China’s most impressive and meticulous management of the Beijing Olympics was truly a “coming out party” and a proper metaphor for a more ascendant, confident China and its place as an economic/cultural power in the 21st century.
What most impressed Bev, Zen and I during our Summer 2008 China trip was not just the country’s amazing economic advancement, but the day-to-day ordinary Chinese we encountered. Nearly everyone we talked to expressed genuine pride and joy in China’s hosting of the Olympics and a perceived long overdue respect from other nations worldwide. China’s humiliation at the hands of the West and later Japan in the 19th and early 20th centuries colors much of China’s worldview and is a fundamental part of the national psyche.
Although most Chinese wish to embrace globalization, western business practices and economic development, many worry of the pernicious effects of Western influences on their traditional culture.
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