by Greg T. Spielberg

Come the first day of school, roughly 600 Oakland County (Mich.) students will be tossing Chinese textbooks into their backpacks on the way to class. Over the past two years, the number of high schools offering Chinese has jumped from four to 23 out of the 28 districts in this Detroit-metro county. Seventh-grade social studies has been refocused from Eastern Hemisphere to contemporary China and “its emerging role in the world,” says Jackie Moase-Burke, the language consultant for Oakland Schools. These students are part of the growing number nationwide – from Chicago and Ohio to Washington D.C. and New Jersey – that should be able to translate “Welcome back to school” to “欢迎回到学校” by year’s end.

There are an estimated 50,000 Chinese-language students in the United States according to the Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages Web site, a tenfold increase since 2000. In Oakland County, educators and local government are working together to promote a bi-lingual school experience – one that better positions students to interact with the world’s largest emerging market. “More and more, education and workforce development has been critical to business development,” says Chuck Holmes of the Oakland County Department of Economic Development.

The trend is not just in southeast Michigan. It’s nationwide. “There has been a sea change,” says Steve Ackley, spokesman for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Nationally, Chinese programs in the US saw heavy growth, increasing 200% between ’04 and ’08. Nine years ago, the group’s national survey of America’s schools did not even include Chinese as an answer option (the language was part of “other.”) The council estimates that 5000 schools taught the language.

This significant uptick has been aided by China’s flourishing economic gravity, but also through assistance by both nation’s governments. In 2006, President Bush kicked off the $114 million National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), a program meant to increase America’s fluency in “critical” languages such as Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, Russian and others. The NSLI provided funding for students seeking to learn strategically important languages, and with international relations dominated by the Middle East, Arabic was the overwhelmingly popular choice.

Thomas Farrell, former secretary of the State Department’s academic programs, says the fund (which also provides grants for teachers) was influenced by changing global economics as well. “I do think the impact that we were all experiencing – China’s economic impact and India’s economic rise – had a lot to do with the initiative.”

Since then, Chinese has greatly outstripped Arabic as America’s second language. A major reason for the speed with which Chinese is moving across the continent is Hanban, or the Chinese Language Council International. Officially defined as a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, Hanban is financed by the state and in turn has sponsored a noticeable portion of the States’ language renaissance. Chinese Language Council International sponsors trips for American teachers and administrators to visit China, pays for Chinese textbooks and finds Chinese teachers for American schools having trouble pulling a qualified instructor from the local area. Hanban also funds teacher-training programs for non-native speakers looking to sharpen their fluency.

Ackley, who’s attended the World Language Expo for the past half-decade says he started noticing the Hanban presence three years ago. The cultural promotion is part of a soft diplomacy meant to increase the country’s influence abroad. China recently began broadcasting its China Central Television satellite channel into the Middle East and seeks to do the same in the US.

In domestic public and private schools, Hanban is influencing Chinese-language teaching. More than 35 of the 350 or so private schools in the country source the group to find them qualified teachers through a program called China Connection. A Birmingham, Ala., school wanted to start an Associated Placement program but lacked the talent base (only 1% of the city’s population is Asian, much less Chinese).

“The program really allowed the school to begin where they may not have been able to otherwise,” says National Association of Public Schools Spokeswoman Myra McGovern, adding that less than a tenth of America’s private schools relied on Hanban to find teachers.

Galal Walker, director of the National East Asian Languages Resources Center at Ohio State University, manages his relationship with Hanban “tenderly.” The center’s mission is to bring Chinese language teaching into the mainstream but Walker says Hanban has frequently bordered on proselytizing for its country rather than helping to properly instruct Ohio students. He credits Hanban for becoming more efficient, pointing out that the relationship is a work in progress. For the state, there’s been rapid development. Five years ago, Ohio had seven schools teaching Chinese. Now there are 70 districts with more than 100 schools.

Proselytizing or efficient management, the results are starting to become apparent to Walker. “I spent 25 years saying we should pay attention to the Chinese, and now I sit in my office and get 25 calls from people who say we should be paying attention to the Chinese,” he says.

Many thanks to Greg T. Spielberg for contributing this article. Greg is fresh off an eight-month internship at BusinessWeek where he worked on reader engagement and as a reporter. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College and the University of Missouri. His journalism passions are building community and writing about the economic implications of cultural change.

