Expo-2010, The Showcase of China! Is China Going To Lead The World?

I do think that Chinas "soft power" or "cultural influence" is fairly limited for a country of her population and size, but then, to which other country am I comparing it?
The USA with its all conquering Hollywood?
I think China is quite a bit more "influential" than India, I also think that the amount of cultural influence varies greatly with the non Chinese country you are in.
In Germany, there truely is not that much going on apart from Gong-Fu, I imagine that things are very different in South Korea, Vietnam or Japan.
China also has a handicap due to its language beeing hard to learn, the USA on the other hand, I like saying that "German is for scholars, French for poets, Italian for lovers and English for lazy bums.".

Is This Something New?

香港：美军首次大规模北京研习 美军真是开眼了

一个美国高级官员培训班昨在北京清华大学开班，17名学员中有多人来自军方，其中不少人从事对华或国际事务，首次踏足中国，他们对中国政制、经济发展及新闻自由很感兴趣。


　　　课堂谈民主 参观秀水街


　　　培训计划为时一周，学员今日将参观外交部，他们当中有来自美国太空总署（NASA）、空军、陆军、国土安全部的官员，亦有来自食品药品管理局（FDA）、农业部、海关等，其涵括范围之广、受训时间之长、人数之多以及官员级别之高均创下历史纪录。他们是各自部门中负责对华事务或国际事务的官员，自愿申请参加培训计划，其中多数人从未踏足北京，故主办方安排他们游览长城、故宫以及到秀水街市购物，还会观看杂技表演等。


　　清华大学中美研究中心主任孙哲昨日讲授第一课「中国政治体制」，详细介绍「科学发展观」、「和谐社会」、「五年规划」，以及人大、政协及中共党代会制度等。其中提到中国在探索自己的民主道路，因为一方面对美国民主模式失去兴趣，另一方面对俄罗斯、韩国式「民主」不甚满意，而现时「举国体制」屡屡发挥优势，创造经济奇迹，故要探索「中国特色民主」。


　　关心对台动武 感受官场差异


　　不少美方学员问及「中国究竟会不会对台动武？」、「中国决策究竟是在党还是政府？」等问题，孙哲均予以解答。有学员课后对本报称，认为课程够开放，很希望增进对中国的了解，而今次看到的最大差异，就是中国官员总是眼「大局」、「长远」，每每谈及20年、50年的改革方向，「我们总是要『Change』，有问题要马上解决，这种官场氛围非常不一样。」

solarz said:

Wow, it's statements like these that makes me doubt if your claim of Chinese ancestry. Seriously, it's just sad that you can only conceive of kung fu movies and chinese takeout as Chinese culture.

Ever heard of the "Butterfly Lovers"? Ever been to a Chinese New Year celebration in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver? Ever visited an acupuncturist? Or a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner? Ever heard of the Pekin Opera, and Mei Lan Fang, who was making waves in the West in the early 20th century?.............

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(Snap):rofl:

I find it rather ludicrous that you have this preconceived profile on how a person has to think or behave, and displayed cultural awareness to authenticate their claimed ancestry. And give me one good reason why I'.m not allowed joke about my own culture. Ever heard of the best seller"The Ugly Chinaman" written by Bo Yang. Its one of the best and most informative books I've read and describes the Chinese and its culture most accurately.


In this instance I was relaying my European friends experience of Chinese culture, reinforced by general observation when going about ones business in NZ and Australia( after all the gist of my post is Chinese Culture that is readily absorbed by most Westerners.) and in the light of your examples you gave I am more than prepared to stick with it.
Where do most Westerners get their first sample of supposedly Chinese food, but the mum and pop restaurants /takeaways that offer European food as well such as burgers, fries etc. or extremely Westernised and Franchised "The Noodle Shop" or foodcourts at shopping centres. The more authentic Chinese food the establishment has, the lesser the Western Patronage.


