6. Hollywood Blockbuster Stimulates Debate

Hollywood blockbuster Kungfu Panda turned out to be a big hit in the China market, with its box office takings exceeding 135 million yuan ($19 million) in three weeks.

From the lead character (a panda) to the settings and music, the movie absorbed a lot of Chinese cultural elements that were perfectly combined with Hollywood filmmaking skills. Different from previous Hollywood animated movies with Chinese elements like Mulan or Kungfu King, which just touched the surface of Chinese culture or only used Chinese elements as a symbol, the creators of Kungfu Panda had done a lot of homework and grasped the true value behind Chinese culture.

The huge box office haul of the film in China sparked a heated debate on how Chinese should react when their culture is adapted to foreign works and then makes such an impact around the world. They also debated what Chinese artists could do to better exploit their own rich national cultural heritage. Most Chinese artists agree that China needs a mechanism to industrialize its traditional culture and make cultural products oriented to the world market.