For better or worse, China is becoming more and more important to the United States. The influence of China on the United States is cultural as well as political and economic. The Chinese American population has steadily increased and goods made in China, as well as Chinese food, have become a part of most Americans' daily life. Therefore, the state of US China relations may well shape the future not just for Americans and Chinese, but for the world at large as well. Understanding China, home of the world's longest continuous civilization, is a challenge because the country is socially, politically, and culturally very different from the United States. But China's current program of reform and openness is making these two societies much more similar. The purpose of the series CHINA is to help students form an accurate, comprehensive, and balanced understanding of China, past and present.