In China, before you go to university it's really very very hard for each student. They must take more stress in their heart. We can't do badly in our study because we must protect our parents' face. We live up to many people, all our relatives – we are big families in China, and if there is one student who is going to attend the exam to University, all the family they focus on this thing. So much stress.

In high school [to be] a good student means you are listening carefully to the teacher, and also the exam is the most important, because we must get a high score to enter the University. If you can't compete with others your future will be very, very worried.

A traditional good student in China, they don’t do anything, just concentrate on study so their parents will be happy. And they don’t need to do housework, anything can be done by their parents, as long as they study well. This is my understanding. Work all daytime and work all night time, very late; especially for good high school – high standard high school.

Just my father suggested, just give me idea. “Do you want to go abroad? For work, for study? – how do you think?” Because you know, in China, I nearly wanted to give up my study. Because most people just hand by hand, and neck by neck, for the go up, go up. I got so tired. In my mind I got so tired. I just – open my eyes, go abroad. That’s a good idea. If I have the chance, why I didn’t take it?

Oh, because I didn’t study well, and I didn’t plan to study well as well, so my parents quite upset with me. So they think it’s better for me to study overseas – if I change environment it could be something …

It’s the same, as long as it is China. The education system is all the same in China, from my understanding. The Chinese culture is the same: we all speak Mandarin in the school, and all the teacher is the same.

In high school in China, you got lots of stress, but as soon as you enter the university, life is beautiful.

Every student will be provided with accommodation. We live together – I used to live with five other girls under one roof, in one dormitory, and we get along with each other, we become life-time friends.

Here you don’t have that kind of facility: the students come here to study and then go home. Probably after three or four years if you don’t deliberately make friends you don’t have a friend at all.

But in China it’s a kind of environment surrounding you, so you can make friends, you can relax, you can have a good time; and when exam comes, we just – we studied together, and it just – kind of – you feel you’re part of a group, part of a life-style.

But here it’s very different, it’s very different.

I think the similarity is that both encourage ... originality.

I mean, original thought both encourage at university level, and in university you have to, I mean, not just memorise what the book say, you have to have your own idea. That's one thing.

But the difference is, I think, perhaps in China I don’t have stress; but here, lots, lots, lots of it. I think in high school in China, you got lots, lots of stress, but as soon as you enter the university, life is beautiful.

It’s great. In China even I didn’t study the whole semester, I just study in the final month and still got good mark. Yes. But in Australia, I don’t think it’s the same. You still have to work hard, especially if you want to get some good score, not just pass.

The difference is the demands on you at the universities here – Chinese universities are 'hard to enter, easy to pass through'; universities here are 'easy to enter, hard to pass through'. If you want to do well here you really need to put in a lot of effort; whereas in Chinese universities it’s all a matter of exams, so it’s relatively easy to deal with that.