Abstract

This article focuses on cross-cultural perceptions and the processes by which ideas and values move between societies. It is based on focus groups, responses to questionnaires and interviews with 140 Chinese students, cultural workers and teachers. It shows how the experience of living in the UK can both alter prior expectations of the country as well as generating processes of critical reflection about the nature of both China and Western societies. The participants focused on the evaluation of educational systems, the understanding of rights, law and social obligations, and how these affected the current status of women. Social change does not result simply from exposure to new ideas but cross-cultural contacts and experience can be factors in the movement away from traditional structures in that they highlight alternative ways of understanding the self in relation to others and new possibilities for social life.

Keywords: women, identity, education, cultural exchange

How to Cite:

Philo, G., (2017) “Cultural Encounters between China and Britain: Key Factors in the Formation and Transfer of Ideas and Values”, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 7(1), 91-110. doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.197