An instant bestseller upon its publication in China in 1996, Chinese Students Encounter America (Liuxue Meiguo) appealed to those who had studied abroad, those who dreamed of doing so, and those who wanted a glimpse of the real America. This translation allows American readers to see their country through a Chinese lens.

Since China reopened to the West in the late 1970s, several hundred thousand Chinese students and scholars have traveled abroad for advanced education, primarily to the United States. Based on interviews conducted while the author studied journalism and taught...