To Mothae, a 32-year-old nursery school teacher, the United States represents a beacon of relative racial harmony.

The U.S. and South Africa share a dark racial past, but South Africa’s is much more recent – white minority rule by the apartheid regime ended when Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and became president in 1994 after the country’s first democratic elections.

And although Mothae questioned her belief in the American people during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the election of an African-American president in the U.S. renewed her hopes for racial equality at home and abroad.

“That election made me feel so warm about the American people,” she said.

Her faith in all things American was enhanced when first lady Michelle Obama visited South Africa last year, a trip that included a visit to Soweto.

“She’s a darling,” Mothae said. “I remember the day and the time that she came to this side [South Africa]. She’s a nice lady. She’s quite down-to-earth. I like her.

“I see a mother – a caring person. She’s devoted to what she’s doing. She is an icon for all black women in America, in South Africa and around the world.”

China means big money
But when Mothae talks of the future, and envisages the type of massive investment which might transform Soweto for her child’s generation, she speaks of China, not the United States. 

“China is the number one country because they produce so many things. So many things come from China. Even in America they have to go to China. That makes them the number one country.”

Across Africa, the sudden emergence of massive Chinese investment, much of it in natural resources to satisfy the needs of its rapidly growing economy, has changed entire communities. Bilateral trade between China and Africa has grown exponentially – particularly in just the last few decades.

In 1950 China-Africa bilateral trade was just $12 million, but by 1980, it topped $1 billion, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. That number jumped over the last 30 years, with China-Africa trade volume reaching $114 billion by 2010, according to the Chinese. Some analysts estimate that figure is likely to reach $300 billion by 2015.

The money has helped to build highways, stadiums and parliament buildings across the continent – while also taking away many of the continent’s natural resources.  

Many leaders, including South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma, have been impressed by China’s enthusiasm for Africa as well as its perceived “no strings attached” approach to investment.

Perhaps in response, U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a new “U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa” earlier in June.

The strategy's most important objectives are “strengthening democratic institutions and promoting economic growth, trade and investment,” according to the White House.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reinforced the idea of Africa as an ideal place for investment in the 21^st century on the same day as Obama’s announcement.

“Africa offers the highest rate of return on foreign direct investment of any developing region in the world,” said Clinton. “We in the United States like to talk about ourselves as the country that is the land of opportunity. It’s a point of national pride. Well, in the 21^st century, Africa is the continent that is the land of opportunity.”  

While the U.S. may have an uphill battle selling itself as an economic powerhouse, in terms of cultural influence, it still tops China. 

U.S. will always have Oprah and Beyonce
Close to Vilakazi Street, Ayanda Mchunu, a 26-year-old street-vendor, said his souvenir business has been boosted by a surge in Chinese tourists.

“I keep my eye out for the Americans and the Chinese; we think they have the most money,” he said.

And, despite the ascendancy of China, he said that the “soft power” of the United States would endure through its cultural influence

“Even children – they always talk about the U.S.”

“Most of the children, they watch films…The characters are from the U.S.,” Mchunu said. “That’s why they’re inspired by the U.S.”

Nearby, Lesego Seitisho, a former IT administrator, was stopping passers-by in search of work after completing a contract with a Chinese company. He found his employer’s approach to workplace discipline enlightening and hopes to find a job with another Chinese firm.

But he believed that American culture and the popularity of celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce in South Africa give the United States influence that China could never match.

“America is on TV all the time and when the TV’s off America is still switched on in your mind.”

“My head says that China is number one, my heart always says America.”

This story is part of a series by msnbc.com and NBC News "What the World Thinks of US". The series aims to check the pulse on current perceptions of America's global stature during the election year and ahead of our annual Independence Day. Share your thoughts about this story and our series on Twitter using #AmericaMeans 

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In an effort to check the pulse on the current Chinese take on the U.S., NBC News in Beijing spoke to two men with very different views on the country.

Rao Jin has made it his life’s work to channel Chinese patriotism in the face of what he sees as a Western media onslaught. On the other hand, fellow Beijinger Ye Nan can’t wait for his next trip back to Disneyland in the U.S. and thinks the Chinese and American public’s views aren’t that far apart.

Not happy with the ‘world police’
Rao first made a name for himself in China in the spring of 2008, when news of one of the biggest riots in Tibet spread around the world.  

China’s official news outlets routinely blamed the exiled Dalai Lama and his refugee government as the “instigators,” while most of the Western media took a sympathetic stand and attributed the riots to long-term persecution and dominance by China.

During the peak of the riots, quite a few foreign broadcasters, including CNN and the BBC, became targets of intense Chinese criticism and threats for allegedly biased coverage of the protests in Tibet. CNN in particular came under fire for using inaccurate photos and for remarks made by commentator Jack Cafferty, who referred to China's leaders – not the Chinese people – as a "bunch of goons and thugs."   

Mood turns ugly in Beijing

That outraged Rao, then a 24-year-old who had just graduated from the engineering physics department at Tsinghua University, one of the top educational institutions in China.

Rao, who already had his own IT company, created a website called ANTI-CNN that spread criticism of Western news reporting and soon gained wide support from Chinese citizens.

