On the whole, the Chinese life seems to be very similar to our western practices. Chinese people will wake up go to work for the day, come back for dinner and then go to sleep. The youth party like the students in the states. Last night we went to a club and it might as well of been in Seattle. However there are some major differences between our country and China. It seems that people have to work so much harder to make a living here in Chengdu. The taxi drivers will work 24 hour shifts every other day. Street vendors seem to never leave their corner. Half of all the little corner market shops seem to be open 24/7. I have never lived in or spent a long time in a city before so I cant say that these practices are not common, but to me these are out of the ordinary. It is not only the working life that seems a little different then the states, but the family life seems the complete opposite. In the states the youth will strive for independence from their family and go through the "rebellion" stage. While the youth of China go through this phase, it seems that they learn to reconnect with their family while they are still relatively young compared to the youth of the US. The few instances were we have been able to communicate with fellow youth we do not here the expected "I am so happy to get away from home an live on my own" response. Instead the younger Chinese will treat their absence from the family as a necessity rather then a step to freedom. While this is logical due to the ancient philosophy of family ties in Chinese traditions, it still is a different view then I was expecting. To me this is just a foreign view because as I grew up I would try and assert my independence when ever I could.