This course aims to help students explore/understand crucial aspects of modern German culture and society. They will learn to understand the sources of behaviour, customs and attitudes, while comparing them with Hong Kong and respective mainland Chinese behaviour. The Cultural historian Prof Hermann Bausinger notes in the preface of his book Typisch deutsch that common definitions of what “German” is include many stereotypes and prejudices. However, it is not possible to make a clear-cut distinction between stereotypes and reality. Moreover, one has to consider the way other nationalities look at what is considered typically German in order to find out whether these stereotypes are true.