China thrives on the dynamic of collectivism. Relationships between family members mean everything in a Chinese home, and that stems from the fact that almost all relationships feature a collective power balance. Collective means involving a group of individuals. Generally speaking, if you ask a Chinese person why they are working so hard, their answer will almost always come back to, “I do not want to disappoint my parents”. In contrast, the society we know in the United States is a very individualistic one, where success is important to an individual so he or she can make enough (or a lot of) money. Communities here in China thrive this way because everyone has a great support system and does not feel left out, underappreciated, or unwanted. There are many jobs some societies perceive as not top tier, but in China, it is considered very respectable to continue to do a job that you are good at.
A community need that I found really interesting was the overall security in China. It is still shocking to me, but I can honestly say that I feel safer in China than I have ever felt anywhere else in the world, even my own neighborhood. There are numerous other foreigners that I have met that feel this way, too, and we all came down to the conclusion that there are cameras and security guards everywhere.
