this woman works for a bank in chengdu. she was always trying to get along with others.he found herself losing her sense of humor. then she discovered shangshun. she now attends shows every week. >> translator: i can relax in my daily life. but the comedy performances absorb all my worries and let me laugh from the bottom of my heart. >> reporter: some are even becoming standard comics themselves. this man quit his job three years ago in order to try his luck on stage. in shangshun, you lose the audience's attention. he meets with his friends after the show. he's eager to hear what they think about his performance and what they find interesting. >> translator: talk about what's going around town. people react to local issues. >> reporter: but he and the other comedians are not always free to talk about what they want. the performances are scrutinized. >> reporter: he and his partner pass the test, but officials criticize other performances. >> translator: you should present the good side of university students, too. >> reporter: he says people have good reason to seek ou

he joined a pharmaceutical company in chengdu six months ago. he had studied at a college in denmark and said he was thinking of looking for a job in the country after graduating, but he says association officials told him that the chinese maker would assign him important research tasks as soon as he joins. >> i took advantage of my skills and knowledge to be with a new path for this company. >> reporter: but retaining this elite is another challenge. rival firms are also searching for young talent. and some young graduates quit their jobs because they cannot adjust to their new lives in china. >> we try to build better environment for all. >> reporter: chinese officials are pushing businesses to put more weight on the quality of the products they make rather than just the quantity. young graduates with advanced skills and knowledge may be the key to make that leap. reporting for nhk world. >>> robert speta is back for the world weather report. >>> yes, let's start off with the bigger picture out here across eastern asia. we're still talking abo

and i was like oh no, all of my colleagues, all the reporters were all made a beeline for chengdu. i felt like i missed the story. i should've should've stayed there and i could've driven there. then i started to think we'll how i do the story? there must be in many ways to skin a cat. so i thought it's a place like it china's appellation. it's reported populous. a lot of people go to other parts of china. said. said that while there must be a lot of people in beijing and some of them must be tried to get back home. what if i follow the group of them. so i followed a group of construction workers back home it took us about three days. we went on trains, bikes, and boats. it was was sad because at the end most of them discover that their family was killed. >> host: for people that may not know, at the time the earthquake was a very difficult place to do reporting. the. the government had taken steps to try to make it try to manage this story to try to control the narrative that was going to get out to the rest of the world. when you got there one of the things that you discovered wa