The large-scale report of “China in World’s Eyes” was issued in Beijing recently. Foreigners from more than 20 countries around the world were surveyed in the report.
When asked which can represent China best, most foreigners chose the Great Wall, Kung fu and Chinese food; and 21% of them considered the Great Wall as the best thing representing China. Influenced by Hollywood films, foreigners were greatly impressed by Kung Fu; many of them even thought most Chinese could play Kung Fu.
The report reveals that foreigners’ impression of China mostly come from films and other pop culture, which are very superficial. Compared with Chinese people’s knowledge about America and Europe, foreigners know too little about China.
33% of the Chinese recipients of the survey thought the four great inventions of ancient China–compass, printing (movable type), gunpowder and papermaking, can represent China best. However, foreign interviewees did not seem to know the four great inventions very well, and only 6% of them voted for the four great inventions. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine only got 2% of votes due to lack of communication with world.
As for the animals that can represent China best, dragon and panda incontrovertibly lie in the top two with ratings of 45% and 42%.