The website continued to draw millions of hits daily during the chaotic pre-Olympic torch relay when pro-Tibet protesters interrupted several legs of the torch run in America and some European countries. (One particularly egregious incident was when a Chinese Paralympian in a wheel chair was attacked by pro-Tibetan protesters while she bravely guarded the torch).

Originally from the southern coastal province of Fujian, Rao has since become a quasi-spokesman for those in China’s population who are unhappy about how China is viewed and reported in the West. He has been interviewed by many foreign media in China, as well as being invited to events by embassies and NGOs in Beijing.

“I don’t think we represent the whole young generation, but we do represent some,” said Rao at his office in a high-rise in northern Beijing, where 30 employees concentrated on their computers.

Rao’s original ANTI-CNN website became April Media in 2010, named after a month he likes for its symbolism of power and rejuvenation. He said the website “represents a generation of youth who are familiar with Western culture and have international views as well as a sense of patriotism.”

Aiming to become a cross between a Chinese Huffington Post and a think-tank, April Media now has about 200 columnists and almost one million registered members.

On the left side of the homepage, next to a small photo of the Statue of Liberty, there are a few U.S.-related articles, including “American truth: leader of wasting energy,” “Is property expensive in the U.S.?” “Do American minorities get preferential treatment?” “Americans really don’t wear long underwear?” “What is an American green card?”

Rao toured the United States from the West Coast to the East Coast in late 2010. He was impressed by the natural scenery, but didn’t find the real America to be too different from his pre-conceived notions and what he saw in Hollywood movies.

“In aspects of the economy, politics and culture, the U.S. has shown an admirable spirit of innovation,” Rao told NBC News in his office, but he argued that America is “a world leader that failed to perform well.”

“The U.S. has always imposed its own values on others and acted as a hegemonic state and as the world police,” he said. “It has fought too many wars it shouldn’t have fought.”

America ‘fights for justice’
A short drive from Rao’s office, 42-year-old Ye Nan, a business director of another influential news portal, has a completely different view of the U.S.  

“The U.S. is just like a strong, robust, but brusque, next-door neighbor,” said Ye in a garden next to his office. “He fights for justice and gets himself involved when there’s a problem. He gives everyone else the impression of being warm-hearted, and having a sense of justice. Some people are afraid of him, but most like him.”

Ye’s family story is like a condensed version of China’s own tumultuous history. 

His grandfather was one of the earliest Chinese students to study in the United States, graduating from Johns Hopkins University in the 1920s and being trained at the West Point Military Academy. After he went back to China, he fought shoulder to shoulder with American soldiers in Burma and India during World War II.

But by the time Ye’s father came of age during China’s Cultural Revolution, Chinese-U.S. relations had changed. During Chairman Mao’s “Young Intellectuals Go Down to the Countryside” campaign in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he and other privileged youth were forced to learn from workers and farmers. He was forced to leave Beijing and died in an accident in Tibet when Ye Nan was only five.

“I’m sure he was told to write those communist posters criticizing America since he was educated,” said Ye in looking back at his father’s life during the Cultural Revolution.

Ye first set his foot on American soil last year to visit his wife, who was a visiting psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley.

His impressions were positive, “The air was much better, people were friendly, cars would wait for pedestrians,” he said. He was also happy to be able to surf any websites – quite a different from his experience in China, where many sites are blocked, including Twitter and Facebook.

What really amazed Ye, though, was the prompt reply from Johns Hopkins University when his wife emailed them and asked if they could help find Ye’s grandfather’s files. The university sent a 10-page file, including letters and academic documents. Such free and quick service is almost impossible in China, he said.

“Freedom is in American people’s blood,” Ye said. “Individual freedom is the basis of everything, while China values collectivism that stresses personal sacrifice for the group.”

He thinks, though, that the differences are narrowing.

“In my grandfather’s generation, America and China were friends who fought together in World War II. In my father’s generation, they were enemies. The young generation now is greatly influenced by America. They all drink Coca-Cola and watch Hollywood movies. They agree more than they disagree. The world is flat and the two countries will gradually come to a consensus on many matters.” 

Ye said his next trip to the U.S. will probably include a visit to Disneyland that he promised his 8-year-old son. And like many Chinese parents, Ye and his wife hope to send their son to study in the U.S. one day. 

This story is part of a series by msnbc.com and NBC News "What the World Thinks of US". The series aims to check the pulse on current perceptions of America's global stature during the election year and ahead of our annual Independence Day. Share your thoughts about this story and our series on Twitter using #AmericaMeans  

Stories in the series: What the World Thinks of US  

How I see America, from a former Gitmo prisoner

Bye, bye, GI: Deep impact for many Germans as US troops downsize

Post-revolution Egypt to US: Stay out 

Iran's dentist to the stars offers views on US

For many Pakistanis, 'USA' means 'drones' 

One man's mission: Promote Chinese patriotism in the face of Western onslaught

In South Africa: 'My head says China is number one, my heart says America'

Not all Thais are Gaga about America

Family moves from the Bronx to Jerusalem, but US remains land of 'liberty and freedom'

Palestinian: US supports 'an apartheid system that is suffocating us' 

Afghans are 'no different from any American