Dear Friends,

     You guys are interested in knowing your counterparts on the other side of the globe right here in Beijing ? Ok, put it this way: They are as young, as energetic and fresh as you are. The Chinese college students are crazy about American junk food for sure, such as McDonald’s hamburgers, KFC fried chicken, and pizza. To tell you the truth, I have a feeling that there are more American fast food restaurants in downtown Beijing than in Washington D.C. On top of that, these restaurants are always crowded; you have to line up to order the food and wait for a while before getting a seat. The boys and the girls who get hooked by either the flavor or the taste of the fast food seem to be enjoying themselves swallowing the food but they do look bigger and heavier in size.

     The students on different campuses vary from one another in terms of family background, birthplace, ethnic origin, even academic records from high school and the grades from the nationwide entrance examination for college. They do all share one ultimate goal -- upgrading their own and even their parents’ family status in the future. This is particularly true in the cases of the students who come from remote areas with poorer family status. Over the years, lots of them have been successfully promoted to key positions at bureau chief, ministeral and provincial levels, and even at the national level.

     The American value of Rugged Individualism seems to be working in China to a certain extent. Most of the students have MA and PhD ambitions; some prepare to take TOEFL, GRE or GMAT exams while still in their sophomore and junior years because they want to obtain some kind of financial aid enabling them to go overseas for further education after college, hoping one day to make their fortune in the West. For this reason and more they work their heads off to accomplish this goal. No wonder the officers at the New Jersey Testing Center (the agency offering the TOEFL test to entering foreign students) are always suspecious about the very high scores the Chinese applicants get, not counting on the great motivations the Chinese students have to bet on fate and life.

     However, it is not always true. In some cases of the students from well-to-do families, especially the ones from big cities, they are simply not working hard enough. "Happy- go-lucky," as they term themselves. They go home every weekend plus some weekdays. When late for the class, they always blame the traffic jams during the rush hour. Their parents spoil them with good food, good clothing, good pocket money, etc. After all, these students don’t have any pressure on them. They take it for granted that they can live and rely on their parents for the rest of their lives. A great many Chinese parents have already begun to worry about the kids who were born post 1980s and 1990s. They are so afraid that the history of the U.S. is repeating itself in China now, exactly the same way as the American columnist Ann Landers quoted one complaining mother about her daughter: "Linda is 18, she has the body of 25, but the mind of 13…."

     Some Chinese students fall in love and become boy- and girlfriends in college. The kids were extremely excited when the Ministry of Education a couple of years ago lifted the ban forbidding college students from getting married, which ran into conflict with the state marriage law allowing male citizen of 22 years of age and females of 20 to be legally wedded. I, as a college professor, often kid my students in class by saying, "I could make a fortune if I set up a kindergarten or day-care center in college if you guys and girls come up with a baby boom." Everybody bursts into laughter upon hearing this.

     The number of college students in China has been growing pretty fast. Some say that China is already No. 1 in student population in the world. But in contrast with 1.35 billion people in China, it is still a small portion. That is to say, China still has a long way to go.

Sincerely,
Maxing