. Here's some of what transpired:

The police decided we should answer questions in the upstairs bedroom of a hotel off the main road.

So we climbed the stairs, sat on the bed and handed over our documents.

Half a dozen officers watched over us. Several had video cameras with them - so our interrogation turned into a kind of photo shoot.

The officers took it in turn to film us as well as each page of our passports.

Then, two senior officers came in. The room went quiet.

"You need a certificate of permission to be in this town," said one of them as he sifted through the passports.

Then he paused and looked up to make his point. "Do you have such a certificate?"

"No, we don't," I replied.

"This is not Britain or the United States," he warned. "This is China."

We told him of the new decree that allowed foreign journalists to travel anywhere in China without permission.

"That's only for Olympics-related stories," he said. Then he paused again. "And I don't think you are here for the Olympics."