SHE dresses in saggy (宽松的) pants and is crazy about the pop star, Rain. Bin Xue is in love with South Korean culture. The 19-year-old from Sichuan Province feels a strong connection with the neighboring country.
"The two nations have a long history of friendship and there are many similarities between them," she said. "But Koreans are iron-willed, and we could learn this quality from them."
Bin is not the only Chinese deeply affected by Korean culture. A recent survey shows that most Chinese teenagers think highly of their eastern neighbor.
However, Koreans do not view the Chinese in the same good light. In a recent survey, only 5.5 per cent of Korean teens thought the Chinese people friendly.
The survey among high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the United States, was conducted in 156 high schools. More than 7,000 teenagers were questioned on success, family, their self-identity (自我意识), as well as their opinions about the world at large.
Results showed that most Korean teens gave a low score to the Chinese for patriotism (爱国心), responsibility and honesty. In their eyes, Chinese people are not hard-working and don't obey the rules.
"The result is surprising, but it does reflect a real information gap between teenagers in the two countries," said Lei Li, a psychology professor from the Capital Normal University.
Experts say that Chinese students' positive feelings about South Korea were a result of the booming (繁荣) popularity of Korean pop music. Korean movies and TV series have flooded China. And 73 per cent of the Chinese respondents said they watched Korean TV serials and cartoons.
On the other hand, Lei added, Korean teenagers don't have much access to China. The survey found that only 6.7 per cent of Korean students have ever read Chinese books or news magazines or watch Chinese TV programmes.1
Professor Lei thinks that Chinese teens should give themselves a better basis for appreciating the cultures of their neighbors. It's not enough to simply enjoy their music, TV and fashion sense. "The survey shows that Chinese teens should make friends with their foreign peers . They shouldn't judge other countries by their media alone," said Lei.
Luo Xi'er, 17, from Hunan Province, hopes Chinese people can improve their image. "In my opinion, it is the bad behavior of Chinese tourists which has destroyed our image abroad," she said.
The girl has read several online articles in which Koreans put Chinese tourists' bad manners under the spotlight. "I would like to go to South Korea some day and show them that most Chinese are good-mannered."
1. Most Chinese teenagers think highly of South Korea because _____.
A. they are crazy about pop stars in South Korea
B. Korean people have certain qualities they respect
C. there are many similarities between China and South Korea
D. all of the above
2. Korean teens probably have low opinions of Chinese because ______.
A. they are friendly and iron-willed B. they don't know much about China
C. they hate Chinese because of historical conflicts
D. they only watch Korean TV serials and cartoons
3. According to professor Lei, ______.
A. Chinese teens should not enjoy the pop music of South Korea
B. Chinese teens should help Korean peers learn more about China
C. we should prevent Korean movies and TV series from flooding in China
D. we should have a better understanding of Korean peers
4. We can infer from the survey _________.
A. Chinese teenagers think highly of South Koreans
B. most Korean teens gave a low score to the Chinese
C. it is necessary to strengthen cultural communications
D. bad behavior of Chinese tourists destroyed our image abroad
