Traditional Chinese culture not widely publicized abroad

Chinanews, Beijing, December 24 – Western-style food, going Dutch while dining out with friends in restaurants, drinking coffee and other symbols of the Western-style life have become daily habit of many Chinese youths today, according to a joint survey by Tencent.com and the Social Investigation Center of China Youth Daily, covering 10,732 respondents.

It is common to see young Chinese dining in Western-style restaurants, using forks and knives skillfully.

Meanwhile, more than 56% of the respondents think the traditional Chinese culture isn't as widely publicized asWestern culture. Liu Qian, 28, who migrated to the US 10 years ago, complained to our reporter that every year she could expereience nothing about China except the dragon dance and lion dance in China Towns in the US every Spring Festival. Liu also noticed that the number of Starbucks and McDonald's had been increasing very fast in China.

“What most Americans of my age know about China are but Kungfu stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, the Great Wall, or Chinese-style dishes, Chinese festivals, Chinese tea or Chinese movies are strange to them” said Liu.

Experts believe that Chinese festivals originated in an agricultural society, thus they lack the “romantic elements” that are necessary to modern lifestyle.