I went back to China after losing the H-1B lottery 3 times. The reverse culture shock was harder than I expected.

Charlie Fang returned to China after losing the H1-B lottery three times.

Provided by Charlie Fang

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Charlie Fang, 31, who works for an American tech company in China as a strategic partner manager. Fang left the US in 2024 after three failed attempts to obtain an H-1B visa.His words have been edited for length and clarity.I grew up in China and attended a school in Nanjing, where studying abroad was common. More than half of my classmates planned to leave China for college, so from a young age, overseas education felt normal to me.Before college, I briefly lived in the US with a family in Portland, Oregon. My host mother, who worked in branding, was curious about what brands people wore in China. The family had watched the Beijing Olympics and had many questions about the country.I was there during the 2008 presidential election, when Barack Obama was running against John McCain, so politics came up often at the dinner table. That was new to me because politics wasn't something we often discussed at home.The family took great care of me. Before I left, my host mother handwrote a letter in Chinese to my mother using Google Translate. It left my family and me with a hugely positive view of Americans.College in the USI later attended the University of Minnesota for my bachelor's degree, where I experienced what people call "Minnesota nice."