问题：如果中国如此强大，为什么我一个美国人看不到中国的影响力？
华裔国际关系专家贝文•楚的回答
The reason why you can't see China's influence is simple: it's so ubiquitous that you don't notice it. First of all, China has invented and designed countless things that the modern world depends on, including paper, printed matter, paper money, gunpowder, cannon, rocket, cast iron, petroleum gas, deep well, compass, blast furnace, differential gear, mechanical clock, linear algebra, seismograph, interchangeable parts, etc., which are inseparable from our work, life and even the development of civilization today.
你看不到中国影响力的原因很简单：它无处不在，如此之多，以至于你都没有注意到。首先，中国发明设计了无数现代世界赖以生存的东西，包括纸张、印刷品、纸币、火药、大炮、火箭、铸铁、石油气、深井、指南针、高炉、差动齿轮、机械钟、线性代数、地震仪、可互换件等等，都是我们今天的工作生活乃至文明发展所离不开的。
Oil and steel are the key to American industrialization. The principle of the first oil derrick built in the United States in the mid-19th century is basically the same as that of China's deep well drilling rig; Modern steelmaking technology is largely based on William Kelly's patented technology, but his patents are largely based on technology invented in China centuries ago.
石油和炼钢是美国工业化的关键。19世纪中期在美国建造的第一个石油井架与中国的深井钻机原理基本相同；现代炼钢技术在很大程度上是基于威廉·凯利（William Kelly）的专利技术，但他的专利很大程度上是基于几个世纪以前在中国发明的技术。
William Kelly hired Chinese metal workers in the 1850s. Yale engineer William Phillips and metallurgist Daniel Wagner pointed out that Kelly's Chinese workers knew these ancient smelting technologies very well.
威廉·凯利（William Kelly）在19世纪50年代雇佣了中国金属工人，耶鲁大学工程师威廉·菲利普斯（William Phillips）和冶金学家丹尼尔·瓦格纳（Daniel Wagner）都指出，凯利的中国工人对这些古老的冶炼技术非常了解。
In addition to invention, you can also add the elite system and the 2000 year imperial examination system. This system allows anyone, regardless of their birth environment, to cross classes and become senior officials and leaders. This system was directly adopted by the British in the 1850s, and ended the history of aristocracy monopolizing social resources.
除了发明，你还可以加上精英制度和两千年的科举制度。这一制度允许任何人，无论其出生环境如何，都能跨越阶层，成为高级官员和领导人。这一制度在19世纪50年代被英国人直接采用，并终结了贵族垄断社会资源的历史。
In fact, China's examination based elite management is the predecessor of civil servants and the college entrance examination in Europe, the United States and other places. So the next time you take a written test such as sat or employee skill test, you should thank the Chinese most.
事实上，中国基于考试的精英管理是欧洲、美国和其他地方公务员和高考的前身。所以下次你要参加SAT或员工技能测试之类的笔试时，你最应该感谢的是中国人。
As for the modern world, almost everything you can see at Wal mart or buy on Amazon is made in China, thanks to low-cost labor, huge supply chain, excellent infrastructure (highway, railway, port, power grid) and technical school network.
至于现代世界，你在沃尔玛看到的或在亚马逊上能买到的几乎所有东西都是中国制造的，这得益于低成本劳动力、庞大的供应链、优良的基础设施（公路、铁路、港口、电网）和技术学校网络。
However, the influence of China's manufacturing industry is not limited to cheap labor. If so, India, Indonesia or Vietnam, which are populous countries, can achieve the same achievements as China. Unfortunately, they are difficult to compare with China.
但是，中国制造业的影响力并不局限于廉价的劳动力。如果是这样的话，那么印度、印度尼西亚或越南这些人口大国也能取得像中国一样的成就，很遗憾他们都难以同中国相比。
This is because their investment and construction scale in infrastructure and supply chain is not as large as that of China, and they can't match China in quality. When asked about the possibility of transferring Apple's iPhone production from China, Steve Jobs pointed out that Apple will not be able to meet its high quality standards at the cost that China can provide.
这是因为他们在基础设施和供应链方面的投资和建设规模没有中国那么大，在质量上也无法与中国匹敌。当被问及将苹果iPhone生产从中国转移出去的可能性时，史蒂夫·乔布斯曾指出，苹果将无法以中国能够提供的成本达到其高质量标准。
Now, China's manufacturing industry is not just making things designed by others. As Tom Friedman pointed out in the book "the world is flat", many electronic products are increasingly designed by developed countries and China.
