This is, after all, a country that just inaugurated an annual Hero of Atheism award. (This year's winner was Sima Nan, a 43-year-old ex-journalist who debunks the "superhuman" feats of local shamans on his TV show.) "The sincere advocacy of freedom of religious belief is based on our understanding of the dialectical materialistic theory, " says Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Council's Religious Affairs Bureau.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | China: Inside China's Search for Its Soul