Little information is available on the smoking behavior of young people in developing countries and how such data would compare with data on smoking behavior of young people in the United States. Historical and sociological data were examined to compare the smoking behavior of adolescents in the Republic of China with the smoking behavior of adolescents in the United States. In addition, secondary school students in the United States and in China completed a 62-item questionnaire on smoking behavior. The results revealed that, in spite of differences in economic development and cultures, approximately the same percentages of adolescent males smoked in the Republic of China as in the United States. Smoking behavior remained considerably lower for adolescent females in the Republic of China than for females in the United States. A combination of social and personal factors in the form of identity-seeking was identified in young males in both countries. Smoking seems to remain one of several rites of passage initiating adolescent males in both countries into a transition from childhood into manhood. An 18-item reference list and seven tables are included. (NB)