WHILE bowler hats, pin-striped suits, walking sticks and stiff upper lip represent enduring images of a bygone Britain, it seems that these images are so all-pervasive they form the Chinese view of the UK today.
A report published by Glasgow University reveals the expectations and realities of the Chinese experience of the UK, and finds that Chinese students expecting a "Brief Encounter" Britain are shocked to discover the reality of drunken yobs and street crime.
The report, by Professor Greg Philo of the university's media group is based on interviews with Chinese students studying in UK universities.
While China has historically been a closed society, huge numbers of young Chinese are now being educated abroad. There are more than 50,000 Chinese students in Britain alone.
But traditional images of the UK, coming largely from books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, have been replaced by drunks and streets where it is unsafe to walk.
Cehn Li, 23, came to Britain in September 2005 to study for a Masters in Communications at Leeds University. In January 2007, he moved to Glasgow University to do a PhD in Communications.
"Before I came to Britain, the images I had of the country came from TV dramas and novels so I was expecting the traditional English gentlemen in top hats, carrying umbrellas and having genteel afternoon teas. I imagined a Victorian Britain," he said.
"I've had a mainly positive experience of the country. I think it's a good idea for people to bring their own cultures here. It's great to have the Chinese restaurants and the Indian and Pakistani people with their restaurants too.
"I don't really understand the drinking culture though - I think many people would get bored of sitting in a pub for hours. But I enjoy cooking and talking with friends and taking time with people and learning from each other."
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