ACTUAL experts in the Asia-West divide on math scores come to different conclusions: While Gladwell is 100% correct that there is an enormous cultural component to self-cultivation in mathematical understanding, he fails to notice the glaringly obvious fact that A.K.R. doubts: Chinese children do indeed rack up more maths hours both in and out of the classroom (doing maths puzzle books). But this is not the critical factor, nor is IQ; even though one of the ways that IQ can be roughly measured is with the repetition of a string of numbers, this is not why Asain-Americans have marginally higher IQ scores and that subject is a whole other story. I will quote from

Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 42(3), 2005
PERCEPTIONS OF MATHEMATICS CURRICULA AND TEACHING IN CHINA by ROBERT MOY and STEPHEN T. PEVERLY
“Some aspects of math instruction, such as strict adherence to textbooks and large class instruction, may appear to be less progressive than the practices followed in U.S. schools. On the other hand, China has begun to focus less on teacher-dominated classes and more on teacher-guided math communities that provide children with an atmosphere that encourages exploration, creation, and challenge. Whatever the method, the real backbone of mathematics instruction in China is the preparation that China’s math teachers engage in individually and with colleagues, and the profound understanding of fundamental mathematics they have and continually work to develop.
Yet, it is not methods or teacher knowledge/preparation alone which characterizes China’s math education. Jiang (1995) reported that most Chinese students study hard and hold positive attitudes toward math. In addition, there is the cultural belief that hard work results in high achievement. Although some students in China do not respond positively to math, they are told that math is a requirement and that there are no exemptions. With teacher help (and the consistent pressure of future exams), they manage to make enough progress to solve basic textbook problems. Chinese students also spend more time studying mathematics in school and in the home than their U.S. peers (with students of low achievement receiving even more homework than their more able peers).”

The paper also explains that Chinese method of teaching maths involves mastery of fundamental principles using concrete examples (the abacus and real-world computational problems) and using state experts who issue teacher guides with each order of the Chinese curriculum textbooks.

In short, the factors Language, IQ and Farming Habits probably take a massive backseat to Culture, Quality Of Teaching and the inevitable Stereotyping that has been robustly demonstrated to put girls at a severe maths disadvantage until you tell them “on this test, girls and boys score equally well”.

Thanks for your time.