With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, Western systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers rejected China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and Western cultures. 19世纪中叶，随着西方经济和军事力量的崛起，西方社会政治组织体系在中国得到了越来越多的拥护者。这些可能的改革者中，有些人拒绝接受中国的文化遗产，而另一些人则试图将中西文化的力量结合起来。
China is a unified nation consisting of many different ethnic groups. Fifty-six different ethnic groups make up the great Chinese national family. Because the Han people accounts for more than ninety percent of China's population, the remaining fifty-five groups are generally referred to as "ethnic minorities." Next to the majority Han, the Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, and Uygur peoples comprise the largest ethnic groups. Although China's ethnic minorities do not account for a large portion of the population, they are distributed over a vast area, residing in every corner of China. 中国是一个统一的民族，由许多不同的民族组成。56个不同的民族组成了伟大的中国民族大家庭.由于汉族占中国人口的百分之九十以上，剩下的五十五个群体一般被称为“少数民族”。除汉族外，蒙古族、回族、藏族和维吾尔族是最大的民族。中国的少数民族虽然不占人口的很大一部分，但他们分布在广大的地区，居住在中国的每一个角落。
Particularly since the implementation of China's opening and reform policy, the central government has increased investment in minority areas and accelerated their opening to the outside world. This has resulted in an upsurge of economic development in these areas. Each of China's ethnic minority groups possesses a distinctive culture. The Chinese government respects minority customs, and works to preserve, study, and collate the cultural artifacts of China's ethnic minority groups. The government vigorously supports the development of minority culture and the training of minority cultural workers, and fosters the development of traditional minority medicine. 特别是改革开放以来，中央政府加大了对少数民族地区的投资力度，加快了民族地区对外开放的步伐。这导致了这些地区经济发展的高潮。中国各少数民族都有自己独特的文化。中国政府尊重少数民族的风俗习惯，致力于保存、研究和整理中国少数民族的文物。政府大力支持少数民族文化的发展和少数民族文化工作者的培养，促进少数民族传统医学的发展。
The relation among China's ethnic groups can be described as "overall integration, local concentration, mutual interaction." Concentrations of ethnic minorities reside within predominantly Han areas, and the Han people also reside in minority areas, indicating that there has been extensive exchanges among China's ethnic groups since ancient times. With the development of the market economy, interaction among ethnic groups has become even more active in the areas of government, economics, culture, daily life, and marriage. Linked by interdependence, mutual assistance, and joint development, their common goals and interests creating a deep sense of solidarity, China's ethnic groups resemble a great national family, together building Chinese civilization.
中国各民族之间的关系可以说是“整体融合、局部集中、相互作用”。少数民族聚居在以汉族为主的地区，汉族也居住在少数民族地区，这表明中国各民族自古以来就有着广泛的交流。随着市场经济的发展，各民族之间在政府、经济、文化、日常生活、婚姻等方面的互动更加活跃。中国各民族相互依存、相互帮助、共同发展，共同的目标和利益造就了深厚的团结意识，中国各民族就像一个伟大的民族大家庭，共同建设中华文明。