What makes me very optimistic about China is the number of Chinese and expats in Beijing keen to help out good causes here. There's also been an explosion in the number of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in the country, working on all kinds of issues.

Aside from channeling help to the poor or uneducated, philanthropy makes for good socializing opportunities for busy people. China is full of opportunities. But if you're holding down a job in China, it's hard to talk with all the interesting types that live or move here-and also sample Chinese cooking and culture.

So a year ago we decided to roll it all into one and started the informal Beijing Charity Dinners Club. We visit good but inexpensive Chinese restaurants (because we want a mix of local and expat friends) and invite an NGO to tell us about their work. Before going home we make a collection from diners for the work of the particular organization.

China's new wave of NGOs varies from the powerful to the penniless. Some are state-run giants with guaranteed budget and headcount. Others work off a decent number of dollars supplied from international foundations, governments and bequests. Most scrape by from week to week. Like the Seven Colors School, a Beijing school for migrant workers' children, which relies on good fortune and patrons to pay its bills before electricity and heat supplies are cut.

Our idea of eating to help the less well-off takes some explaining to Beijingers. Chinese charities need some convincing to come to a table of foreigners. Filling seats with Chinese bums puts local speakers at ease and we're lucky to have a professional translator in our group.

The idea of a charity dinner bemuses local friends. Dinner they get, but splitting the bill isn't a local habit. And putting extra in the envelope to help migrant children, that's new. Among the expats there's different views too. Americans get the idea of philanthropy. Europeans understand or want to learn about the issues. Friends from the former Soviet Union need more convincing.

But everyone gives. Attendances vary from 10 to 30 people. Collections have been as big as 10,000 yuan ($1,430) as small as 500 yuan ($71.5). There's nothing like children's rights to get post-dinner cash in an envelope. Helping children claim their universal right to an education-that's easy to support. We got a great response for putting libraries in rural schools. And helping the children of prisoners draws a crowd because it's got niche-value interest.