Americans have very little contact with Chinese culture except through the Chinese fast food, China Towns, and what they see on the news. However, the image of China in the mind of a common American is mostly shaped by what he or she sees in the movies. For example,many people think all Chinese' citizens are adept at Kungfu, and they like to use it. There is only one language in China and it is Cantonese. Except for some modern conveniences like cam and refrigerators, 'the culture here has not changedin the last 1000 years. And China and Japan are basically the same.

    除了中国快餐、唐人街和关于中国的新闻以外，，美国人很少接触中国文化。不过，在美国老百姓的头脑里关于中国的概念主要是被电影塑造的。例如，很多人认为所有的中国人擅长功夫，而且他们非常喜欢武打。中国只有一门语言：粤语。除了现代便利品如汽车和冰箱等外，近1000年内的中国文化没有变化。而且中国和日本基本上是一样的，等等。

Perhaps these stereotypes are funnyor even a little shocking to Chinese readers. As an American in China though, I find myself laughing at some of the absurd stereo types that local shave of my country. For example,Americans do not care about family very much. Everyone has a gun. The crimerate is so high that one's life is constantly in danger. And America is the most sexually liberal country in the world. Each one of these ideas is ridiculous.

    也许这些老套的想法对中国读者是可笑的或者有点奇怪。不过作为在中国的美国人，我也认为当地人对美国的老套观念是一样荒谬的，比方说：美国人不重视家庭，每个人都拥有枪，犯罪率奇高以至于人们经常生活于危险中。西方国家都差不多。在性关系方面，美国是世界上最自由的。这些概念都是可笑的。

Stereotypes are exaggerations based on incomplete information and most of them stem from movies. In this sense,Hollywood is America' s most powerful ambassador. Unfortunately, the bottom line is to make a profit and there is nogovernmental censorship what so ever.There is only a rating system, which allows people such as parents to censor content themselves. This means that the content is merely guided by what people want to see.namely romance and action.big guns and long kisses. Many fundamental aspects of characters' life styles are also changed to make them more interesting. This is very clear to American audiences, but foreign viewers have no are not aware. There are very few movies that depict the stories and life styles of average people. After all,who would pay to see that?

    这些固定老套的想法用半生不熟的信息为根据加以夸张渲染，而它们多半来自电影。从这个角度来讲，好莱坞是美国能量最大的“大使”。不幸的是，其底线是赚钱，而且没有任何政府的检查。只有电影分级制度让老百姓如家长一样自己检查内容。内容仅仅被观众的兴趣所控制，那就是浪漫和热烈的动作、大枪、长吻。许多角色在生活中的基本方式变得更有意思，对美国观众来说，都很清楚这些差别，但是国外观众几乎意识不到。很少有片子真正地表达老百姓的故事和生活，毕竟谁愿意为这样的电影掏钱呢?

Dozens of people in China have asked me about American culture based on what they have seen in movies.Frankly, I find it frustrating because I find myself spending a fair amount of time trying to undo the influence of Hollywood. One time after watching a movie about a bank robbery, for example, one young man turned to me and said. Movies reveal the essence of a culture, and I have seen many like this before. Therefore. I can believe that Americans must like to rob banks." I could only respond that if his opinion is correct, then from the Chinese movies I have seen it is clear that Chinese like to fight, and sometimes they can evenfly.

    数十人凭借电影问我美国的文化。说实话，我感到失望由于我不得不花那么多时间消除好莱坞的影响。比如说，有一次看与抢银行有关的片子后，一个小伙子转身对我说：“电影显露文化的本质，而我看过很多这样的片子，因此我知道美国人喜欢抢银行。”我只能说如果他的意见是对的，那通过我对中国电影的研究，我也知道中国人喜欢打仗，有时甚至会飞。