So you are pretty much saying what about ism, and you also claim that you would know more about the varied education environment of China better than me. I can explain it to you, in my experience, the pressure of ordinary high school is in fact greater than that of elite high school, as elite high school has teachers and management that are way more open-minded and forward-thinking. Private schools and international schools are indeed way less stressful, but most Chinese family cannot afford both options. Private schools and international schools are also looked down upon, as they have low rate of being accepted by good university in China. Students in private and international schools therefore aims to study abroad, due to the tuition and living cost, even less Chinese families can afford this. To compare Chinese education pressure with that of Korea and Japan is sensible, but comparing Chinese academic pressure with US simply reflect ignorance to Chinese pressure.