Since I was in primary school, I have been hearing that there is a place called the United States of America, whose citizens always say they are in the center of the world, and that their country and nation are the greatest.

I do not doubt that.

Personally, I believe that United States of America is great. It is definitely the benchmark of freedom and democracy. The biggest economic entity, the most powerful country in the world, the strongest military force in the world… there are countless titles belonging to the USA. America is the representative of newborn countries, and China is a country with a long and rich history, so what Chinese people think about America would be interesting because they are two entirely different nations.

Most Chinese people are inclined to admit that the USA is the greatest. The incredible vitality and strong power that the young regime shows is truly respectable. It is a miracle that United States of America became the leader of the world in merely one hundred years. The impressive hard work and wisdom of Americans do not go unnoticed by Chinese people. However, while Americans are able to get wealthy by working hard, Chinese people work hard but can hardly be wealthy. China has much to learn from the USA indeed.

Some Chinese say that America lacks history, which means the nation does not have enough experience. Others do not think so -- they hold an opinion that China's long history is its downfall. Although it is a beautiful history, it tends to hold back Chinese people's mindsets. That seems to be why Chinese people can sometimes be somewhat fusty, stubborn, and conservative: they are quite jealous of the vitality and creativity of America.

Aged people in China admit that the United States of America is powerful, but it is also dangerous. The reason why they hold this belief is most likely due to the mistrust between their respective ideologies, hostile policies of both China and United States of America, and most of all, the war decades ago. When these aged people were young, China was undergoing an economic blockade and the threat of military invasion. To prepare the incoming nuclear war that their chairman daydreamed, the government and communists peddled that United States of America is trying to invade our beautiful motherland, and once they occupied China, our nation and people will suffer from a great destruction. It was kind of scary, and the bloody Korean War appeared vividly before Chinese people (Chinese people thought that the next target of American in 50’s was China), so the propaganda did arise the immediate sense of threat and crisis. Thus, one can understand why those aged people fear the USA.

There are a minority of Chinese people that have extreme opinions about the United States of America. We call them the “angry young”, and most Chinese people view them as blind patriots. They disagree with United States of America on just about everything: Americans say United States is the benchmark of democratic regime; the angry young deny this and insist communism is superior. Americans say that United States is the most important economic entity; the angry young claim that the United States is a regime built on bloody pillage and cruel invasion. Americans say that United States is the example of the coexistence of all races; the angry young say that United States of America is a prison for people of color where oppression runs rampant. The angry young even claim that they will take over the authority and expose the lies of the United States of America.

My personal opinion is that they are just naïve young people and blind patriots who want to vent their anger. They are definitely not representative of what all Chinese people believe, and Chinese people should not let them be the face of the public opinion.