Personally, I studied in the Chinese public school system for 19 years (5 years of elementary school, 4 years of junior high, 3 years of senior high, and 4 years in college and another 3 for advanced degree). Let me tell you some of the experience regarding what's it really like to grow up in Chinese Style Teaching.
1, Authority, authority, authority
If you watched the documentary, those are probably the best and "almost nicest" teacher I have seen compared to what I had in my 19-year school life. Yet, students are rebelling against them.
In my above-average public elementary school, we only behave ourselves because teachers have the authority to have you standing on the playground in a sunny summer morning for the entire morning if you are chatting in the class or whatever. I would say that those "not so nice" teachers often times abuse their authority. One time, I did my Chinese homework in traditional Chinese characters (which is used in HK, Taiwan, Japan, etc) instead of Simplified Chinese (the official Chinese in mainland China), out of I don't know, fun? My punishment is quite severe. I have to copy the entire 3000 Chinese character in Traditional Chinese character 10 times. It took me a whole day. And another example is that I am trying to be a smart ass and finish the advanced maths exercises in my homework, which is not part of the assignment. My maths teacher is so mad that I have to "again" copy a part of the textbook for I don't remember how many times exactly. I understand that obedience is important in a 50-plus-student classroom, but aren't they take it too far?
2, Boring, boring, boring
Many of you might think in a traditional Chinese class, students are working hard and trying hard and behave themselves. Well, only the last part is true. Most of the time, I just sit there, feeling sleepy, trying to compose a story, probably a romantic one with a superhero in it, and only pretend that I am paying attention. Often time, there's no Q&A, no interaction in class. Teachers just keep talking, reading out loud what's written on the textbook or their reference book. I heard that different teachers gives the exact same class using the same examples and same assignment throughout the school. And it is a dead boring one.
3, All about ranking
It is true that Chinese schools rank students by their exam score. We have our ranking in class, in the same grade, and a percentile ranking among students in the same grade in the entire city sometimes. Lucky as I am, ranking top in the school means one thing, freedom!!! I can read novel, listen to MP3 player, and sleep in class. As long as I keep my ranking, no one would bother.
To sum up, I am just picturing my personal reality of what's it like to attend public schools in China.

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