Over 20 percent of the world's population are Chinese, and by economic standards, China's ascent is only just beginning. The Chinese nation, culture, economy, and language are going to get more and more important in the world during your lifetime. But how much do you currently know about modern China?

What you learned at school about China, and what you read in the newspapers or see on the TV news may not be true any more.

Have a look at the following generalisations about China and see if you ever heard or believed something similar. Can you open your mind and change your preconceptions about China?

Misconception 1. *China is an ancient culture*

What? Of course Chinese culture is ancient! One of the world's oldest actually. Yes, but what's modern China all about? China nowadays is a vibrant modern society, with unique pop culture, fashions, arts, tastes, and habits. Chinese people are proud of their heritage, and there is always an awareness of "old China" inside people's habits and tastes. But the real China of today is a fast-moving modern place: the old continues to give way to the new, and and Chinese people are all looking to their future, not resting on the laurels of the past.

Misconception 2. *China is backward and poor*

By 2050 it's estimated that 50% of China's population will live in the cities, and this is where the focus of national policy is at the moment. Chinese cities are being built up at an astounding rate: every city in China is currently a dazzling scene of infrastructure change - new roads and flyovers, new skyscrapers, new stadiums, new hotels and resorts, and of course new massive ostentatious government buildings. The word "developing" has come to have connotations of 'third world', but in the developing cities of China you can only marvel at the pace of improvement all around.

If you travel to the countryside in China, you certainly might have the impression of a 'developing nation': people are still farming the land using pre-industrial-revolution tools and techniques, and people's lifestyles certainly couldn't be described as cosmopolitan. However, what you may not see is that these people's children may well be smart professionals in the city, sending home ever increasing paychecks to their family. Chinese people are ultimately loyal to their parents, and will routinely save and send home large proportions of their salaries. Even if the youth who move to the Chinese cities aren't managers or entrepreneurs, city salaries for even basic jobs are enough in comparative terms to make everyone happy. Everywhere you go in the Chinese countryside, you can see previously lowly families buying cars and building new houses. So the wealth of the cities will filter to rural areas through private channels, regardless of the urban-focused investment policies of the government.

Misconception 3. *Chinese people eat Chinese food.*

Yes, of course Chinese people eat Chinese food! But do you even know what Chinese food is?

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