ABSTRACT
Since 1979, when China initiated its reform and opening up, Chinese society has been undergoing rapid transformation that has amazed the world. The pace at which this huge and ancient nation is changing is unprecedented in its own history and rare in any other country’s history. It is against this general backdrop that the lives of the current generation of youth, as well as China’s technological landscape, are unfolding. Therefore, one cannot hope to gain an understanding of today’s Chinese youth, the Chinese Internet and youth’s interaction with the new medium without an understanding of the social transformation in China in the past three decades.
