Carrie Gracie BBC China editor

Dong Xuegang jumped to his death in September after being questioned about corruption

To China and the world, Dong Xuegang is just a number.

Data are incomplete, but suggest the suicide rate among Communist Party and government officials may be 30% above the rest of China's urban population.

Experts say this is due to the pressure of President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption battle.

Until the morning of 14 September, Dong Xuegang was not a suicide statistic but a 51-year-old middle-ranking official in the city of Yuncheng, Shanxi, with a wife and child, and a life as three-dimensional as any of us.

Then he jumped to his death from his 9th floor window.

Convulsions in Hong Kong continue to reverberate through the politics of the mainland this week, even when Hong Kong is not the focus of the story.

Take two episodes in south-west China, for example.

Mass protest, mainland style

The incident at Fuyou village in China's Yunnan province left six workers and two villagers dead

Can China shed its 'factory of the world' image to become a global innovator?

Assembled in China but designed in California, Japan, or Europe. That's been the story of China's economic rise for the past 30 years.

Few if any of China's companies are considered innovative by global standards - and Nobel prizes for science remain frustratingly elusive.

China is celebrating 65 years since Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China

Quiz question: What has been the top trending story on China's social media this week? Wrong answer: Hong Kong. Correct answer: People named 'Guoqing', which in Chinese means 'national celebration'.

On Tuesday China winds up a weeklong public holiday to mark National Day, the anniversary of the 1949 Revolution when the Communist Party came to power. Since then, the Party has imposed tight control over the media, and at times of crisis the room for nuanced reporting shrinks to zero.

CY Leung is called "689" by the protesters in reference to the number of votes cast to elect him

We've put in many bids to interview Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung but our requests have been ignored. Given the chance, I'd ask these three questions.

My first question would be: Why do they hate you so much?

The largely peaceful protests continued on into Wednesday, the start of China's National Day celebrations

Twelve hours in the life of the BBC China Editor: National Day, the Hong Kong perspective.

02:00 Fall into bed after editing an overnight news film.

Beijing has ruled out free elections for Hong Kong - but is there any room for a compromise?

If this is going to end well, someone subtle is going to have to start shuttling between the street, Hong Kong's local leaders and Beijing.

But today is probably not the moment for that. Because with a public holiday on Wednesday for China's national day, I suspect we're going to see the demonstrators want to test their strength.

Tensions are rising on the streets of Hong Kong. Back in Beijing, what might China's leader be thinking about the scenes on the streets?

1) 'I brought this on myself'

Beijing gave Hong Kong democrats not even a fig leaf of cover over the rules for nominating election candidates. Some warned that there would be trouble, but Xi Jinping clearly decided facing down protests now was preferable to risking the emergence of a local leader with real legitimacy. Today is the inevitable consequence of last month's announcement from the Chinese parliament about restrictions on universal suffrage, but it is also a direct political challenge to Beijing - and therefore a defining test for China's promise on one country, two systems.

2) 'I have to win'

China's leaders will not want to give in to the protests

Carrie Gracie's Shanxi 'tiger hunting vehicle' has a touch of the anonymous

Sorry to be late. I have been out tiger hunting in Shanxi (frontline of the anti-corruption fight). The number plates on the Audi tell you the kind of crowd I have been mixing with! Other than that, here's what caught my eye this week.

Making up… if Beijing gets its way

What an audacious moment for President Xi Jinping to embark on the theme of "one country two systems" with Taiwan! You cannot fault him for dramatic timing.

Hong Kong's democracy campaigners have already drawn their own conclusions about the prospects for further consultation

Students in Hong Kong want genuine universal suffrage for the special administrative region of China

"When dictatorship becomes a fact, revolution becomes a duty."

A T-shirt slogan seen in China this week. But this is not President Xi Jinping's T-shirt, nor is it merchandising from the Chinese Communist Party.