China is developing at an amazing speed. Chinese are becoming wealthy and high-tech. In the years following the Cultural Revolution, Chinese people feared appearing backward before the world. Today, for the most part, that fear is gone. Chinese people can hold their heads high.
       In high-context cultures like China people are very sensitive about losing face. For that reason, maintaining a reputation before the world is imperative for Chinese. In order to keep face before the international world, Chinese people need to be aware of what international visitors perceive as face-losing and as face-saving.
    Higher salaries, expensive cars, skyscrapers and technology certainly play a role in a country's international image, but they don't  make up the whole picture. When people from around the world visit China, they are most impressed by the people.
      That's why Chinese people cannot afford to depend solely on material things to impress the world. Visitors perceive China as developed or not developed based on what they see people do or not do. If you look carefully at the pictures on the left, you will see nice cars and buildings, but you'll also observe some uncivilized behavior that has the potential of ruining China's reputation before the world.