China boasts the largest English learning population in the world, and a history of over six decades of English teaching and learning. Thus English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in China has become a tradition in its own right. In view of this tradition, what would a project that applied the communicative approach to EFL in China involve? This article, written by the director of one such project, argues for the principles underlying it, and discusses the counter-arguments and counter-practices the project has come up against in the course of its implementation.