One advantage of China's late industrialization was that they were able to snatch the best of both worlds. Since it was not standardized very well in the imperi

One advantage of China's late industrialization was that they were able to snatch the best of both worlds. Since it was not standardized very well in the imperial era, the "Chinese inch" (寸) was simply defined as 1/30 of a meter, and the "Chinese mile" (市里) at 1.5 kilometers. The "Chinese pound" (市斤) is 500 grams, though the mainland divides this into ten ounces and Hong Kong sixteen. But American measurements are so ingrained that attempts to define the inch as 2.5 centimeters or the ounce at 30 grams — even though we'd all lose weight and get taller — would probably be as hard as simply converting to metric.