New Weekly’s June 1 cover article asks the question: “How much Chinese flavor is left?” The feature includes a survey about knowledge of Chinese traditional culture among children born in the 1990s who live in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei.
Here are some of the results:
Q: Do you know what China’s four great inventions are?
Paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder
49.3% know all four, 37.3% get one or more wrong, 13.3% don’t know at all
Q: Do you think that there is any bad and bitter period in China’s history that we should remember?
66.7% said the Nanjing Massacre, 29.3% answered ‘various’, 4% said they hadn’t heard of any such period.
Q: Can you use a calligraphy pen?
40% yes, 38.7% a little, 21.3% no.
There is also a survey about brand awareness, designed to contrast foreign brands with Chinese ones.
Q: What brands have made the deepest impression on you?
Sports: Nike, Adidas, Li Ning
Food and drink: Coca Cola, Walls icecream, Yili milk
Clothing: Channel, Gucci, Bennetton
Cosmetics & toiletries: Olay, Rejoice, Libai
Electronics: Sony, Panasonic, Lenovo, Nokia
Service industry: Carrefour, Cathay Pacific, EMI (huh? – ed.)
Fast food: KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut
Cars: Honda, Mazda, Lotus, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Cherry QQ
Stationery: Mickey Mouse, Zhonghua pencils, Congming Gou
Games: Gameboy, PS2, Blue Flag
Bicycles: Giant, Flying Pigeon, Forever
Cigarettes and alcohol: Marlboro, Hong Ta Shan, Louis XIII (Remy Martin)
Medicine: Gaitianli, Nutrilite (Amway)