This story, “1977 Exam Opened Escape Route Into China’s Elite,” provides a window into the experience of many Chinese people who are influential today, whom any of us might meet when doing business in China (or elsewhere in the world):

5.7 million people took the two-day exam in November and December 1977, in what may have been the most competitive scholastic test in modern Chinese history.

The 4.7 percent of test-takers who won admission to universities — 273,000 people — became known as the class of ’77, widely regarded in China as the best and brightest of their time.

The article appeared in the New York Times 10 days after being published in the International Herald Tribune, according to one of the people interviewed, whom I happened to meet this week. We talked about reasons it might have taken so long to run in the Times, and went on to talk about why stories like this are so appealing, and so good for improving understanding, too. We agreed that their power comes from the fact that the reader can so easily imagine himself or herself facing that situation. The human drama, and the personal sacrifice and determination of those interviewed, is fascinating and inspiring. Perhaps what we Westerners need to do more often is ask our Chinese friends and colleagues about their early lives, and to share more of the challenges of our own lives, too.