Here’s an exercise of logic—complete the list:

1. Mao Zedong, First Chairman of the People’s Republic of China

2. Zhou Enlai, First Premier of the People’s Republic of China

3. _________

For many college students in Beijing, the third name is actually—wait for it—Bill Gates.

In a survey by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education last year, Bill Gates ranked third among idols of students from 19 colleges in Beijing.

It is certainly eyebrow-raising that college kids idolize the Capitalist poster-child (man?) almost as much as two big Communist leaders.

But the thing is, everywhere I look in China, it seems to me that old traditional values and are coexisting with Western influences. Yes, the clash of two cultures does cause conflict, but more and more, they’re actually blending together to create something uniquely…Chinese.

In a recent article , NAM writer Andrew Lam said, “the ‘We’ of the old traditional world of clanship, self-defined by proper behavior and relationships within the collective, is ceding to the ‘Me’ of the new generation, one defined largely by sex.”

I both agree and disagree.

His two most graphic examples (literally) are from the art world. First is the 2004 photograph Hindsight by the artist Liu Wei. It’s a seemingly typical Chinese watercolor painting of mist-shrouded mountains—but upon closer inspection, the curves of the steep mounds are actually…rear ends, no buts about it (excuse the pun; I just couldn’t help myself).

Lam’s second example comes from the body art showcased in Shanghai. Again, it’s the old art with an unexpected twist. In one picture, the model poses demurely with a blue qi pao, a traditional one-piece dress for woman. Here’s the twist: the dress is painted on her bare skin.

Andrew Lam believes the art embodies a new Revolution in China. And, this time, it’s not Cultural but Sexual.

To me, the art is not a visual transition from the Old to the New, but something more distinctive than that. China is not in transition, but in exploration. It has discovered what it means to be both East and West, what it means to be the Middle Kingdom.

Related News:
Xinhua News, Even In Retirement, Gates Still Carries Great Influence in China