The United States used to have cachet in China. Not anymore. | EUROtoday

There was a time not so way back in China when something American was routinely seen as higher. In the Nineties, weddings have been held at a McDonald’s close to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. By the 2000s, Nike sneakers, iPhones and dates at Pizza Hut have been the badges of middle-class achievement.

America, which is named “Meiguo” or “beautiful country” in Chinese, was the bastion of wealth and ease. Even the moon hung bigger within the United States than in China, folks used to joke.