Kung fu, pandas or Peking Opera are what one would commonly associate with China - but they are also vital cogs in a massive "soft power" exercise that China hopes will give it more global voice and an image makeover. It is also proving to be a tough challenge for policymakers, as the growth of the country's "soft power" has not been in tandem with that of its "hard power".

Taiwan's soft power has also benefitted the tourism industry, the bureau said, adding that the popularity of Taiwanese movies such as "You Are the Apple of My Eye" and the annual lantern festivals might have contributed to the increasing travel interest in Taiwan.

China has been cultivating its image around the world as an attractive, rising power that is non-threatening and non-confrontational. China's endeavor to promote its soft power involves shifting the focus from purely economic cooperation to other more subtle areas such as culture.

"China has developed its economic and political prowess, but still is relatively weak when it comes to culture in the global arena," he says. But what China really needs to do is to ensure that its cultural exports promote creative cooperation and are also in sync with what the rest of the world wants.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, was established over six decades ago to be the public diplomacy organization of the West, countering the influences and false promises of Communism.

“This stands in contrast to tourist images of the city, which often focus on the large population and the ‘mass humanity' one encounters in China's capital. I wanted to focus not so much on the city itself, but on residents and their way of life, and images by people who live and work in Beijing.”

Social media is an integral part of US diplomacy in China, said the US Ambassador to China Gary Locke on Friday during a townhall meeting with the employees of China's most popular search engine Baidu. He said that he was generally learning that Chinese citizens are "wanting more accountability, transparency, ethics in government."

The new Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy, Tara Sonenshine, and a bundle of other diplomatic nominees received the Senate stamp of approval. Sonenshine’s challenge will be to grapple with several substantive issues including the challenge from China.