"This is such a big event that none of us would give up the opportunity to cover it," said a Chinese journalist who asked not to be quoted by name.
Foreign journalists also witnessed a difference in the treatment and access provided by government officials.
"Journalists? Go right on through," said a security official at a tollbooth on the road to Mianyang, waving through a foreign journalist. The security official also did not collect the toll fee.
At the county emergency relief center, government officials quickly provided statistics, handouts and interview opportunities.
A government that once put up with few challenges to its authority has taken the unusual step of fielding questions online from people about why thousands of schools that collapsed were not built to be quake-safe.
Another change has been admitting foreign experts to the disaster area. Initially the Chinese government said it would accept foreign aid, but not actual foreigners -- thank you very much. But on Friday, an elite team of earthquake experts arrived from Japan, soon to be followed by experts from South Korea and Singapore, as well as Taiwan. In the Chinese context, the quick reversal suggests that the usual game plan was overruled by leaders at the very top.
Lessons learned
"The government is absorbing lessons from each past crisis, generally part of a trial-and-error approach," said Xiao Gongqin, professor at Shanghai Normal University. "We're seeing the government learn from its mistakes and gradually become more open."
Chinese leaders have had several opportunities recently to absorb such lessons.
Last year, there were the scandals about the safety of Chinese toys and food. A massive storm battered southern China in January and February just before Chinese New Year, leaving millions of angry, tired and hungry people struggling to get home during the most important holiday of the year. Chinese officials' handling of protests in Tibet turned what was supposed to be one of their proudest moments, the relay of the Olympic torch from Athens to Beijing, into a transcontinental embarrassment.
In the last few weeks, the Chinese leadership watched its ally, Myanmar, turn a natural catastrophe into a public relations disaster. The military regime's refusal to let in international aid created the impression that the Southeast Asian country's rulers cared more for their jobs than for the lives of tens of thousands of cyclone victims.
