3.1 The Current Situation of Chinese Culture
Since China became a full WTO member in 2002, globalization has become a hot topic in China. With the development of the economic globalization, here comes the question about the culture identities. The problem arises when we perceive identity as fixed, natural and timeless. Such a conception makes it unlikely for contested and plural identities to emerge.
In spite of the fact that global forces can be oppressive and erode local traditions and identities, they can also provide new framework for people to remould their identities.
Discussion on economic globalization and cultural identity is of great significance in contemporary China, as the country is getting more and more involved in the process of economic globalization. It is not easy for anyone talking about globalization not to generalize or articulate it in stereotypes. Nevertheless, the huge and fast-growing literature on globalization in China demonstrates that the theoretical study of globalization is flourishing in the country. Diverse attitudes towards globalization can be summarized by the terms they are using, such as “worldness”, “internationalization”, “transnationalization”, “international integration”, “interdependency”, “Westernization” and “convergence”. In China, globalization is a material reality. The global trends in all walks of life reflect that China, after having shut itself against the outside world, has merged into world community in a deep and extensive manner.
3.1.1 Americanization of Chinese Values
With further development of China’s reforms and open-up policy, there are more and deeper communications with western cultures．In this process，a lot of American values are introduced into China such as individual freedom，competition，material wealth and family values. Many young Chinese adopt most of these values as the “American way of life”. They prefer to pursue the American values more than our traditional ones. Actually, the Chinese values have been Americanized to some extent though the distinctiveness remains．
We can find that many young Chinese now have strong beliefs in individual freedom and try to be more self-reliant．Unlike their elders, they are much less dependent on the support of others．They highly value the efforts of themselves and wish to be successful through their own striving and efforts．They adore individualism instead of the collectivism which is advocated in our traditional culture. And they think more for themselves instead of always trying to maintain harmony through tolerance of others．Their choices are more decided on their own interests instead of society and原文请找腾讯752018766,优-文^论,文.网http://www.youerw.com make decisions by themselves．On the other hand，they have become more self-oriented or even more selfish.
They lay less emphasis on team spirit．Their loyalty to a given group is weak．They are apt to change their membership as it suits or leaves one employer for another．They take less consideration of others；personal goals take precedence over group goals，which sometimes destroy the harmony the situation may achieve．Many of them admire the American value and want to study or work in the United States．
3.1.2 The Popular Culture in China
With the influence of the cultural globalization and the gradual formation of a new world system, China is witnessing a “cultural movement” characterized by one “fever” after another. Against the background of global capitalism, the above-mentioned logical concepts of economic mechanism are not only applied effectively in economic activities, but also in the development of culture. The hegemony of Chinese mainstream culture may still be influential, but growing popular culture identities have managed to make a strong presence. More and more people have changed their attitudes towards consumer culture. As a result, a local cultural study has recently become a fashionable interdisciplinary inquiry and multiculturalism, a much controversial theory.
The rise of popular culture in China is accompanied by globalization and “the market economy increasingly penetrating into all realms of social life and consumption starting to manipulate and generate desire”. (Tang, Xiaobing, 1993) “Popular culture” is often described as “market culture” in Chinese context, as opposed to the “mainstream culture”—works about the State ideology, the “main theme” culture—works highlighting the leadership of the Party, the revolutionary traditions and the socialist spiritual civilization, and the “intellectual culture” which is usually of “high-brow” works enriched with “deep thought” and “elegance”. The fact that popular culture makes use of modern media such as TV, film, video, etc is responsible for its popularity. Popular culture as newly-emerged cultural identity is obviously achieving more and more presence in the cultural market.