PhD Defense: Liang Yao

Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Time: 1:00 pm
Location: Old CE Bldg. 104

Title: Consuming Science: History of Soft Drinks in Modern China

Committee: 
Dr. Hanchao Lu (Advisor, School of History and Sociology, Georgia Tech)
Dr. Steven W. Usselman (School of History and Sociology, Georgia Tech)
Dr. John Krige (School of History and Sociology, Georgia Tech)
Dr. Laura Bier (School of History and Sociology, Georgia Tech)
Dr. Kristin Stapleton (History, SUNY)


Abstract:

This dissertation investigates the development of the soft drink market in China from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century, with particular attention to the rise of Coca-Cola. It examines how soft drinks competed with traditional Chinese summer food and beverage such as watermelons, herbal tea, plum juice, and nutriments that were believed to have medical properties for people’s summer health, and eventually became one of the most popular types of beverages in the country. Over one hundred years in the Chinese minds, soft drinks changed from an exotic but unsavory beverage to a popular drink and a symbol of modernity. The dissertation argues that western science competing with traditional Chinese medicine has been a driving force in shaping beverage consumption in modern China. There were constant politics played by the state, businesses, and consumers on production, marketing, and consumption of soft drinks, making a bottle of drink not a mere commodity but one that embodied science, modernity, and identity in Chinese society.