More Chinese high school students heading for US

After getting a glimpse of the endless cramming for China's gruelling college and university entrance exams at his high school, Zhang Kaisheng, 16, decided to take a different path.

Like a growing number of Chinese teenagers, Zhang plans to enrol this autumn in a private US high school where he and his parents hope he will get a more well-rounded - if far more expensive - education.

Tuition, room and board can cost about US$40,000, three to four times as much as an elite private school in China.

"I feel like the US education fits me better and will allow me to do things I like to do," said Zhang, who loves playing basketball.

With more than 333,000 of its students in US postsecondary institutions, China has long been the top feeder of international students in the United States. Now Chinese high-school students are following suit in astonishing fashion: Last year US schools welcomed 50 times as many of them than they did just eight years earlier.

The high schoolers want to escape the rat race at home, where students often study late into the night with little opportunity for extracurricular activities. They also believe studying in the United States will help them snag coveted spots at more prestigious US institutions.

"The competition has grown fiercer, and there has been pressure to go to US high schools to gain an edge," said Xu Yi, who runs a tutoring and consulting agency for Chinese students called Focus Education.