The quantity and efficiency of design practice in China today are impressive indeed; but are there interesting and persistent design positions emerging from this practice? How to locate and analyse them in the context? In this chapter I would like to outline a historical and international context in which new design currents and positions, especially those of the new generation, can be located and examined. I find it necessary to view the rise of the positions historically, so that they can be comprehended in the immediate context of contemporary China and, significantly, in a longer history of modern architecture in China. According to my observation, a modern tradition had already been formed before the opening of the contemporary era, a backdrop that must be included for a study on contemporary design positions.