The Los Angeles Times – Frank Shyong
“Three months before the gaokao, China’s all-or-nothing college entrance exam that can determine whether students become cashiers or CEOs, Kenny Fu was having second thoughts. His parents, small-business owners, wanted him to study in the U.S, but Fu’s English was poor and he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to make friends. With the two-day, 10-hour exam looming, he hated the idea of a single test determining his path. The family scraped together money to move him to the United States in 2011. After studying English for a year, he began to attend classes at Pasadena City College, where he volunteers part time and hopes to transfer to UCLA. More than 124,000 Chinese undergraduates are studying in the United States, according to the Institute of International Education. Many are affluent, announcing their presence on campus with Lamborghinis, flashy clothes and the profligate spending that is the hallmark of the fuerdai — the derogatory term for sons and daughters of China’s new wealthy class.”(more)