Pardon the stereotypes, but I think a lot of Westerns hold these beliefs. Food - healthy but weird. Might taste/smell funny. Cities - busy. People everywhere. Lifestyle - very intense, lots of studying, Chinese parents expect a lot from their kids. Schools - again, intense. And school on Saturdays. Yuck. Hospitals - China tends to stray from Western medicine ideals. Most natural treatments, herbs and acupuncture. Environment - busy. Rural areas may be dirty.

The People: I do not see vast differences in the people from the people worldwide. Human personalities are generally knowable and predictable. I do enjoy the personalities of the Chinese language partners I have. Most of these are College Students, but also some of the working people have practiced with me. I like many of them very much and they are very pleasant to practice with. Western People tend to be almost "transparent" whereas Asians still maintain walls of boundary founded upon culture, fear, and self-reliance. Culturally, Chinese have little foundation in concepts of Dialectical Method, Logic, Objective Knowledge and so forth, as can be seen by their frequent solicitation for "opinion" by survey inquiries in Discussion Topics. Also, Chinese youth are not as grounded "in reality. Inquires about "What super powers you would like to have?" or other such phantasmagoria are a commonplace.. Most of my language partners are Chinese and I have always enjoyed working with them far above and beyond students from any other nationality. The Chinese who request study with me are, in my opinion, among the most intelligent of all the students of English in China.

Environmental: China has some of the worst environmental conditions in the world. The pollution of both land and water are commonplace Food: Probably the best in the entire world Lifestyles: Oppressive for workers. Suicide is rampant. People are overworked and underpaid. Cities: Traffic is chaotic and unregulated, cleanliness of the air and streets is an issue. Hospitals: Medical Care in China can be exploitive and it is also something other than the standard in the United States. Patients and their family members sometimes "go postal" on the doctors and hospital staff. However, it may be noted that healthcare worldwide is generally an enterprise run for personal profit. Chinese Medical Doctors need desperately to implement programs for the proper pronunciation of Medical and Anatomical Terms in English, so that they can read more advanced medical journals and research documents and also to publish their own researches in English. Schools & Education: Textual studies predominate, but there is much less chance in China for students to pursue creative activities. For examples, such hobbies as Electronics in Kit form and Robotic Kits are not available in China, whereas in the USA, all manner of companies sell learning kits in advanced technology and these are marketed for youth.