Abstract：The power distance, a cultural characteristic, has been studied by many scholars. It is one of the most important dimensions in measuring cultural values. One of the most famous and impressive researches was made by Greet Hofstede, which is the representative of Holland Institute of Cross-culture Research. This paper is organized into five sections. The first section introduces the background and the comprehensive power distance definition. The second section discusses the embodiment of power distance in family life, business life and political life. The next section analyzes the reasons of the difference of power distance, including the agricultural civilization and commercial civilization, the official culture and civilian culture, the Confucian governance and the rule of law, and the Confucian theory and the protestant ethic. The fourth section mainly tells us what we should do. The last section is the summary. Comparing the power distance, it explains a great deal of cultural differences between China and America. And the paper is intended to contribute to further understanding two countries’ cultures.

Key words:cross-cultural conflict; power distance; Contrast