I came across this today and waited all day to watch it.  Now I just have to share it. I laughed I cried.. I cursed my China Telecom “broadband” connection as it choked on on Youtube videos.  Please vote for me is an experiment with democracy in a Wuhan elementary school, but it’s so much more than that. For someone who was brought to China to teach, It’s a pleasant reminder of why I stayed given the current mentalness in the world press. From the website:

Is democracy a universal value that suits human nature? Do elections inevitably lead to manipulation? Please Vote for Me is a portrait of a society and a town in through a school, its children and its families.

Wuhan is a city about the size of London located in central China. It is here that director Weijun Chen has conducted an experiment in democracy. A Grade 3 class at Evergreen Primary School has their first encounter with democracy by holding an election to select a Class Monitor. Eight-year-olds compete against each other for the coveted position, abetted and egged on by teachers and doting parents.

Elections in China take place only within the Communist Party, but recently millions of Chinese voted in their version of Pop Idol. The purpose of Weijun Chen’s experiment is to determine how democracy would be received if it came to China.

55 minutes in five parts of youtube goodness after the jump.