When I went to America to study in Cornell University, I have met a lot of people who mistake China's government structure as completely communist, a centralized, vertical hierarchy of power.
That's not communism. That's got nothing to do with communism. Communism is not government. Communism is where everybody owns everything communally. That's all. It's not where the government takes everything from the people and distribute it as they see fit; it's not where a dictator dictates, though it can be, but it can also be a democracy or anything else. It can be fascist, aristocratic, benevolent, or even anarchic.
It's communism vs. capitalism, not communism vs. democracy.
And communism could work, you just need a bunch of responsible utilitarians. Unlikely, but possible.
Pseudo-Communism is what all the so-called "Communist" countries (the USSR, &c) have been.