Why Are the Chinese So Good in Math ?

I'm not of any Asian extraction (confirmed on Ancestry dot Com). But I have lived in community with folks of Chinese ancestry in almost every large city that I have called home.

During the pandemic--when I found I had some extra time on my hands--I decided to pick up and learn two skills. One was how to make oolong tea using a gaiwan for micro-steeping. It's not painfully involving and one can grasp the full technique within an hour. The rest of your life you end up 'tasting' the different tea varieties and sniffing the lid of the cup so that you can capture the aroma of the layers or levels that come from the tea leaves' chi (life force).

Yeah, well, that was a fun exercise. The gaiwans are on the second shelf and I taste tea MAYBE once a month these days.

Now, the question about math skills.

It came to me during the second skill I wanted to learn; namely how to use an abacus. Adding was a bit of a challenge, but not an impossible activity. They add from left to right. Yup... LEFT TO RIGHT. I never picked up the speed, but I understand the math behind the action. Each movement represents an actual equation that is memorized... For example, if your abacus is at 17 and you want to add 4, you say the equation, "4 = 10-6." And the action that you take is you add a value of 1 with the 10's column beads and you subtract a value of 6 from the 1's column beads.

A Review of the Effects of Abacus Training on Cognitive Functions and Neural Systems in Humans

It's not the most preferred method for doing arithmetic. Most people I know who find themselves in need of performing simple reckoning will use a calculator or adding machine. These are easily accessible on their cell phones or on the computer itself. When asked what POSSIBLE reason I could have for doing any of this, I mention the two basics: balancing my checkbooks and recording my car's mileage. Many people live their day-to-day lives without tending to either of these. I've come to learn that many people younger than I don't even have or use checking accounts with paper checks.

Anyway, I am of the belief that if one needs to have memorized equations in one's head in order to do simple arithmetic with a visual and tactile instrument such as the bead arithmetic device, then that person would probably have a comfortable grasp of other things dealing with math.