This article examines youth culture in a socialist society. Pragmatism
, consumerism, individual accomplishment, admiration for the West, and
dissatisfaction with the Party, but support for the political system,
stand out as the major beliefs of young Chinese in the 1980s. The you
ng rejected the harsh and irrelevant values promoted in the ideal yout
h culture the government packaged for their consumption. Instead they
created their own subculture adopting what they deemed most pertinent
and desirable from the official ideology and from the conditions they
encountered. In light of these orientations, it is likely that the pre
sent policies will continue when this generation takes over political
control.