Editor’s Note: The Selective Echo’s regular Mexico City correspondent, Mark Alvarez, a well-known Salt Lake City lawyer and former city official, offers this warm account of our southern neighbor, a welcome respite from recent news accounts.

Many Americans know Mexico for its food, beaches and mariachi.

American media have covered Mexico’s war on drugs and the resulting violence. Though Mexican and U.S. governments resist, people have begun to bypass the trap of war to consider the legalization of certain drugs.

People are fearful at times, yet they continue to live.

For Valentine’s Day, Mexico City organized ¡Bésame mucho! (Kiss me a lot!) to raise awareness about domestic violence and to set a Guinness World Record for the biggest simultaneous kiss. The event began at 3 p.m.

When Lorena and I arrived 2 hours later, Guinness officials had counted 14,000 people in the Zocalo, Mexico City’s downtown square. By 6:30 p.m., the number had passed 40,000. Susana Zabaleta, well known for singing, acting and controversy, invited everyone inside the Zocalo. Zabaleta said you have to be inside to love. Then she sang a beautiful version of Besame Mucho.

Afterwards, Zabaleta implored everyone to kiss: women with men, women with women, men with men, children with children, and other. Zabaleta kissed her pianist to demonstrate. Then she counted down. Almost everybody kissed. The official count was 39,897, exceeding by 7,000 the mark set in London.

People clapped, enormous banners celebrating the record unfurled and stagehands prepared for a Vicente Fernández concert. Fernández known as “Chente” sings rancheras and is extraordinarily popular. Chente appeared to revel in the moment. He encouraged people to sing along, and tens of thousands did.

In 2007, Shakira attracted a record number of 200,000 to the Zocalo for her concert. Last Saturday, Chente attracted 219,000. He said he would sing until the people stopped applauding. He did not quite make it. Chente sang for 3 hours then left to rousing cheers and an audience wanting more. Saturday night turned to Sunday morning.

On Sunday mornings, Mexico City reserves almost ten miles of road from Chapultepec Castle to the Zocalo for cyclists, walkers, runners and skaters. The “ride your bike” program attracts more than 10,000 participants weekly. Some drivers do not appreciate the inconvenience of lanes closed on the major road Reforma, but Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has said the program helps “transform a car-centered culture into a new culture for better city living and connectedness.” He is right, and thousands of people exercise safely as they pass Chapultepec Castle, the Palace of Fine Arts and the Templo Mayor.

The Templo Mayor of Mexico City is in a corner of the Zocalo by the Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace. The Temple is still being discovered and studied. It was begun in the late fourteenth century and built in stages. Each ruler, Tlatoani in Nauhautl, essentially added another layer to show his greatness and the greatness of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was founded in the fourteenth century. Two centuries later, more than 200,000 people lived there. In 1521 before the arrival of Christianity, Tenochtitlan was a grid city and one of the largest in the world.

Mexico is more than its food, beaches and mariachi. Mexico City is as well. More Americans should look beyond ugly stories to learn more about their southern neighbor.