Traveling in China, I was often surprised how similar China looks to America. Such an impression was mostly generated by American brand names and logos I saw all over the places. For people in China, globalization is definitely happening. Whether it is a good or bad thing depends on who you ask. Some Chinese people are bothered that China looks more and more like America, some are happy about it, and some don’t care.
But China is big, and very diversified. American brands are everywhere, and so are indigenous ones, especially in smaller, innerland cities like Xichuan, Henan, which is featured in the slideshow.
So what is really happening is the coexistence of global as well as Chinese commercial forces and cultural practices. It is what British scholar Stuart Hall described as going global and going local at the same time. What do all these mean to Chinese people? Again, it depends on who you ask. But I would say that for most, it means more choices, be it food, style, entertainment, values, or just about everything in life.
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