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Social representations of health and illness are deeply intertwined with issues of cultural identity. People think of health and illness in relation to their social environment and cultural background. In this paper, we report findings of a study on representations of health among the Chinese community in England. Using focus groups and in-depth interviews with experts and lay members of the Chinese community, we found a hybrid representation which combines Chinese traditions and western biomedical knowledge. This mixed social representation is paradoxical: it both integrates and draws upon the differences inherent in the two knowledge systems. The contradictory nature of the representation is functional: it enables the community both to sustain/defend its cultural identity and to cope with the challenges posed by the host environment. The findings are discussed in relation to the hybridization of identities in the context of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]