I know that the top level government is run like a technocracy, but I recently learned that state level government was run like a democracy. That surprised me a lot, since I've always slightly believed the popular western image of China as a dictatorship

I also learned that the amount of people living in poverty has decreased a lot since the technocracy was put into effect

In short, I think China is heading the right way if the government keep being benevolent. The population and poverty levels need to sort themselves out, and they probably couldn't do that in a democracy

Your dealings with Tibet and Taiwan are a bit weird though... Especially Taiwan. I have no clue why that is so big a deal to you

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Original post by Alpha_ProgDes And what do you all do for a good time? Are any of those activites common to the rest of the world or are they Chinese specific?

kareoke...

Someone told me that China only celebrates the Chinese New Year not the International New Year (January 1). Is that true? I didn't think so, but I wanted to make sure.

Also the "Year of the Dog", "Year of the Rat", "Hour of the Horse", etc. Do you still use those normally as time references or are they only for specific events/cases?

Also, a lot of the movies that has been coming out to the States have been very "patriotic" or have shown some history of China. Examples are: Karate Kid, Hero, Red Cliff (excellent movie by the way). What percentage of the movies in China are like that?

I like China and asian cultures. I know little and wish to learn more, however.

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Original post by RivieraKid is new year a good time to holiday in beijing? 2 guys in their 20's looking for a party or 2.

we only get 3 days-off officially.

do Chinese women like American men?

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Original post by ChurchSkiz Everyone seems to think China is going to be the next or one of the next world superpowers. I personally think that your language will be the biggest barrier, as it is one of the hardest to read, speak, write, etc. Is there any discussion on changing to a phoenician alphabet system? What percent of your friends/relatives speak and write English?

- variety makes the world beautiful. every language exits for some reasons,not to mention the one has the most speakers. I never heard any change you said. and since English is the most widely spoken language, why not learn it?
- the percent of my friends/relatives who speak English is very tiny. but the education system has always concentrated on English much more than you can imagine,ie: one can't graduate unless he passes level-4 English contest, CET4. and the youngsters are eager to explore the world, at least via the Internet. so the number is growing faster day by day.

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Original post by shurcool I like China and asian cultures. I know little and wish to learn more, however.

the best way I think is travelling in China.

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Original post by Alpha_ProgDes Someone told me that China only celebrates the Chinese New Year not the International New Year (January 1). Is that true? I didn't think so, but I wanted to make sure. Also the "Year of the Dog", "Year of the Rat", "Hour of the Horse", etc. Do you still use those normally as time references or are they only for specific events/cases? Also, a lot of the movies that has been coming out to the States have been very "patriotic" or have shown some history of China. Examples are: Karate Kid, Hero, Red Cliff (excellent movie by the way). What percentage of the movies in China are like that?

- The Chinese new year is important to us much like your Christmas, the biggest one.For the New year 1.1, we get 3days-off officially to celebrate.
- There are 12 animals in a fixed order to represent each year.the calendar dates back to thousands years ago. ie: i was born in"year of pig",1983, every 12 years I got my year of pig,which came with the Chinese new year. I dress in red,like socks,underwear, which were said to take me from bad to good luck.
- Chinese Kong-fu movies attract the most spotlights overseas, and the stories always come from history. I'd like to recommend "IP Man", a story of Bruce Lee's master. the patriotic movies, "red theme"we called, make a big percentage as the government loves them.

I know they have like a quatrillon supermarkets here in Argentina.