#42 – Brave New China: A Global Metamorphosis

event #42, Thursday, April 2nd, 2015

 

Speakers
Francesco Sisci, Senior Researcher at Renmin University
XIE Tao, Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University

 

Abstract

“How the Chinese look at themselves, the world, and the challenges of the future.
Where is China, What is China: Where are the traditional pigtails of the old mandarins, the Mao’s bicycles and his suits? Where are the large families with the many concubines? The stuff that made China for centuries in all the stories Chinese and foreigners told of this huge country is gone. China now is skyscrapers, limousines, fast trains, science fiction airports, bright neon lights that explode in the night more than fireworks.

Chinese are changing and have changed beyond recognition. In fact, they have changed so much that they do not see themselves in their present shape, just like an animal going through a metamorphosis. We are in the middle of this huge transformation and we don’t know if and when the new shape will stabilize and what impact it will have on the conscience of the Chinese and of the people of the world looking at China”

( Francesco Sisci, “A Brave New China – A Global Change, 2014)