In order to understand the most important characteristics of society, a person must study the major cities.
Some people believe that the study of majors cities is enough to understand the most important characteristics of society, claiming that the development of major cities represents the highest level of the society. Actually, there are a lot of differences between the situations of major cities and small towns in many aspects, such as economic development, traditional conventions and people`s life style.
Major cities usually lie in some well-developed regions and small towns do not have an economy as good as that of major cities. The growth and development of almost all the major cities relies on industries with much technology and tourist industry, which cause little pollution. Small towns, however, depend much more on agriculture and industries which cause a lot of damage to the environment to develop economy. Furthermore, the societies of major cities tend to have more fortune and as a result, it is much easier for major cities to develop new technology to help their economies to further grow. Small towns always find it hard to get enough funds to achieve the transformation of their economies to improve their situation. In addition, the government is going to pay more and more attention to help small towns to improve, so the policies of economy also differ between major cities and small towns. Besides economy, the traditional conventions in different areas are also disparate.
The well-developed economy of major cities can attract many foreigners to come and invest. With the arrival of many foreigners, the societies of major cities tend to be more international while those of small towns remain conventional. Foreign people will have foreign festivals, so celebrating foreign festivals such as Christmas and Valentine Day is becoming more and more popular in major cities. Consequently, people in major cities focus on multi-cultural festivals and people in small towns still pay more attention to traditional festivals like Spring Festival and Mid-autumn Festival. People`s attitude towards foreign cultures also differs. In major cities, people know much more about foreign cultures and are more open- minded to try different cultures. People in small towns lack the knowledge about different cultures and traditions so they are comparatively more conservative when facing foreign cultures.
Different cultures result in different life styles. The most obvious difference between the life style of people in major cities and small towns lies in the food that they eat. Foreign foods such as beefsteak, hamburger and pizza are more popular in major cities while traditional foods such as dumplings and steamed buns are more welcomed. Because the infrastructure between major cities and small towns differs, people`s ways of transportation also differ a lot. People in major cities usually would choose subway because the subway system in major cities is good while people in small townsmaybe like bus because of its convenience. What is more, people`s way of entertainment also have some differences. Going to Karaoke and watching movie is more popular in major cities while people in small town may prefer watching TV in home.
There are huge differences between major cities and small towns in many aspects. So just the study of major cities is far from enough to thoroughly understand the characteristics of society.