BEIJING - Sun Daohan did something this summer that many American 10-year-olds only dream of - he stayed home alone.

With both his parents working - his father at his own trade firm and his mother at an environmental group - Daohan was allowed for the first time to be on his own all day. (Daohan, pronounced "dow-hahn," is his first name, but in China it goes last. Sun is his family name.)

Not that he got to lounge in front of the TV all day. Every day, he cooked his own lunch, including lighting the gas stove to heat up some curry and make some rice or noodles.

He likes cooking and says he enjoyed feeling independent this summer.

Like almost all Chinese kids who live in cities, Daohan has no brothers or sisters.

China has 1.3 billion people - about five times more than the United States. So, because it is a crowded place China's government puts limits on the number of children a mom and dad can have. Families who live in the countryside can have two children, but people who live in the cities are limited to just one.

Daohan said he once in a while wishes he had a little brother, but he has an American friend with a little brother and thinks it's not such a big deal.

"He hits his little brother and refuses to play with him," said Daohan.

Daohan goes to a private boarding school, which is increasingly popular among families in Beijing. Daohan has an English name, Michael, but only the American teacher at his school uses it. Michael was chosen by his father, who took the name from an English friend. But his mother also likes it because she's a fan of Michael Jordan, the basketball player.

Every Sunday evening he takes a bus from his home about 20 miles to his school at the edge of the huge city of Beijing. He shares a dorm room with three roommates - a Chinese boy, a South Korean boy and a Chinese-American boy. About two-thirds of the students at his school are Chinese and the other one-third come from different countries.

His parents chose the school because it offers better classes than public schools in Beijing and has a swimming pool, computer labs and lots of afterschool activities.

It also feeds the students six times a day. On top of breakfast, lunch and dinner, he gets a mid-morning yogurt, an afternoon serving of fruit and milk and cookies before bedtime. The food is meant to satisfy the parents as much as the children. Every day, the menu is posted for parents to inspect.

Daohan's fifth grade class is busy and a lot of work. Every week he takes classes in math, English grammar, English conversation, social science, natural science, art, Chinese calligraphy, swimming, piano and more. He has to do two hours of homework every night while supervised by the teachers. Students caught talking or misbehaving are scolded by the teachers.

And if a student really gets out of line?

"If the kid insists on talking, there's nothing the teacher can do," he said.

He likes his American teacher, who teaches his English conversation class, because she is much more easy-going in the classroom.

"The Chinese teachers are stricter," he said.

On Friday afternoons, he takes the bus home and gets to spend the weekend playing with friends, his Sony PlayStation or Nintendo GameBoy or watching cartoons on TV. His favorite show is called "Dragonball" and comes from Japan.

When students reach the sixth grade, they can apply to go to America to study at the school's center in southern California. But Daohan is not interested because he doesn't want to be so far away from his parents.

He also says he's not so interested in seeing United States. He'd rather go to England and watch his sports idol, David Beckham, play in a soccer match.

"Yao Ming is okay, but Beckham is much better," he said.