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爱面子

Yes, we churn out world-class exam-takers, but we tend to smother creativity. Our mechanical approach to learning hardly qualifies us to be pioneers and leaders in science, which requires out-of-the-box thinking. In China, you risk being a pariah if you do not conform. If you don't write a certain number of theses and publish them in certain journals, you risk losing your job or tenure.

That has given rise to a culture of padding academic writing by plagiarizing and presenting a facade of academic richness. Corruption is so rampant it has embroiled presidents of universities and colleges.

Despite all the fanfare, the country is spending much less on research than industrialized nations. For example, the US expends 2.8 percent of its gross domestic product on scientific research, while China spends just 0.83 percent. Since our economy is booming, the absolute amount is expanding, but where is the money going? According to Wang Yanchun, a commentator at Rednet.com, funds often go to the purchase of office buildings and automobiles, while research gets a lower priority.

Science transcends national borders, but literature often encounters the barrier of language. Of all the Nobel categories, the literature prize is the one that the average Chinese covets the most. As of 2008, only one Chinese writer has won, and he - Gao Xingjian - is a French citizen.

Literature is not like science. Since the opening-up policy some three decades ago, China has produced a stream of great writers, some of whom are of Nobel caliber. But there are far more academics in China who read Western languages than Western academics who read Asian languages. So the global exposure of even the best contemporary Chinese writers is limited.