BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Fears for China『s cultural identity

In the early morning mists, in a public park in Wuhan, central China『s Hubei province, groups of elderly people gather under the trees to greet the day.Some perform tai chi, others march, banging Chinese drums.

Some fear traditions are under threatMany see the members of this older generation as guardians of China『s history and traditions.And some of those exercising are starting to wonder if the new generation will keep those traditions alive."Young people think differently from us," said 62-year-old Dai Taoxiang. "They like to be fashionable so they don『t like coming here, to the park, they『d rather go to the gym.""Nowadays no schools and no teachers talk about tradition," said Qian Wenzhi. "All they teach is how to get rich. It『s a big attack. They『ve completely forgotten 5,000 years of history and tradition. They『ve forgotten."

If I have a daughter or son, I would tell him: 『Western culture... enjoy it! But don『t forget traditional culture. You are a Chinese!『

Xu Jun, manager of the Blue Sky cafeThose anxieties are easy to understand, given the sudden and rapid changes in Wuhan.The process of modernisation which has already transformed China『s booming east coast is now reaching central China too, bringing new technology and new influences to cities like Wuhan.That is sparking tension between those determined to safeguard Chinese traditions and the younger generation.Many of them see all things Western as the height of fashion, from food to music. To hear their views, I visited Wuhan University, founded 112 years ago and one of the oldest in China. Its architecture gives a clear sense of its mix of ancient and modern - concrete functional buildings with ornate tiled Chinese roofs.The contrast seemed to go to the heart of the issue - how to embrace the new without losing the old.Chen Fangfang, Liu Di and Zhou Jingwei are all second year English students here. They all said the rapid changes in Wuhan meant their lives were totally different from those of their parents.

"When my parents were at the same age as me, they didn『t have such high quality of life," said Liu Di."With the development of technology, we have more opportunities. They had to work on the farm, work in the factory, to feed their family. It was very hard, those years," she said.The others agreed. Most saw the new wealth in Wuhan as a positive change which would give them a less arduous lifestyle than their parents. But when I asked them if they also saw disadvantages for their generation, they agreed they were paying a price."In their time," said Chen Fangfang, "people lived together in harmony and the neighbours cared for each other. They lived together much happier [sic] than us. Most of the time we are separated from each other. We don『t spend a lot of time together."They had different views about the impact of tradition. Liu Di, for example, said she did prefer to listen to traditional Chinese folk songs, not pop. But the others told me she was very much the exception."Like all young people in China, we all like fashionable things, like pop songs," said Zhou Jingwei, the only young man in the group. "To tell you the truth I don『t really like Chinese classical music. I like pop music. But that doesn『t mean we have to drop Chinese classical music," he said.Several years ago, there were no Western-style nightclubs in Wuhan. Today they are mushrooming. The Blue Sky café, which now has two premises, was one of the first to open, about five years ago.

Wuhan『s students said society was more atomised nowOn Saturday night it was bustling, serving Western food like pizza and burgers, and Western cocktails. The clientele was mostly local people.The club『s manager, Xu Jun, who introduced himself using his English name, Robbie, seemed very much at home with the Western pop music and menus.But when asked about tradition, he said he saw it as important for Wuhan to maintain a balance between the new influences now flooding in and older Chinese traditions."If I have a daughter or son, I would tell him: 『Western culture, fashion and Western food, music - enjoy it!『" he said. "『But don『t forget traditional culture. You are a Chinese!『"
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