Wandering down Nan Luo Gu Xiang, a funky street of little shops selling expensive silk scarves and fancy pottery, I could scarcely move for crowds of young Chinese women. Three were giggling as they strutted along in multi-coloured wigs: pink, blue and white. Some were eating ice-cream or chuanr, a kind of kebab; others were trying on clothes. All were chatting and laughing – in short, having the time of their lives.
Four years ago, when I lived here, the clientele would have been primarily foreign tourists. No longer. As China has grown richer, Chinese have more disposable income, and single women working in the city are the fastest growing consumer group.
The “one child policy”, introduced in 1978, prompted Chinese families to lavish attention on a daughter that would previously have been reserved for sons. Today as many Chinese women as men have a university degree, and – for the first time – young women are earning enough money to be independent. It has given them the freedom and self-confidence to go out and have fun with friends, unconfined by poverty, family or convention.
Multi-national companies often prefer to hire young Chinese women than men because they are frequently better at languages and more flexible – having benefited from the rigid hierarchy of both Confucianism and communism, Chinese men may be understandably less eager to cast it aside. Other women are starting their own businesses. Full story...
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Four years ago, when I lived here, the clientele would have been primarily foreign tourists. No longer. As China has grown richer, Chinese have more disposable income, and single women working in the city are the fastest growing consumer group.
The “one child policy”, introduced in 1978, prompted Chinese families to lavish attention on a daughter that would previously have been reserved for sons. Today as many Chinese women as men have a university degree, and – for the first time – young women are earning enough money to be independent. It has given them the freedom and self-confidence to go out and have fun with friends, unconfined by poverty, family or convention.
Multi-national companies often prefer to hire young Chinese women than men because they are frequently better at languages and more flexible – having benefited from the rigid hierarchy of both Confucianism and communism, Chinese men may be understandably less eager to cast it aside. Other women are starting their own businesses. Full story...
Related posts:
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