This collaborative post was born from a single tweet in response to my interview with Jenny Bai which asked, in a nutshell:

What Makes China Cool, Anyway? In emails, blog comments, Twitter and Linkedin, over 40 contributors weighed in. Here’s what they had to say:

5000 years of culture and tradition
Chinese inventions: paper, gunpowder, writing, money, fireworks, farming innovations
Chinese calligraphy (Hanzi)
Tonal language; the simplicity of Chinese grammar
Dragons and pandas as symbols
Chinese superstition and folklore
Chinese horoscope
Chinese lion dances
Confucianism
Acupuncture, qigong, herbal medicine and cupping
The tradition of taking off one’s shoes when stepping into a house
Nuances of gift giving; red envelopes
The concept of yin and yang
Respect for one’s elders
Interdependent social nature of the culture
A desire to learn

Eat, Drink, Play
Chopsticks
Always eating with a crowd; never dining alone
Sharing dishes
Dumplings
Noodles
Beer in a bag
Tea
“the cool little sandwiches I have for breakfast where they cut off the crust and have 3 layers of bread: my favorite is pork and egg.”- Mark Hirsch
Enthusiasm for singing and karaoke, even if the singer is bad
Cranial/sacral therapy while getting one’s hair washed
Foot massage as a social gathering
Touring on a bicycle
Chinese nightclubs
Chinese martial arts in film and television (Jet Li was mentioned a few times)

The Chinese Aesthetic
Fans
Silk
Bamboo
Modern and traditional Chinese art. Colin Dyas provided an incredible list, citing “Mao’s unintended influence on Western pop art and literature… Putting austerity on the outside and beauty on the inside is cool, and the Chinese etiquette that teaches us this is delightfully cool.”
Chinese characters as incorporated in Western tattoos and products
Traditional Chinese fashions, like Qipao and Zhongshan Zhuang
Chinese junks and breadbox vans
Maglev
Urban infrastructure; 2008 Olympics design
Traditional architecture; hutongs and the Temple of Heaven
Incensed temples
Buddhist statues

Musings on development and identity
Comparatively cheaper cost of living than in the West
Rapid economic expansion
Manufacturing capacity
China’s creative use of technology to question/challenge the government
Positive outlook and happy disposition
Pragmatism
Chinglish
Women (several men who contributed to this post are big fans of China’s ladies)
”Social behavior of people with small village mentality struggling with modern day conveniences” –Mimi Hui
Chinese people in general, and Chinese youth (under 30) specifically. David Russell writes:

with exception of government entities, the place is run by young people under 40. The faces you saw in every restaurant, store, etc. were young. Interestingly the street markets were still run by the older generations. Both our accountant and lawyer were in their 30’s. My most successful customers were also in their 40’s – young by international standards for similar enterprises. A younger decision maker has a different calculus than an older one. They are the ones making money and spending it. I cannot defend this statement empirically; but it seems wages have risen faster than the cost of living. Since many commodities are state controlled, this could explain my perceived imbalance. This is one element that makes China “uniquely cool.”

David also adds, ”where else do you see 8 people or a slaughtered hog on a moped?”

Can China’s “Coolness” Be Exported?
All in all, China’s value systems and traditional commodities were most cited among what makes China “cool.” Michael Badali offered an interesting parallel, stating that “China’s priorities are like Italy’s: food, family and friendship.” But, can China’s “coolness” and culture be exported? Many aspects have already found their place in the West, from Hanzi tattoos to Peking duck to kung fu. Jenny Bai writes:

Sure China has a plethora of trends, products, sub-cultures, punk rockers, designers, entertainers… the list goes on. And they’re all cool, to the Chinese. Whether or not those entities can cross-over into the West and still remain cool wholly depends on the whims and preferences of the latter group. The cool factor of anything is up for measurable grabs, since what is “hip” and “trendy” and “whoa” parallels the opinions of who is all those things….

The West is curious and has already been poking its head (though sometimes obtrusively) into China. China is saturated with the West. But how much of China is in the West? Relatively speaking, not much. That’s why there needs to be an active and continuous connection of both sides. And I don’t mean “bridge the gap via consulting and business trips and occasional baijiu dinners.” I mean, get the Chinese people and all their coolness into the daily lives of Westerners, and do it as often as possible. When Western and Eastern citizens actually start casually interacting on a regular basis, the “cool factor” of China will surface and evolve naturally. And regardless of what brand or technology or concept comes over from the East, elements of cool (i.e. what is interesting and relevant to said persons perceiving X) will already be part of the package: because the people that make these things cool will have already been exposed.