Your examples of Pekin Opera, "Butterfly Lovers" is not the sort of thing that would have mainstream appeal ( I dont think Chinese classical singing which sounds like screeching cats to Western ears, so Im told, would find a regular place in a Westerners music collection) and IMO "Butterfly Lovers" is a stupid story to boot. . I'm willing to wager that if walked down the mainstreet of Toronto and ask a thousand people at random on who was "Mei Lan Fang, and what " the "butterfly lovers" was about, I would be given blank stares most of the time, whereas if I asked them if they knew who Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Yao Ming were, you would be meet with greater signs of recognition.

"The Nanjing Massacre" Its about time it got put to bed and everyone move on. Personally I have no interest in reading about it, as Im sick n tired of reading about the "great victim" thing, and constantant reminding just causes aggro.

The Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors, geez, theyre such high profile most people would have heard of them, much like those pyramids in Egypt and S America but i can betcha the indepth knowledge would would be a little hazy.

Visiting a Traditional Chinese Medicine practioner for Tiger parts to get a Sti..e. Why don't the Chinese Govt just authorize pirated Viagra?

I assume you were referring to the Chinatowns when talking about the New Year Festivities" No thanks I stay well clear of them I regard them as abhorations when used as tourist attractions. Having busloads of tourists stare and take photographs , as if you were some circus oddity.

Regarding Martial Arts movies,I read something quite fascinating a few weeks ago on this subject (cant remember where though).

The overall article was about the likely future impact of Chinese Culture on the world (I recall it may have related to the Expo in a tangential way).

The interesting point was the way that China has fundamentally altered a global perspective to cinematic violence via Hollywood and that it is down to one person - Bruce Lee. Yes it is true, the way Hollywood portrays violence is profoundly different before Lee to the its portrayal after him.

Up until the sixties, Hollywood fight scenes were largely of the John Wayne bar brawl variety, with chairs broken over peoples heads and large men landing haymakers. After Lee the fights become choreographed ballets of increasing sophistication, such as we have as routine today.

It is only a small example (and not necessarily the most laudable) but it does illustrate how small cultural contributions can have a massive impact and perhaps give a kind of indication as to how future characteristics will find themselves becoming the global mainstream.

A.Man said:

Is This Something New?

　　不少美方学员问及「中国究竟会不会对台动武？」、「中国决策究竟是在党还是政府？」等问题，孙哲均予以解答。有学员课后对本报称，认为课程够开放，很希望增进对中国的了解，而今次看到的最大差异，就是中国官员总是眼「大局」、「长远」，每每谈及20年、50年的改革方向，「我们总是要『Change』，有问题要马上解决，这种官场氛围非常不一样。」

Click to expand...

20-50 years, i called that procrastination and delay. Is it try to delay the political reform as long as possible? There is great strife in ecnomic reform but not so much in the political area.

bladerunner said:

(Snap):rofl:

I find it rather ludicrous that you have this preconceived profile on how a person has to think or behave, and displayed cultural awareness to authenticate their claimed ancestry. And give me one good reason why I'.m not allowed joke about my own culture. Ever heard of the best seller"The Ugly Chinaman" written by Bo Yang. Its one of the best and most informative books I've read and describes the Chinese and its culture most accurately.

(bla bla...)

Click to expand...

I see where the misunderstanding is. You seem to think that "Culture" is only defined by the lowest common denominator.

Sure, most Americans would give you blank stares if you ask them about Mei Lan Fang. Then again, most Americans can't find Canada on a map. Try walking down a street in Beijing, and see how many people know about Bob Dylan, or Walt Whitman.

Sorry, but I think cultural influences exist even if your average Joe Schmoe doesn't know about it. Take the Terra Cotta warriors for example. Your average Westerner might have no clue what it's about, but there are still thousands of Western scholars who have dedicated their lives to that subject. That is what cultural influence is about.

The rest of your rant just reflects your own world view.

Next time, try telling some of your Jewish friends to "let go of the Holocaust and move on". See what response you get.