现在，中国的制造业也不只是制造别人设计的东西，正如汤姆·弗里德曼（Tom Friedman）在《世界是平的》一书中指出的那样，许多电子产品正越来越多地由发达国家和中国共同设计。
You "can't see" China's influence because it is right beside you. From the basic inventions that help make the modern world possible to the various commodities you see on both sides of each aisle of Wal mart or Costco, you will understand that China's influence is everywhere.
你“看不到”中国的影响，因为它就在你身边，从帮助现代世界成为可能的基本发明，到你在沃尔玛或好市多的每个过道的两侧看到的各色商品，你会了解，中国的影响力无处不在。
德国网友费尼的回答
China has a strong impact on your daily life. The label "made in China" may appear on 90% of your things, which means that these products are actually made and assembled in China.
中国对你的日常生活有着强大影响，“中国制造”的标签可能会出现在你家90%的东西上，这意味着这些产品实际上是在中国制造和组装的。
Over the past 20 years, the inflation rate in the United States has been very low, mainly because the products made in China are cheaper, which keeps the prices of most goods at a low level, thus reducing the inflation rate. Lower inflation means that you can expect your savings to maintain purchasing power for a longer time. This has a series of other positive chain reactions to the U.S. economy, and you will benefit indirectly. This is the Chinese power in your wallet.
在过去20年里，美国的通货膨胀率一直很低，这主要是因为中国制造的产品更便宜，这使大多数商品的价格保持在较低水平，从而降低了通货膨胀率。较低的通货膨胀率意味着你可以期望你的储蓄能保持更长时间的购买力，这对美国经济有一系列其他积极的连锁反应，你会间接从中受益，这就是你钱包里的中国力量。
The Treasury bills issued by the US federal government to the market are mainly purchased by the Chinese people to ensure the government's income and work. This means that the U.S. government is borrowing from Chinese depositors to fund many things the government does, including health insurance, social security and military spending (the three largest government projects consume the most taxes).
美国联邦政府向市场发行的国库券，主要是由中国人购买的，以保证政府的收入和工作。这意味着美国政府正在向中国储户借款，为政府所做的许多事情提供资金，包括医疗保险、社会保障和军费开支（这三个最大的政府项目消耗了最多的税收）。
Americans, especially the elderly, are spoiled. They want to reduce taxes, but they don't want the U.S. government to reduce spending on health insurance, social security and the army. In order to make up for the deficit caused by these lower taxes, the US government must make this work work in some way, so it borrows money from China, and the Chinese are very willing to provide it. Because of the existence of China, you can enjoy lower taxes.
美国人，特别是老年人，被宠坏了，他们希望降低税收，却又不希望美国政府降低医疗保险、社会保障和军队的支出。为了弥补这些较低的税收造成的亏空，美国政府必须以某种方式使这项工作发挥作用，因此它向中国借钱，而中国人也非常愿意提供这笔钱。因为中国的存在，你可以享受更低的税收。
We are just here to talk about the influence of modern China. The influence of ancient China on your life is more basic, universal and key, because all the following necessities you must use every day come from China:
我们只是在这里谈论现代中国的影响。古代中国对你生活的影响更为基本、普遍和关键，因为你每天肯定使用的以下所有生活必需品都来自中国：
-Modern paper, paper cups, paper towels and toilet paper. You can go to the bathroom comfortably every day, which means you don't have to clean with leaves or smooth sticks.
-现代纸，纸杯、纸巾和厕纸。你可以每天舒舒服服地上厕所，这意味着你不必使用树叶或光滑的长棍进行清洁。
-Toothbrush. Before that, Europeans never bothered to brush their teeth, or they just rinsed with water and picked their teeth with branches, while Romans brushed their teeth with urine on their fingers or branches
-牙刷。在此之前，欧洲人从不费心刷牙，或者他们只是用水漱口，用树枝剔牙，而罗马人用手指或树枝沾上尿液来刷牙……
-印刷书籍和小册子/Printed books and booklets
-纸币/Notes
-纸牌和麻将/Cards and mahjong
-日晷时钟/Clock
-瓷器/Porcelain
-丝绸/silk
-火药/gunpowder
-智能手机或GPS的前身，罗盘/compass
-铸铁炼钢/steel
-钓丝/fishing line
-风筝/kite
-火柴/match
-使用天然气作为燃料/natural gas
There are other things you will find very boring, all of which were invented in ancient China.