Robert Aiudi offers another take:

I would hope that China’s coolness and uniqueness stays in China. It makes for fun, fascinating and wondrous travel. That said, China’s coolness is already available around the world in several places. In NYC, I love to go to Chinatown and see old and new China, buy food, see new fangled products, see the newest cell phones, hair styles and hear some funky music alongside family associations, incensed temples, and Chinese lion dances.
All that said, I have a feeling that as Chinese marketers, PR professionals, among others get more savvy about penetrating Western markets, we will begin to see more mainstream Chinese “cool’ things. I think it’s going to follow a similar path to Japanese goods. I remember when “Made in Japan” meant junk, low quality products. Now Sony, Fujitsu, etc etc are world class brands.

Based on the feedback, one thing is for sure: if China does, in fact, make a concerted effort to export its brands, businesses and independent contractors want in on the action. Jackson “Jack” Yuen asks, “is there a niche for local entrepreneurs to collaborate with the Chinese enterprises to provide local expertise, distribution, and customer service?” My short answer is YES, but how much patience do you have?
John Yang provides keen insights on the future of China’s cultural exports, and forecasts promising opportunity for China’s brands to have a presence in the West. He writes:

Lifestyle goes with value system, China will start to export its value as it grows stronger and more and more foreigner learning Chinese, and then export lifestyle brands. People have tattoo of Chinese characters. Its characters and styles have also been used in design. HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition series is one of the latest one.
Chinese food, silk, tea, art-works all have great potential. They need a company to commercialize it abroad.

Another contributor sees a future in disruptive technologies and believes that China should make investments in discontinuous and disruptive innovation rather than continuous innovation. Like several others, he also cited one of China’s biggest advantages: “more brains at cheaper price.” Kevin Gaudette conveyed that China’s creative people will be integral to China’s future, writing:

China has developed a nationwide network scouting for and training Olympic athletes. The same can/should/must be done for creativity. The rare left-handers, and creative people in general, will be very valuable to China’s future.

Sometimes China is “So Not Cool.”
Despite efforts from both sides of the fence to improve the East-West relationship, political and ethnic tension persists. Given today’s economic climate, there are those people who believe that China is largely to blame for the current global recession, whether because of the country’s propensity to save, to manufacture low-cost products, or to provide cheap labor. Living in China as an expatriate also introduces unique challenges. There were times when even I thought that China was completely uncool (like when I bought an electric blanket on the street because my apartment had no heat and that electric blanket ended up melting into my leg while I was sleeping. Not cool.) Given these differences and hardships, it was not surprising to find that a handful of people who participated in this post opposed my enthusiasm for China’s future and/or did not feel that my question was appropriate. Human rights issues, historical tragedies and political strife were three hot button topics that fueled both heated online debate and high-voltage emails in my inbox. One person shared:

Great Leap Forward – 30 million dead. Widespread cannibalism. My wife’s grandparents died of starvation. Read “Hungry Ghosts” by Jasper Becker.
Cultural Revolution – millions dead. Hundreds of millions of lives shattered.

There was no famine which was made worse by actions of the government. There was no famine -period. [China was] selling grain to the Soviet Union to gain access to their nuclear weapons technology and starving the people of China in order to do so.
Cool – huh?

Another gave consideration to our global history, pointing out that:

all countries have things to be ashamed of…

As far as China, I have lived in China for the last 4 years and my wife was born during the Cultural Revolution while her father was in jail for political reasons. I have had many conversations with her father about the history of China as well as doing a fair amount of reading. It was not easy for my wife’s family and her dad pulled no punches when he talked about the past. However, it’s important to be able to separate propaganda from true history. There was no wide-spread cannibalism in China. The propaganda that we have learned in the west is very deep and profound but it gives us an inaccurate view of history which colors our perception of China today.
I also remember May 4th 1970 when the US National Guard opened fire on anti-war protesters, killing 4. This was one of two such events at the time. I’m a proud American but I try to keep my eyes open to the truth and try to be slow to judge the actions of other countries. I think this is the path to greater peace and understanding. All peoples have dark events in their history. There are none of us in a position to get holier than thou.

