The teenagers played soccer, ate ice cream, joked with their friends and walked with their heads down, eyes on their Smart phones and tablets. In short, they looked just like their American counterparts – except these students live in China.

They were visiting Fairfax High on July 20, touring the building, chatting with their student tour guides and having fun in a new place. They visited the school gym and even saw the new turf field being installed in the football stadium.

Fairfax senior Harlean Bajwa, one of the tour guides, called them “very sweet and interested in the American lifestyle.” “To us, they seem more strict and studious; and Americans, in general, seem more laid back to them.”

“They’re very quiet; you have to push them to ask questions,” added classmate Cilicia Hufano, another guide. “But when you do, they ask a lot. They’re really nice and very respectful.”

“Some of us are a little shy and don’t talk to strangers,” explained Chinese freshman Siyan Dong. “This school is really good; I love the lifestyle here.” She said most girls in China don’t like sports but, like her, like to “play on the computer.” In her country, said Dong, “Girls socialize with girls, and boys socialize with boys.”

She said her parents want her to become a professor. “At first, I wanted to be a singer, but I’m not good at that,” said Dong. “I saw movies with lots of government agents, so that’s what I’d like to be.” She was also excited because their hotel had a swimming pool. “Most of ours don’t have them, and I really enjoyed swimming in it,” she said.

HER CLASSMATE, Yu Chen Song, 14, wants to be a Chinese-language teacher and visited both Lanier and Fairfax. “The schools are very beautiful and clean,” she said. “And the classes are very free for the students because they don’t have to sit in the same seat always and can eat in class. In China, it’s not allowed.”

She also liked Fairfax’s large soccer field. “We don’t have them,” she said. We only have basketball courts in the playgrounds. I think American students are very kind and friendly. They’re older than me here, so they’re like my older brothers and sisters, and I felt welcomed here.”

“My country is beautiful, but so is America,” continued Song. “We’re here for 21 days altogether and have 10 days more. Next, we’ll visit Los Angeles and San Francisco.”

After some of the Chinese and Fairfax students played soccer together, they all enjoyed eating ice cream bars on the hot, summer day. Among them were Ziyue Zhang and Yu Yi.

“We enjoyed this high school,” said Zhang. “It is very beautiful; I think there’s a lot of technology in this school. And the middle-school students were very outgoing.”

He especially liked seeing the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and hopes to someday be “an IT worker like Bill Gates.” Noting a similarity between Chinese and American teenagers, Zhang said, “We all like to play games and, sometimes, we’re good at studying.”

Besides Hufano and Bajwa, also among the visitors’ tour guides at Fairfax High were seniors Savannah Steblein, Sophia Lam and Jason Lee, and they all enjoyed meeting the students from China.

“I think they’re so sweet,” said Steblein. “They even gave us gifts; I got a book about Beijing. And it’s so cool to hear about the differences between our schools. They said our school is so colorful, compared to theirs. Their schools are black and white, and one girl said the colors here made her happy.”

“I got a good-luck charm, and that was so polite of them,” said Lam. “They’re really friendly.”

LEE WAS SURPRISED to learn “how competitive they are against themselves. They have school rankings and were surprised with the scope of how much we help each other.”

Steblein also noted that Chinese students “are not allowed to have romances – their teachers would break them up.”

“School goes from 7 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. there, so they were surprised by how much free time we have here,” said Lam. “We have time for extracurricular activities; they focus more on academics.”

Calling the Chinese students’ visit a “great experience,” Lee said, “It really opened my eyes to how privileged we are and the amount of freedom we have.”

Steblein said it made her realize “how nice we have it here. We all care about school, but they’re more disciplined.” Added Lam: “It was definitely humbling.”

“They take lots of pictures, and they were so excited about seeing us, and that was cool,” said Steblein.

“I think we’d feel the same way if we visited them,” said Lam.

After meeting and talking with some of the Chinese students, Steblein wants to visit China, herself. “I want to see it in person, now that they’ve told us about it,” she said. “And I appreciate what we have in our schools a lot more.”

Lam said she, too, would love to visit their country, meet the people and experience their culture. “I’m really glad I participated,” she said.

As for Lee, he was pleased to discover that, “Even though we approach education differently, we want the same things – success and friendships.”