User:Lanyiruan/Americans in China

History
In modern China, groups of Americans first entered China in the early 1900s as missionaries, educators, and nurses, as part of organizations such as the Yale Foreign Missionary Society. These organizations founded important institutions in China such as Yenching University, which was later merged with Peking University. Other notable establishments include the founding or co-development of medical schools. Children of missionaries and educators, having grown up in China in American households, grew to contribute to shape the US-China relationship.

Today, Americans have been coming to China for job opportunities since 1994. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, a growing number of Americans in their 20s and 30s headed to China for employment, lured by its faster-growing economy and good pay in the financial sector. Many of them teach English, a service in demand from Chinese businesspeople and students and a growing number are arriving with skills and experience in computers, finance and other fields. While working at international companies and schools provide an international community of peers and friends, many express that language and cultural barriers outside of their workplace makes it hard for them to truly fit in and develop a sense of belonging. Some has also expressed that the language barriers make administrative tasks particularly difficult. Being in a foreign country with no friends and families, many have also expressed loneliness and homesickness.

In recent years, there has been an increased number of foreign or expatriate scholars who decide to work in Chinese universities and research institutions such as Tsinghua University. Its math department, Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, is named after a Chinese-American mathematician Shing-Tung Yau.

International Schools
Due to the increasing number of international (including American) communities in China, there has been an increased demand for an international education, which usually means American or British educational system, such as AP or IB. International schools often hire teachers from countries such as the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, and only accepts non-Chinese students. These schools often offer a secluded international community for teachers and students that imitates American or British high schools. While providing a Western-styled education helps establish a stronger sense of connection between students with their country of citizenship and/or origin, being in an International school also often lead to disconnection to local culture. Many schools even try to segregate themselves from the local community by providing school bus services to decrease local interaction. Some has expressed that since the school would operate the same way no matter where it operates, it is hard to feel that they live and go to school in China.

American international schools in Mainland China:


 * Beijing Saint Paul American School
 * Changchun American International School
 * Concordia International School Shanghai
 * QSI International School of Chengdu
 * Dalian American International School
 * American International School of Guangzhou
 * International School of Beijing
 * Shanghai American School
 * Shanghai Livingston American School
 * Shenzhen American International School
 * Suzhou North America High School

American international schools in Hong Kong:


 * American International School Hong Kong
 * Hong Kong International School

Self-Identification of Young Americans in China
The previously described seclusive international community international school provides on one hand provides a place where students can interact with people who share a more similar cultural background, but also causes a disconnect between a student and the city they grow up in. While they live physically in China, the limited contact they have with local communities and the sheerly different environment their schools offer make them ignorant about their surrounding culture. Students have expressed that while they have lived most of their lives in a Chinese city, they feel that they are completely disconnected and ignorant about the city, and even feel more comfortable living in places they spend their summers in, such as the U.S.. This often causes students to lose a sense of belonging. Many has also expressed exclusionary attitudes towards local Chinese people.