Korean Wave (Hallyu) in China
“Korean wave (Hallyu) was coined in China in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists surprised by the fast growing popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China.” However, the phenomenon of Korean wave flows into East Asia especially China during the early twenty-first century. Korean wave covers the craze for South Korean music, TV dramas, pop stars, but also for fashion styles, cosmetics and electronics. There are many reasons causing Korean wave being a popular mass culture in China. Korean wave spread so successful because of the Confucian themes that East Asian cultures are more familiar with, typically dealing with traditional issues such as family, love, and filial piety. China in particular share a similar history with Korea. Furthermore, Korean government propagates their modernization Korean wave through media power. Extensively promoting Korean culture transnational makes it another reason Chinese suddenly start engaging in Korean cultures. As two countries both strongly pay attention to the international culture exchange, people are more likely try to understand and accept it. The effect Korean wave has made on Chinese people is enormous. Daily life like watching dramas becomes popular and the story lines are discussed among youths and housewives. Due to the drama contains everything like music, fashion styles, pop stars and foods. Chinese people start imitating both the way of dressing, make-up putting. Korean restaurants also sprang up quickly like mushrooms. Korean language is also being chosen as students’ third language in order to understand more about the culture. Chinese start travelling to the filming location in Korea so as to enjoy Korean wave natively and it also helps Korean to obtaining another way of economy profit making. Korean traditional ethnics and education view also influenced Chinese people’s life in many ways. Despite those advantages, Korean wave does challenge the Chinese its own culture. Less attention is paid on Chinese