Egalitarian society
"If Americans want to say something, generally speaking, they will say it without much consideration as to hierarchy, tradition, or precedence--who's senior, more superior, older, or in higher position," Chao said, adding that this facilitates exchange of ideas, brainstorming, and overall communications in American culture.
Emphasis on individualism
"They celebrate being weird," Chao said, which made all the students chuckle.
Chao said that people shouldn't feel offended or have their feelings hurt when someone does or says something they don't like. Vice versa," don't hesitate or be afraid to express your opinion".
Believe in teamwork
She said that American's willingness to collaborate contributes to its strength. She encouraged students to learn to cooperate at the same time maintain their individualism.
Mistakes part of life
"Very few mistakes are fatal," said Chao, adding that Americans are very forgiving about mistakes, telling the students not to be afraid to make mistakes.
"Sometimes, I feel, we make a bigger deal out of our own mistakes than others," Chao said.
Young nation
Chao said people are more likely to succeed in the U.S. because they are passionate about what they do, which is very different from Chinese culture.
"The Chinese encourage their children to shore up their weaknesses, mend their weaknesses. But the Americans emphasize their strengths, meaning they work to cultivate their talents," Chao said.
Affirmative culture
Chao said that Americans are always saying "Thank you! You are doing great! Keep going", which is encouraging and make people improve by the reinforcements.
Chen Ruicong, a physics major who plans to go abroad for further study, said he learnt a lot from Chao's insight.
"The biggest difference is that Americans emphasize straight talk and value individualism, which we need time to understand and get used to," Chen said.
Students from Peking University wondered why the young generation has better knowledge of science and technology than the Americans but struggles to show obvious advantages in global competitions.
"Cultural differences might be the answer. We will learn from each other," Chen said.
Liu Bo, a student from the institute of foreign languages of Peking University, said that he found that Chao's family values traditional Chinese culture a lot though Chao gave a speech on the topic of western culture.
"They always say their roots are back in China, and that touches me," said Liu.