Talking about cultural influence, my feeling is that the "cultural influence" from any individual country is limited. Talk about Italy, we think of pasta. Talk about Germany, we think of beers. Over here, St. Patrick's day is a symbol of being Irish, but if you ask anyone what they think about St. Patrick's day, the only thing most people can come up with is "wearing green"... And what about celebrities? The only Italian celebrity that I can think of would be Pavarati (Spelling?). And what about American influence, aside from Hollywood and McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut, I don't think any average Joe in other country can think of anything else.

I still remember that there used to a show where the host went on the street (the Fifth Ave., I think) in New York city and asked people to identify some photos. We know that people who spend most of their time on the Fifth Ave. would be pretty affluent and educated. I was shocked that only one out of ten people could identify Winston Churchill. Most people thought the guy in the photo was some Jazz player... And many people can't even recognize FDR and thought he was some millionaire. These are some most recognizable figures in the Western world, and yet no one in America knows who they are... Talking about cultural influence.....

I think culture influence depend on the statis of the country. The more rich and powerful the country is, the more culture influence it has over other country. ROME, US are examples. Back in Tang dynasty, china was at its peak, foreigners flood to china back then. It dominate countries surround its border both in culture and economy.

SampanViking said:

Regarding Martial Arts movies,I read something quite fascinating a few weeks ago on this subject (cant remember where though).

The overall article was about the likely future impact of Chinese Culture on the world (I recall it may have related to the Expo in a tangential way).

The interesting point was the way that China has fundamentally altered a global perspective to cinematic violence via Hollywood and that it is down to one person - Bruce Lee. Yes it is true, the way Hollywood portrays violence is profoundly different before Lee to the its portrayal after him.

Up until the sixties, Hollywood fight scenes were largely of the John Wayne bar brawl variety, with chairs broken over peoples heads and large men landing haymakers. After Lee the fights become choreographed ballets of increasing sophistication, such as we have as routine today.

It is only a small example (and not necessarily the most laudable) but it does illustrate how small cultural contributions can have a massive impact and perhaps give a kind of indication as to how future characteristics will find themselves becoming the global mainstream.

Click to expand...

I can see the spin now. Bruce Lee made fight scenes more exciting but he also as a result made society more violent. It's reminds of around Y2K the news media came up with there lists of important historical events especially in the past century. One program had the category of worst invention. I saw one journalist blame China for nuclear weapons because of gun powder. But I guess the West can take credit for nuclear science though. When the movie Crounching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a US success for a foreign movie, there were Americans claiming to take credit for having strong female leads in a martial arts movie because according to them it was movies like Alien and Terminator that showed strong female leads first. Typical ignorance and arrogance to take such credit when Pei Pei Cheng who played the Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger was a big martial arts actress in movies back in the 60s. Back when women in Western movies were nothing but stereotypically dependent on men. And the first Chinese martial arts movies back in the silent film era were all female cast. Typical rewriting of history from the usual suspects.

Let's really talk about serious soft power. If it weren't for China the West wouldn't have embraced human rights. Before communism what was the West doing? Imperialism, colonization, and the highest order violations of human rights around the world. What made them change? Altruism? Seeing the error of their ways? No, it was the Cold War. No one could seriously challenge what the West was doing until communism. Even though the Soviets spear-headed the movement, they pretty much made no inroads internationally until China turned communist. China's communist were coming from the imperialist occupation angle which much of the world had the same common problem unlike the Soviets. So when China turned communist alarm bells started ringing in the West because China falling to communism and the imperailist occupation angle used against the West was a serious threat to Western colonial power. Which is also why during the Cold War, China was seen more of a menace than the Soviet Union. So the only way to counter it was to free colonies, but imposed their own puppet dictators, in order to maintain influence, and proclaim themeselves the leader of the human rights movement because that way they get to dictate what's a human rights violation and what is not. Which is why no ally today is ever accused of human rights violations or to the least not seen as severe. While at the same time all the human rights violations in the world are committed by nations that don't follow blindly.

how long is the expo gonna be running for?