U.S. colleges have traditionally ranked among the most popular destinations for students worldwide. According to recent data from the Institute of International Education, Chinese colleges are also beginning to attract large numbers of foreign students. While academic institutions in the U.S. and China have fundamental similarities, such as classrooms and dormitories, there are significant differences between American and Chinese campus culture.

Dining
During the 2008-2009 academic year, meal plans comprised 22 percent of overall costs for American students. In contrast, a hot meal at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, China can be bought for as little as 25 cents. While an undergraduate at Yale University in 2011 can expect to pay around $2,663 per semester for meals, according to CUCAS, China's official college admission system, Chinese students only spend about 300 RMB which is approximately $46 a month for on-campus meals. Unlike some American college dining halls that stay open from morning to night, Chinese university cafeterias open for as little as an hour per meal.

Leisure
While there are colleges in the United States where drinking and carousing are a central part of campus culture, campus life in China is generally more conservative. Students on Chinese campuses get together to play popular online games such as Starcraft, but are not likely to throw wild parties. An article in the China Daily reports that during a 2008 visit to Peking University, the General Secretary of the Communist Party's request that students express their patriotism by studying hard, was met by the student body with enthusiasm.

Dormitories
On Chinese college campuses six to eight students can occupy a single room. In some dorms, students walk to a separate building to shower. American college dorm rooms are not always spacious, but usually house two to three students at most and showers are located in every dorm. Students in Chinese dormitories must abide by curfews and visitation rules. Most American colleges do not have curfews, though some may have rules regarding visitors. American college dorms are often co-ed, while in China, they're single sex.

Sports
A number of American colleges, such as Duke and University of Michigan are not only academically prestigious, but famous for their sports teams as well. In China, universities that specialize in sports, such as Shanghai University of Sport, have the most robust on-campus sports facilities and cultures. However, highly reputable non-sports colleges such as Peking and Fudan Universities offer their students recreational sports activities similar to those offered by most U.S. schools.