Author Peter Hessler taught at a PRC college in 1996 and again recently. Remarks on changes over a ~25 year period:
Kids he taught in 1996 were much shorter, smaller, often had illiterate parents, had to wear the same clothes every day, which they washed by hand. Only 8% of that cohort were able to attend college.
This is the generation that will retire in ~20y. They built modern China through hard work and eating bitterness. Expectations in retirement will be relatively modest.
Current college students (>50% of 18 year olds) had much better nutrition, education, etc. Kids like these will enter the workforce over next 20y.
Meanwhile, the taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI continues to eliminate rigor…, embracing mulligans.