My name is Zihao Wang. I’m from ChangSha-Hunan, China. I’m a Junior. I moved here when I was 13. I’m 16 right now.

Many people ask me, do I like America or China better? It is very complicated. I prefer having school in the United States because it is more relaxed and less stressful in school, and students and teachers are like friends. In China, it is all about competitions between students. Also, we had so much homework every day, even in the holidays.

In China there are more tall buildings than in America. I feel the community is rather quiet sometimes in America, because I lived in a very crowded and fancy city filled with chandeliers in China-Hunan, ChangSha. It was very beautiful there. The most memorable thing was the food, the culture and the architect.

China is a country with a long history…more than 2000 years, it is very mysterious. In Beijing, they kept a very old palace that was made in 1406’s- Ming Dynasty. Also the Great Wall is one of the famous builds.

There are a lot fun places around my house, lots of clubs, bars and shopping malls. I had lots of fun in China. But in America there is no one outside at night, it is so much more quieter than China.

Chinese people talk very loudly everywhere. They always cut the line and are disrespectful to others, unlike American people. Americans always let women and the elderly go first, and it feels more like a big family.

There is a subway station outside my house, there is subway everywhere. Transportation was efficient, traveling to other cities was like going to your neighbor’s house next door. Unlike here, there is highway everywhere, if you can’t drive it’s more like suffering.

Also America is a country full of freedom. Citizens are  more law-abiding in America than in China. In China, there is more tradition and less awe of the law. There is less of a drunk driving situation in America. Lots of people in China don’t care about laws and the rules, so there is always people getting in trouble in China. But in China people are not allowed to have a gun, even the police don’t carry guns. So I feel like it is more dangerous here than in China.    

The weather was totally different in China as well. During the winter it’s warmer in America than in China. The weather is extreme in China, so the summer in China is also super hot, above 100 degrees. We need air conditioner everywhere. The winter is very cold. So we always prepared a heater and a air conditioner at home.

The Chinese New Year celebration is in February. The celebration is about 10 days, and lots of kids will get lots of money from their family, and we hang out all night long. I really miss the New Year in China with my entire family and my friends.  In America it is more about Christmas and Halloween. People play with fireworks in China after the big dinner on the February first, in our special calendar, we have lots of different holidays is on this calendar.       

I think I’m lucky at some point, but it’s beneficial to speak two languages, because I met people from other side of the world and I studied different culture. I liked here a lot, but I also miss China.