From starry-eyed to sceptical: why young Chinese are turning away from the American dream

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. In this article, Jane Cai and Yuanyue Dang examine Chinese people’s changing attitudes towards the US.

As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary this month – marking its journey from a revolutionary experiment to a global beacon of opportunity – few relationships have mattered more in modern history than the one between America and China.

For generations, the US represented not just a distant power but an aspirational ideal: a land of innovation, individual freedom and boundless possibility that contrasted with China’s own turbulent path through dynastic decline, republican hopes, invasion, revolution and rebirth.

Nowhere is the transformation more vivid than across two generations of Chinese families. Parents who once viewed America as the ultimate destination – a symbol of modernity and escape from scarcity – now have children who approach it with pragmatic respect or detachment, national confidence and sometimes outright scepticism.

What was once emulation has become selective engagement; what was aspiration has shifted towards equality and, in some quarters, rivalry.

“I’ve got such a headache,” said Zhang Mengyao, 48, a former banker in the northern port city of Tianjin. “My daughter doesn’t want to study in the US, even though I’ve made all the preparations for her. I really don’t understand what’s on her mind. I’ve dreamed of this chance my whole life, yet she won’t even consider it.”

Zhang’s frustration runs deep. In the 1990s, as China flung open its doors, her sister landed a coveted job on Wall Street. Videotapes mailed from across the ocean revealed American streets, offices and vibrant city life that moved Zhang to tears in her modest Tianjin bedroom. Fired up by those images of prosperity, she applied for a student visa – only to face three rejections over suspected immigration intent.