However, the traditional craft of Chinese architecture, including major and minor carpentry, and masonry, are still applied to the construction of local buildings in China's vast rural areas.

As Chinese designs gradually exude glamour in the world, the impact of its traditions is reaching other corners across the planet.

Although many people in Europe or America dismiss feng shui, or Chinese geomancy — literally meaning wind and water, which represents all the forces that can affect human fortune. It is believed that a person's fate can be shaped by how favorably his dwelling is laid out in its surroundings — as an elaborate form of fortune telling, there are still some who take it seriously.

 "It's not nearly as big in the US as it is in China, but there are certainly some people in the US who care about that," Clark Cahill, a US expatriate working in China, said from his own experiences.

The influence of Chinese culture is closely connected with the government's efforts. When the country evolves from being the world's biggest workshop to being the global cultural hub, it has been investing heavily in the hope of accelerating the process.

More than 100 new design schools have either opened or are currently under construction in China in recent years, Alice Rawsthorn observed in her New York Times article entitled Looking at China as a Creator, Not Manufacturer published this July.

But it's far beyond that. One of the most important measures in regard to talent investment in China is the "Two Thousand Talents Scheme", a five-to-ten year vow launched in 2008 to attract roughly 2,000 high-level academics and managerial staff from overseas to come work for Chinese universities and enterprises. If selected, the returnees would receive competitive salaries and state financing for research, according to a report from the state-owned China Economic Weekly this November.

China has initiated similar recruitment programs in the past, but the Two Thousand Talents Scheme is the first under the direction of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, a key section of the Party. It signifies how serious matters of brainpower are being taken in this country today,China Economic Weekly analyzed.

In 2008, the total returnees' volume exceeding 50,000, one-sixth of the entire amount since China opened its door in 1978,China News Service, a Chinese wire service, revealed in a report this April.

Chinese American Andy Wen, who received a Master's Degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990 and a PhD in the same major from Chinese mainland's Tsinghua University 1999, has been invited to teach in three venerable Chinese institutes of higher learning.

"The education guidelines in China and overseas countries are totally different," Wen explained. "What the students in foreign countries learn is the approach to resolving problems and to foster their thinking ability. They are encouraged to pose questions and even challenge the education system. In China, it's hard to imagine."

Years of unremitting efforts has made China a better environment, although various problems still linger.

When teaching in China, Wen paid more attention to helping the students think and rethink.

"Things correct in the past don't mean they are OK at present," he said. Whether he is leading teams for designs or teaching students in China, Wen believes regular introspect is the best way to go forward.

By Dong Lin and Chen Xiaorong