'A lot of them are drunk; they like to get drunk and cause trouble,' said one Hong Konger who perhaps had recollections of expats playing Wan Chai warrior. Said a Singaporean: 'At least I'm giving the country a chance; I'm going there to have a look before I condemn it.'

The British Council, the British Government's principal agency for cultural relations overseas, surveyed thousands of educated young people, aged 24 to 35, on five key areas: society and people, creativity and innovation, higher education, business and institutions.

Of the top 10 countries with the least favourable takes on Britain, Asian nations occupied six spots, with China coming in first and Hong Kong fourth.

So patent was China's disdain for all things British that it was even addressed in the report's foreword: 'China, so resolutely unimpressed by just about everything about the UK, almost deserves to sit alone in its own highly critical category.'

Even the once compliant colony Hong Kong now rejects allegiance. 'We are not under such a big influence by the British even though we were once a colony, whereas America is in our everyday news,' said one urbanite.

The report found: 'The general image of the UK around the world is reliable but dull and this image is often quite deeply rooted.' Also: 'In general, young people around the world respect us - more than they like us. They find America more attractive.'

In fact, the data elicited considerable prudence from the British Council. The report stated: 'After a certain point what the world knows about us degenerates into guesswork and ignorance, and what we think of as quintessentially British in fact receives little or no recognition in other countries . . . all the responses have to be treated with great caution.'

To be fair, Asia did have some positive comments. Peter Craughwell, director of marketing and business development for Hong Kong's British Council, said he was most struck by two pleasant surprises. Of the 200 Hong Kongers interviewed, a majority chose Britain as their first destination of choice for university education abroad, beating the US; and they ranked Britain closely behind the US in its number of 'world-beating companies', edging out Japan, Germany and France.

Ultimately though, the British Council was left wondering why Asian responses, especially from the Chinese, were so negative.

The report stated: 'The more critical views may be a matter of young people comparing like with like, though there may also be an issue of access to information.'

An overriding trend in the study was that those who were more familiar with Britain held it in higher regard than those who weren't. Only two per cent of the Chinese respondents had visited Britain and young Japanese and Koreans admitted to being less familiar with Britain than their counterparts in other countries.

In trying to pinpoint the causes

of China's attitude, the report hypothesised that state-owned media were more disparaging of Britain in the run-up to the Hong Kong handover. Also taken into consideration was last year's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade by Nato jets, which took place while the survey was being conducted.

Locally, the British Council is starting to address misconceptions. To combat the view of British science as outmoded, for example, the council is staging a science exhibit in February at Festival Walk. 'Innovative' will demonstrate scientific principles through interactive games, says Craughwell.

But it's an uphill battle. Craughwell laments that 'ingrained ideas like that of Jack the Ripper or a Dickensian era are difficult to overcome'.

One Singaporean said the British were so formal they even donned suits at football matches. Other respondents talked about 'five o'clock tea-time'. The stereotyping is 'fairly endemic', says Craughwell. 'That is disappointing.'

People and Society

The belief that Brits are cold, condescending, stiff, seldom smile and are unwelcoming to outsiders 'came across very persistently and clearly', the report found. It was a view attributed in some cases 'to an atavistic colonial mindset', with young people seeing the British as hanging on to notions of past superiority.

Of the 30 countries, residents from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Thailand strongly believed British society was rife with discrimination. 'People made a clear distinction: UK society was multicultural, but not racially tolerant,' the report said.

Creativity and Innovation

Only half of all respondents identified Britain as a centre of artistic creativity and innovation. When asked to recall the name of a contemporary British artist, eight out of 10 Chinese and Malaysians could not think of anybody, compared to the global average of six out of 10.

'The reputation in the arts seems to lie more in past than present achievements,' the report said.

Arts to the young interviewees largely constituted cinema, pop music and especially television. Rowan Atkinson (in the persona of Mr Bean) had a high level of recognition in Asia with 90 per cent of Malaysians and 70 per cent of Singaporeans familiar with the show.

More than 20 per cent of respondents thought US actor Robin Williams was British. Prime Minister Tony Blair was the best-known figure overall, but his name recognition slipped in the Far East, usurped by the Spice Girls in Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and, by the greatest margin, in Hong Kong.

Curiously, physicist Stephen Hawking was 'well known in China' and a 'household name' in Korea, but hardly registered elsewhere in the world.

Higher Education

Asia's measured voices had a decidedly less positive view of Britain's higher education than the rest of the world. Universities were perceived as 'slightly old fashioned and out of touch', the report said. British lecturers were regarded as commanding and regimented while their US counterparts were seen as chatty and informal.

On science and technology, the UK wasn't exactly considered an exemplar of modernity. British scientists were viewed as eccentric, closeted individuals, motivated by a love of science for science's sake, sometimes becoming irrelevant to the modern world.

In terms of research failing to translate into commercial success, cloning was considered the case in point. What has become of Dolly the sheep?

Business

With no compelling contemporary business icons to draw upon, it seems respondents had a lingering memory of a stereotype: city gents in bowler hats, punching the clock morning and night, not an entrepreneur among them, the report concluded.

British business was perceived as governed by ethics of gentlemanly behaviour.

'We need to build up an association with the cutting edge, high technology and pioneering entrepreneurialism,' the report said.

Institutions, democracy,

legal systems, diplomacy

Overall, institutions were seen as well administered if somewhat hidebound.

China most vigorously dissented over the proposition that 'the British system is a good example of democratic government'.

The Far East - Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore - also set itself apart as only 28 to 50 per cent, compared with 60 to 90 per cent elsewhere, believed the British legal system ensures everyone a fair trial. China's stance on British justice, true to form, was most sceptical of all.