The lights glittered upon arrival into Quzhou’s downtown。It was my first true glimpse of the city I would spend the next five months living and teaching English in。The city square was like many in me-dium sized cities across Zhejiang province。A symbol of China’s race to prosperity；corporate advertising and ostentatious slogans wrap-ping the exterior of tower blocks，neon，department stores luring customers，the odd littering of fast food outlets，shimmering steal struc-tures and so on。。。
This is initially why I chose China as a place to live，and teach in，during my year before university，over other countries。Not because of its new-found commercialism or tacky Western imitations，but because of the dramatic changes that are taking place。China has become a fas-cinating cocktail of Eastern culture，meets the West。Everything from foreign movies，music，festivals，fashion，food，art and sport has been enthusiastically embraced，and has crept into the Chinese way of life。
“Do you think this is a good thing？”I ask my students and fellow English teachers，and my students and fellow teachers ask me。“Yes and NO！”I reply。
On a brief visit to Shanghai，I cringed at the sight of more Mc Donald’s restaurants than I could keep count of，and fully grown adults wearing Mickey Mouse printed t-shirts，and jackets。Shanghai was like one big，false，and overblown“America land”。An orgy of colored lights，and consumerism。A place that’s neither preserving the past，nor contemplating its future。Shanghai，like its many young party-goers，and shop-o-holics，only concern is for the present，the now，the impressive instants of modern life。
At the same time I enjoyed Shanghai for its superficial frills，and theme park-like thrills。But it made me consider that maybe Western influence in China isn’t such a great thing。Like every situation though，there are good points，and bad，and I believe it’s just a part of life，to take the good with the bad；as an integral whole。
The good I’ve seen，when considering Western influence，is the availability of foreign media to the majority of Chinese people。I feel the movies，book’s，poetry，and freedom of the arts is especially ben-eficial to Chinese students，and allows for an open-minded approach to life，the future，and towards the rest of the world。
The bad I’ve experienced，is most commonly the“Western”imi-tations of food，such as；ice cream，candy，jelly pots，burgers，fried food，and all the junk served in fast food outlets across the country。Most of which should actually be meant for Industrial use only！
There are certainly many heath related problems in my home-country of England，and especially America，where obesity，heart conditions，and general ill-heath are common，because of the over-consumption of fast foods。In forthcoming years this situation may also begin to show in China，if it hasn’t already amongst the youth。
While teaching English in China，I’ve given some of my students a“pub quiz”on British life，and it was surprising to see how“Ameri-canized”some of the answers were。A few students gave answers such as；George Bush is the prime-minister of England，Pizza Hut and KFC constitute British food，and the Queen of England lives in the White-House。
When I refer to“Western”culture sweeping the Chinese nation，I’m actually referring to primarily the dominance of corporate America，and its tendency to globalize everything。I feel Globalization is a little depressing but somewhat inevitable。It’s merely bringing change within China。Nothing in the world remains the same for too long。Everything changes；whether it brings the good，or the bad，but usually both。China is fascinating because of this，because of the way the world is changing so dramatically，and I intend to return many times in the future。
