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To: RealMuLan who wrote (62992)	4/28/2005 11:20:49 PM
From: BubbaFred	Respond to of 74559

Here are thoughts of an American living in China. "In the medium and large Chinese cities, having a girlfriend or boyfriend seems to be taken less seriously by parents/family than in past decades. In most cases this occurs to couples of 22 to 27... although the mean age has seen a definite lower trend during the last five years. (I preface this in that most data has been collected from university graduate students - as this is the environment with greatest available information). Women are more likely to have the boyfriend visit (get the approval of) their family, while men still follow this tradition only 1/3 of the time. There was a time in modern China's recent past, where women's "emancipation" ages were actually far lower... it was amidst the fall-out of the Cultural Revolution and days of the Red Guard. Education and familial ties were then both least followed, with individuals' actions dictated by political motivation, and I'm told - Chinese Communism's design to 're-populate' and re-distribute people and jobs. Cases of early marriages are documentable in Chinese of ages 40 to 50 today. These are also the age brackets with the nation's highest divorce rate, but tying that to troubled times and doctrines is difficult. Many other factors are probably more to blame... the 'climate' in China's 1970s was rife with events taken alone, or in combination, to render family intervention ineffective. Many Chinese were separated for years... by great distances and lack of communication. "Traditional Chinese families" are both contemporary and a cultural 'throw-back'; taking on the guise of what was always good for the family'; the 'proper' ages to marry; the desire for male offspring tempered by China's one couple/one child policy. The official denial of the so-called "black children" (those second births who were relegated to live with rural-family; who have no records; no benefits) has been 'swept under the rug', even by traditionalists in fear of the effect on the family! So what we really have is a pseudonamic re-establishment of values perceived as for the good of the family...being modified by the advent of communication and knowlege in a world where Western values are becoming influential. It's not that a Chinese man or woman in their 20's cannot make decisions; many more join the ranks of those who do every day. It's the desire to keep the Traditions (briefly sacrificed, and now deemed important by those who 'lost' theirs) alive by parents and grandparents. The influence of decision-making and experience they still exert wanes little amongst the masses of China, yet the match has lit the candle... many believe that if China is to be a World Power, she must act like other World Powers; that Westernization will shake even the tree of traditions! I prefer it be a gentle breeze... " ----------------------------------- "Do you attribute the Westernization of Chinese youth to TV, movies and the information highway? There is some other media available in China... ie: you can subscribe to "Time" and "Businessweek" (and some other magazines) printed in Chinese. You can get the New York Times, London Post and several other Western newspapers in many larger cities. It is also possible for intrepid Chinese to tune in Sattelite stations from the N. American ComSat (CCTV is broadcat from this also) and to get European relays; as well as Arabic broadcasts in Gansu, Xinjiang and Zichang...so, this is certainly influential. The obvious is the pirated DVDs and VCDs; often not released in the USA when bought/viewed by Chinese. My vote, however, rests with computers. The appeal to Chinese youth and young adults is even greater than in Europe and the Americas. More than cell-phones, owning, and the skill in using a computer is very influential. The youth market in China is far from saturation... yet it would be difficult to find a fifth-grader there who had no experience with one. Adults, too are drawn to internet cafes and purchases. To me the 'art' of by-passing Chinese censorship is often a necessity... to Chinese it's a game of Ping-Pong! Someone is always teaching someone the latest circuventional routes... they talk about it constantly. A visit to the average internet cafe will find 30% of the kids playing games (the loud ones), while the remaining 70% are engaged in e-mail and 'research' which most often requires avoiding the censors. Sometimes I get asked questions about people; ideas; government and the inevitable "How can I go to the USA?" when I sit down. But, no one has ever asked how to see the Chicago Bulls, or World Ice-skating, or Wimbleton.... they already are watching these on computers! Eight months ago, one of my daughter's friends, Jing, asked me if I had seen "Day After Tomorrow" in an e-mail. I asked if it was a movie (I hadn't heard of it)... she'd seen it twice! Hey, I didn't know Hollywood had even made it! The kid's into learning French and asks me in fairly good written English... I think I was sleeping that day... along the info-hi-way! I haven't figured out how to watch DVDs on this computer yet...."