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From Our Own Correspondent: China and Peru

A cat

China and Peru

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, China and Peru

Angus Foster on China's hard class trains; Mattia Cabitza on Peru's cat lovers and haters.

Angus Foster finds "hard class" on Chinese trains has softened and Mattia Cabitza tests Peru's ambivalent attitude to cats.

Pascale Harter introduces analysis, wit and reportage from correspondents, reporters and writers around the world. In this edition:

"Hard class" has softened up
China's workforce is getting back down to business after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday - traditionally a time for getting away from it all. Huge numbers of visitors were reported at major tourist sites. One newspaper photo, showing crowds stretching to the horizon at the Great Wall near Beijing, was captioned - 'the great queue of China!'. The eight-day public holiday saw millions taking to the railways to visit relatives living up and down the country. Also on the train was our Angus Foster, keen to see for himself how much China's rail network itself had benefited from the country's spectacular economic transformation.   

Beloved pet ... or kitty kebab?
Our correspondent in Peru says that there are two things in his adopted country that people see as sacrosanct and above reproach; their Catholic faith and their food. However, in recent years, a newly visible concern about animal rights has generated criticism of both. Mattia Cabitza was moved to reflect on Peru's rather ambivalent attitude to cats, in particular, by a large and vocal demonstration outside a local church. But what could be driving these people to wave placards around, shouting "God made cats"?

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