还有其他一些你会觉得很无聊的东西，所有这些都是中国古代发明的。
Europeans get these inventions from the Chinese, whether they get them directly when they go to China or indirectly through traders in the Middle East or India. They make some modifications according to local conditions, and then bring all these wonderful things to the United States. Then the Europeans claim that these inventions are their own. They always greedily say how they invented everything in the sun, which is very untrue.
欧洲人是从中国人那里获得了这些发明，无论是他们去中国时直接获得的，还是通过中东或印度贸易商间接获得的，他们因地制宜进行了一些修改，然后把所有这些美妙的东西带到了美国，然后欧洲人声称这些发明是他们自己的，他们总是贪婪地说他们是如何在阳光下发明一切的，这是非常不真实的。
This is the impact of China on your life.
这就是中国对你生活的影响。
美国专家帕布洛的回答
In finance, "ostrich effect" is used to describe investors ignoring negative information as if they did not see it. They take it for granted that they will not be affected. I think this problem can be described by a Chinese idiom: "frog at the bottom of the well", which means that the frog at the bottom of the well sees the world as big as the wellhead. If you don't see or feel the influence of China, I guess you should be isolated from the world or unwilling to contact positive information about China.
在金融学中，“鸵鸟效应”用来形容投资者忽视负面信息，就好像他们没有看到这些信息一样，他们想当然自己不会受到影响。我觉得这个问题可以用一个中国成语形容：“井底之蛙”，它的意思是井底的青蛙看到的世界和井口一样大。如果你没有看到或感受到中国的影响，我猜你应该与世隔绝了或者不愿意去接触关于中国的正面信息。
Conversely, if the United States is so magnanimous and moral, why do I, a guy in the third world, see American hegemony, racism and assassination all over the world, but you can't see it?
反过来说，如果美国是如此宽宏大量和道德，为什么我，一个第三世界的家伙，在世界各地看到美国的霸权、种族主义和暗杀，而你却看不到？
There is only one answer: biased reports by Western media.
答案只有一个：西方媒体的偏见性报道。
In your media, it is difficult to mention that China is the world's largest exporter, the first in industrial production, the first trading partner of 120 countries in the world, and an innovation leader in the fields of supercomputers, strange materials, e-commerce and artificial intelligence. Its economic growth rate is twice that of the United States, but it is more willing to tell you some negative and dark information, most of which are fabricated or taken out of context.
在你们的媒体中，很难提到中国是世界第一大出口国、工业生产第一、全球120个国家的第一贸易伙伴、超级计算机、奇异材料、电子商务和人工智能领域的创新领军者，它的经济增长率是美国经济增长率的两倍，但它更愿意告诉你一些负面而阴暗的信息，其中大多数都是编造或者断章取义的。
I suggest you use a very simple technique to understand the true size of China's influence: get information from sources other than the media.
我建议你用一个非常简单的技巧来认知中国影响力的真实大小：从媒体以外的其他来源获取信息。
You can follow these simple steps:
你可以按照以下简单的步骤进行操作：
1 - go to any store in any city, town or village in the world to see how many of the goods it displays are made in China.
1-去世界上任何城市、城镇或村庄的任何商店，看看它展示的商品中有多少是中国制造的。
2 - at any time, go to any airport anywhere in the world to see how many Chinese businessmen or tourists come and go.
2-在任何时间，去世界上任何地方的任何机场，看看有多少中国商人或游客来来往往。
3 - visit the websites of the world bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations or the US Department of trade to view the following data:
3-访问世界银行、国际货币基金组织、联合国或美国贸易部的网站，查看以下数据：
China's GDP, industrial output, investment relations with other parts of the world, bilateral trade and trade balance with other parts of the world (including the United States), the percentage of people below the poverty line, the number of new invention patents registered in China every year, the commercial value of the Bank of China brand The performance of China's stock market.
中国国内生产总值、工业产出、与世界其他地区的投资关系、与世界其他地区（包括美国）的双边贸易和贸易平衡、贫困线以下人口的百分比、每年在中国注册的新发明专利数量、中国银行品牌的商业价值、中国股市的表现。
Now compare these indicators with the same indicators in the United States, and then compare the growth rate of these figures with the growth rate of the United States, and you will see a very clear influence chart.
现在将这些指标与美国的相同指标进行比较，然后将这些数字的增长率与美国的增长率进行比较，你会看到一幅非常清晰的影响力图表。
4. Go and see the real China in person.
4.亲自去看看真正的中国。
Always remember that a true patriot is not one who paints a beautiful picture of his country all the time, but one who can see its shortcomings and correct them.
永远记住：真正的爱国者不是时刻为自己的国家描绘美好画面的人，而是能够看到其缺点并加以纠正的人。