By staff reporter LU RUCAI

Hollywood movies have had huge impact on Chinese cultural consumption habits.

Throughout China’s drive to get into the mainstream, modernization has been synonymous with Americanization, and American influence has permeated all areas of Chinese society. The concept of “de-Americanization” recently raised in the media has consequently triggered off hot debate.

America’s Ever-Encroaching Influence

Ding Gang, senior journalist at the People’s Daily, has been working as special UN-based correspondent for years. Upon his return he was, like many other returned expatriate Chinese, stunned at the extent of overseas influence in urban China, particularly in the capital, where the overall outlook has transformed. The world Ding left behind in New York appears to have followed him home. To him it seems, “I live in a familiar yet altered Beijing; there are tower blocks in Beijing and Shanghai even more magnificent than those in New York. Real estate projects such as the 5th Avenue, Madison Avenue, Sunshine Manhattan and Back Street Lifestyle of Manhattan indicate the desire to build a Manhattan right here in China.”

The influence of American culture is everywhere. To many, American imported goods represent the ultimate in good taste and high living. From a young urban Chinese person’s point of view, ignorance of American idioms such as “cool,” and ”get real” mean social death, and people of all ages part with a casual “bye bye.” One aspect of Americanization Ding finds particularly disconcerting is the frequent occurrence of the English word “mall” in the close-packed Chinese text of both major and local Chinese newspapers. Books on American politics, economics and law are on prominent display in major bookstores, and

the latest Hollywood movies are easily obtainable on DVD from street peddlers all over town. Ding concludes, “For those born in the early 1980s, Coca Cola, KFC and McDonald’s are ultra hip, and owning a big jeep and spacious house filled with imported furniture and appliances is the ideal. Through many Chinese eyes, today’s America is our tomorrow.” He, for one, finds the whole phenomenon both disquieting and disturbing.

Enhancing the Chinese Character

Ding points out that when taking into consideration China’s13 billion population, as well as its political, economic, cultural and natural conditions, turning it into another America is simply not a proposition. From an environmental point of view alone, Ding’s view has basis. The American population represents just 5 percent of the world total, yet its gasoline consumption amounts to 25 percent of world consumption. In his book The Eagle’s Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World American journalist Mark Hertsgaard admits that although the American lifestyle is indeed tantalizing, if the remainder of the world’s 6 billion people were to emulate it, three more globes would be necessary to generate the resources to afford it as well as to absorb all the resultant pollutants. Ding has for some time been preoccupied with the concept of “de-Americanization.” On September 13, 2004, his article De-Americanization – An Unavoidable Issue was published in the Global Times. “As we find it practically impossible to avoid Americanization, we must make efforts to raise de-Americanization awareness,” says Ding. De-Americanization does not mean Anti-America. Its premise is that as American culture encroaches more and more on that of China, there should occur a greater number of conflicts and disputes. A consciously Americanized China can in many ways, through awareness of the need to de-Americanize, become a strong opponent of America.

Ding sees his concept of “de-Americanization” as enhancement of the “Chinese character.” He is incredulous that there should be any need to discuss whether or not Chinese children should read and be tutored in Chinese classical literature. As he sees it, “We can argue this issue until we are blue in the face. The fact of the matter is that China’s rapid expansion and accompanying Americanization is not because American civilization is so irresistible, but because we have in many aspects begun to lose our own traditional culture, of which a knowledge of classic literature is an obvious aspect.”

Giant three-dimensional Coca Cola ad on Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

Ding’s de-Americanization does not equate with total negation of all things American or foreign in general. He explains, “We need to gain more foreign experience, but should plant what we have learned in our own ‘soil’ in order to create a new product. If China is willing to be the kind of student that is happy to learn parrot-fashion and passively imitate what others do for a whole lifetime, it will become shackled to a foreign mode and lose the ability to be itself.” Innovation, therefore, is at the root of the “de-Americanization” concept.

Identifying with “De-Americanization”

Upon publication, Ding’s article had a huge reader response. Deputy director of the Political Science Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Fang Ning’s comment was that “De-Americanization” is a significant concept as, “It demonstrates our acknowledgement that China’s modernization drive must find its own path and not simply imitate foreign experience, however successful. In this era of globalization, each country should learn from the other but ultimately succeed through its discrete innate strengths and creativity. Those content merely to follow others lack intelligence and foresight. The concept of de-Americanization having emerged proves that we have learned and are becoming mature.”

This topic was discussed on several Internet chat boards, the prevailing point of view being that the common aim should be to “take the good, and discard the bad as regards things foreign, and preserve China’s own culture.” This roughly sums up what de-Americanization is about. Says Fang Ning: “We still need to study America, but to stop well short of idolatry. Ours should be an independent mode of learning that will enable us to overcome our own shortcomings through observation of others’ strong points.”