Thomas Rippel recognized contradictions inherent to the development of China, but concluded with an uplifting take on China’s historical lessons:

For me it’s the unique cultural experiment that made China what it is today. The Cultural Revolution was in a very real way a social experiment on the scale and magnitude that has never been seen in human history. One party rule, yet the people are (mostly) happy? That just goes against our deepest fundamental western values. The country is so full of contradictions. It’s so disparate, yet so homogenous. So safe, yet so dangerous. So synchronized, yet so chaotic. Xenophobic, yet so warmhearted! Of course you know what I mean.

It’s a country that until just 30 years ago was so isolated and removed from our western world that people still thought that the Great Leap Forward was a success! It might as well have been a different planet!

And of course the pace! It’s just relentless. In Europe we have cultures that are set in their tracks. For a couple of generations now nothing fundamental has changed. But even the two world wars don’t compare the the social topsy turvy that China has undergone. And all of it so recently, you can see it happening in front of your eyes! You are right in the middle of it! It is really mind boggling what has happened in the last 35 years. And that’s what makes China so cool!

Many specific examples of what is NOT cool about China were mentioned, including:
Bribery and corruption, generally
Historical tragedies, like the Great Leap Famine and TAMN
Censorship
Babies with open pants
Animal cruelty
Arguing for a fair price
Lack of creativity/innovation
Being stared at as a foreigner
No ice
Night soil
Bodily noises and release of fluids
Overpopulated
Copycats and counterfeits
Brutality towards T1b3t
Execution of non-violent criminals
Support of North Korea
Men’s nylon socks
Smoking

One contributor had this to say:

What’s china’s cool factor? Eating fetus at an art show was cool a
few years ago, but it’s so passé now. Designing a CCTV building which
looks like a stinking twisted man’s boxer was cool, but it was burnt
down before its opening. Thoughts? Old professors were making
brainless statements, and unless they raped their young students’
brain out, literally, they were uncool. Writers no longer write, they
were showing up in beauty pageants or fashion shows. Fashion designers
were busy making their fashion show a pedophiles’ fantasy land, only
when they got bored with writing their autobiography. There are
shallowness and half-ass corporate marketing trickery in every aspect
of China’s cool factor. So what really makes China cool?

Alas, there were a few people who felt that I was pretty uncool for asking about China’s “coolness” and they made it a point to let me know.

There were also a few overall shockers in compiling this post, mainly:
The vast majority of contributors were men. Ladies, where are you?
Compared to Westerners, Chinese contributors had a lower participation rate.
Negative remarks came from both native-born Chinese and foreigners.
Specific brands, products, and artists were seldom mentioned.

So, is China Cool or Not?
James Filbird aptly summarized the combined sentiment of feedback received, stating:

the thing that makes China cool to me is that China hasn’t figured out what “cool” is yet. It’s still a mystery to most Chinese. Because I am living in the midst of this mystery and seeing it unfold, is what I think makes China cool. They’re still defining their “cool.”
This country does not have any predominantly identifiable brands (other than KFC and McDonald’s) like the US has and its people are really looking for something… something cool.

Tim Martin also made a great observation:

China (or at least Shanghai and Beijing) is living their “Rockwell moment” right now – sort of what we experienced in the West after WW2. Everything seems possible, and every day/week/month, things seem to be getting better and better. It’s an infectious feeling of endless possibilities and better tomorrows, of eternal optimism, innocence, and confidence – sort of like how a child feels that he or she can do anything and everything.

One thing is cool, for sure- the contributors who made this post possible, among them:
Robert Aiudi
Michael Badali
Jenny Bai (a catalyst for this post)
Phil Calvin (a catalyst for this post)
Thomas Clancy
Jeff Crosby (check out his take on what makes China cool)
Colin Dyas
James Filbird
Kevin Gaudette
Mark Hirsch
Ric Di Ianni
Ian Johnson
Rich Kuslan
Parker Lau
James Liu
Wei Luo
AndrEEa Manea
Tim Martin
Lee Rendleman
Thomas Rippel
David Russell
XunLei Sheng
Hank Sheller
William Sun
Sunzhou Jian
Alberto Tapia
Nancy K. Taylor
Mimi Hui (Miss Xu)
John Yang
Seymour Yu
Jackson “Jack” Yuen
Michael Zakkour
Jian “Paul” Zhou
Anonymous

Something to add? Comments are always “cool” too.