Ever notice the gap when Chinese and German netizens talk? Many Germans still picture China as a backward place, while Chinese users casually reference Luther, Bismarck, the Wirtschaftswunder, and Kafka. Look at the school textbooks and the difference becomes obvious. German textbooks often still show China as a backward country where people ride bicycles because cars are scarce and bow when they meet — old stereotypes with little depth. Chinese high school textbooks, by contrast, cover German literature and history in detail. Chinese high school Chinese textbooks, by contrast, include multiple works by German-language writers, such as Hermann Hesse’s Reading: Purpose and Prerequisites, Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, and Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Supplementary materials also feature Heinrich Böll’s Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa… These texts give students real exposure to German literature and thought. In Chinese high school history textbooks, Germany appears across chapters on Europe’s intellectual liberation movements, bourgeois revolutions and the rise of capitalism, the Cold War and the shifting international order, and the later evolution of capitalist societies. The coverage includes: 🔵 Germany in the Reformation Martin Luther published the Ninety-Five Theses, rejecting papal authority. Germany was fragmented and heavily exploited by the Roman Curia, earning the nickname “the Pope’s cow.” 🔵 German Unification and Imperial Constitutionalism In the mid-19th century, political division held back capitalist development. Bismarck achieved unification through three dynastic wars. In 1871 the German Empire was founded and issued the Constitution of the German Empire, establishing a dualistic constitutional monarchy. 🔵 World War I, World War II, and the Anti-Fascist Struggle Imperialist rivalries, the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, and the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany. The establishment of fascist dictatorship in Germany, the invasion of Poland, the invasion of the Soviet Union, and Germany’s surrender in 1945; the Declaration by United Nations and the formation of the global anti-fascist alliance. 🔵 Division and Reunification After World War II, Germany was divided into occupation zones and became a Cold War frontline. The Berlin crises and the standoff between East and West Germany followed. Reunification in 1990 marked a major turning point in the end of the bipolar order and the Cold War. 🔵 Economic development Second Industrial Revolution: relatively high industrial growth between 1870 and 1913; as a latecomer, Germany industrialized rapidly over roughly 30–40 years and caught up with Britain; by the early 20th century its industrial output ranked first in Europe and second in the world, with clear leadership in the electrical industry and related fields. After World War II: through the social market economy, West Germany rose from rubble to economic miracle and became Western Europe’s strongest economy by the 1960s. When SOME German netizens smugly call Chinese people “brainwashed,” they might first want to check whether they know their own history better than a Chinese high school student.

This is a story of how a Chinese factory in Dongguan showed what real kindness looks like. British boy Ben Carter has severe autism and would only drink from one specific blue Tommee Tippee cup he’d used since he was two. The cup was falling apart and the model had been discontinued for years — without it he risked dehydration. Chinese workers hunted down the old moulds unused since 2003, carefully made 8 slightly different coloured versions so Ben could test which one he’d accept, then produced 1,000 more as a lifetime supply. This is how we should help each other.

German Embassy in China usually posts on Weibo and gets crickets — barely many likes or comments. But yesterday they dropped this: “Germany is NOT rushing to buy air conditioners! We care about the environment. We just swim in our beautiful artificial lakes (former coal mines) to stay cool. Very eco-friendly! ” The post instantly exploded. Chinese netizens flooded the comments: “You’re typing this with AC blasting in your Beijing embassy, aren’t you?” “So Germans just live in lakes now?” Nothing says “climate leadership” like lecturing from behind cooled glass while telling everyone else to take a swim. Peak 2026 diplomacy.