For thousands of years the Chinese believed that they had created a perfect social system based on Confucian values and tempered by the Mandate of Heaven. Dynasties came and went but the essence of being Chinese remained essentially unchanged until the twentieth century. Since then change has taken place in Chinese society at an unprecedented speed: the country experienced the turmoil of civil war and revolution and then emerged on to the world stage as a global superpower. This book aims to put these changes into a historical context explain deep-seated cultural attitudes and guide listeners through a maze of unfamiliar social situations in order to help them discover the pragmatism genius warmth and humanity of this extraordinary people.