ANASTASIA HAMMOND arrived in Shenzhen from the United States about 10 days ago to visit her father.

It is the 14-year-old's first trip to China.

The girl says she loves everything here, from the tall buildings and the dim sum, to the shops, and even the minibuses.

What she loves most, however, is the shopping. "You can buy a pretty good pair of jeans with only 250 yuan (US$31) here, but back in the United States, a nice pair of jeans costs between US$200 and US$300," said Hammond, from Los Angeles.

She had hoped to buy some shoes here, but to her disappointment, she could not find a pair in her size - 41 - in Shenzhen. "Maybe I should turn to men's wear," the girl joked.

Hammond has learned quite a few Chinese expressions, like "wo ting budong zhongwen, (I don't understand Chinese)," "Ni shuo yingwen ma? (Can you speak English)"

She attempted to chat with everybody in Chinese, her father Chuck Steinberg said.

Steinberg, who has been in Shenzhen for seven years and is very familiar with Chinese customs, has printed business cards for his daughter, with her China and U.S. mobile phone numbers on it.

The business card, which has a cartoon against a black background, reads: "Anastasia Hammond: Model by day/DJ by night."

Being a part-time model is actually the girl's dream. To help realize it, she has taken dance and etiquette classes in the United States.

She has even earned some money here, with the help of her father. She hosted an English salon for 1,600 children of an elementary school, and the one-hour salon made her US$100.

She plans to learn architecture and interior design at college to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother, who is an architect.

Editor: Wing