In a country that has next to no immigration and a certified nationalism, my students found the British concept of multiculturalism quite baffling. In China, you are either Chinese or you are called a "foreigner"; they do not go in for nuanced classifications or politically correct language. 

Their knowledge of Margaret Thatcher owed much to her Hollywood portrayal by Meryl Streep, although they could not understand what all the fuss was about when it came to her battles of the 1980s. When viewed in the context of China's tumultuous postwar history, this was something I was prepared to concede. One aspect did shock them however: the "Thatcher, milk snatcher" episode. For a nation obsessed with calcium (evident if you visit any Chinese supermarket), taking away free milk from children was considered much more reprehensible than sending the police to quash the miners. 

For their final task, I asked them to prepare a talk on a "Great Briton" from the 20th century. I entreated them to go beyond the obvious, and this they did. One student selected the ethical socialist R.H. Tawney, not only for his contribution to English socialism but also for his 1920s account of Chinese feudalism. Another chose the sociologist Anthony Giddens, explaining why his beloved "middle way" was the only way for China. More movingly, one student nominated Bobby Charlton, recounting how in times of trouble his father always extolled the example of Charlton for the way he survived the Munich air crash and became England's greatest footballer.

The outstanding presentation was on D.H. Lawrence, in which the student talked about the writer's depiction of the dehumanising effects of industrialisation and offered the class a rather explicit retelling of Lady Chatterley's Lover. 

In our final session, I posed the question: was Britain's story one of progress or decline? They voted overwhelmingly for the latter. But it was not as simple as that. Britain may have lost an empire but had found a role as a global cultural force.