> Reading this book, I found myself confused by the existence of Studies Programs. My college had a China Studies program and one or two others, I think Middle

> Reading this book, I found myself confused by the existence of Studies Programs. My college had a China Studies program and one or two others, I think Middle East Studies. Most professors in these programs were white (or black, or whatever - just not necessarily Chinese or Middle Eastern). They would read lots of Chinese texts, visit China a bit, and come back and have opinions on the Chinese National Character. Wang is doing the reverse, and China clearly appreciates his service. It's pretty interesting to read an account of a foreigner doing "cultural studies" of your own culture. On the one hand to see what interests him (and what light that sheds on his own culture), but also to learn to take with a grain of salt some of the things our own "cultural studies" people say. > But why? What’s the point of such people? Why don’t we just hire a Chinese person (maybe an immigrant, if we don’t trust the ones still in the PRC) to tell us what the Chinese National Character is? Why do we sent smart Americans to China to figure out what it’s like? There are literally over a billion people who already know that! Honestly, a Chinese person (for instance) won't look at his own culture with the same eyes as an American, and there's some value to that American perspective for an American audience. This is a kind of translation task that seems intrinsically hard: you need a foot in both worlds, but one of those feet will inevitably be planted more firmly on one side than another.