BEIJING, Jan. 21 -- Colorfully coiffured Chinese youth dressed in up-to-the-minute grunge listening to rock music as they walk, or sitting in a group discussing last night's NBA league match are common sights in China's large cities.

    Western, particularly stateside, youth culture is rapidly incorporating itself into everyday urban Chinese life. What does the country's youth and society in general feel about this cultural onslaught?

    The Mighty Wave of Western Culture

    In the 20-odd years since implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, Chinese youth has ostensibly embraced Western culture. They eat at any one of the 600 McDonald's or 1,000 KFCs in China, flock to NBA League and Italian Soccer League matches and watch Hollywood rather than domestically produced films.

Youth -- a source of joy and exuberance. [sohu]

    Hollywood earns 1 billion yuan, the greatest part of Chinese film market, while Chinese cinema goers spend a measly 20 million or so yuan on locally made films.

    The CCTV sports channel showed live broadcasts of the NBA league tournament matches almost every evening, and all young Chinese basketball fans are avid readers of NBA Magazine and Slam.

    In a coastal survey among middle school students on the most popular sports and entertainment personalities, Michael I. Jordan came first (26 percent), followed by Jackie Chan (18.6 percent), and in a further three surveys between 2002 and 2003 Hong Kong's Andy Lau and Jackie Chan and British footballer David Beckham came top.

    Zhang Yan, junior student at the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, admits, "People my age are attracted to Western trends and products because they are so advanced and innovative."

    Among her peers, anyone who fails to converse convincingly about international sports stars is considered a hick; the same applies to unfortunates that wear domestic rather than Adidas or Nike brand sports shoes.

Young people are happy to celebrate traditional and foreign festivals, as long as they are good fun. [sohu]

    Middle school and primary school students are particularly prone to Western fads, the majority of them more enamored of Harry Potter and Finding Nemo than any domestically produced books or animated cartoons.

    The youthful preference for Western leisure pursuits extends to holiday celebrations. Of China's numerous traditional festivals, only Spring Festival is unanimously observed by both young and old.

    Others, such as the Lantern Festival and Dragonboat Festival, are overshadowed by Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Christmas.

    Parents are, in addition, more than a little alarmed at how readily their offspring accept Western concepts of marriage and sex.

    According to a survey among young Beijingers in 2000, only 30 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement "It's fine for lovers to have sex whether or not they intend to marry."

    Furthermore, the proportion of participants under the age of 20 agreeing with this sentiment was 16 percent higher than those above the age of 30. There is genuine concern about Chinese youth's apparently unconditional acceptance of Western culture; many fear it may lead to moral degeneracy.