Foreigners like China better after the Olympic Games but still hold negative views about some behaviors of Chinese, a new survey has shown.

Foreigners' general impression of China improved after the Olympics, whether they came to Beijing for the Games or not, said Ke Huixin, a Communication University of China (CUC) professor at a media forum¹ in Beijing recently.

The study reveals foreigners’ poor knowledge of China too. "For example, when asked who the president of China was, 60 percent of even those staying in Beijing during the Games didn't know the answer," Ke said.

The CUC conducted the study, interviewing 2,400 foreigners either face-to-face or through an online questionnaire before, during and after the Olympics from July 23 to Sept 9, Ke said.

China's economic image and cultural stature² has risen in their eyes after the Games. And though their impression of the country's political image and its people was the same, they lavished³ more praise on Beijing as a city.

The people interviewed got to know China by watching the Games, touring around the country, making friends with Chinese people, watching Chinese films, using goods made in China and eating in Chinese restaurants and through other channels.

Before the Games, some Americans were against China because of human rights and environmental issues, said Ashley Esarey, of the Fairbank Center of Chinese Studies at Harvard University.

"But many people's perspectives changed during the Olympics. They were astonished at how well the Olympics was organized, and showed more interest in China," he said. The number of Beijing Olympics' supporters increased by 10 percent after the Games.

Perhaps that is what made Jeff Ruffolo, senior consultant⁴ for the Beijing Games organizing committee, say the Olympics was "the summer of love".

But the survey shows foreigners are still critical about some issues. Foreigners who have traveled more widely in China gave lower ratings⁵ to Chinese people's friendliness⁶, enthusiasm toward work and their ability to keep promises than those who have only limited travel experience.

"This is very surprising," Ke said. "It is also surprising that they are less critical about littering after coming into more contact with the people and the culture."

Interviewees who stayed in Beijing during the Olympics, however, had a more positive impression of China than those who did not.

This is because they got a better chance to come into contact with Chinese people, Ke said.

Citizens of the US, the UK and Singapore were polled⁷ online, Ke said. And face-to-face interviews were conducted with people from Europe, Asia and rest of the Americas who were staying in Beijing during the Games.

The Survey Sampling International's Beijing office conducted the online survey, which was designed according to a typical five-level Likert format⁸, the most widely used psychometric method in questionnaires, developed by US educator and organizational psychologist Rensis Likert.

The format allows respondents to specify⁹ their level of agreement in a word or two such as "strongly agree", "agree", "disagree", "strongly disagree", "don't know" or "not sure".

Statements such as "I think the Chinese people always keep their promise", "Most of the stuff I buy is made in China", "I love Chinese food", "In China, people enjoy religious freedom" were used to get people's reaction on China's politics, culture and economy, and its people, and Beijing as a city.

Questions:

1. When was the survey conducted?

2. Who had a more positive impression of China?

3. What was surpising, according to Ke?

Answers:

1. During and after the Olympics from July 23 to Sept 9.

2. Interviewees who stayed in Beijing during the Olympics.

3. Foreigners who have traveled more widely in China gave lower ratings to Chinese people's friendliness, enthusiasm toward work and their ability to keep promises. But they were also less critical of litteringtries.