How are the women like?
I hear that there is a certain cultural shift that's going on between Mother-in-laws and Daughter-in-laws. Traditional family centered mothers versus modern younger women anchored in their own profession. Have you seen anything like this over there?
In Shanghai and Beijing, the modern, independent, female professional is becoming increasingly common, but everywhere else I'd say that people tend to follow the tradition model more. In Nanjing, where I live, I've seen some evidence of a rising middle class, but there is far less Westernization there and so I tend to think people stick to roles more.
The women tend to be beautiful and the men tend to be ugly. Sorry, I can't hide the truth. In China men can be fat, stinky, and rude, but as long as they have money they can have any woman they want. Women go for financial security, they don't care what the guy looks like so much. There is always the intrigue with foreigners that attracts women, but again I think it has more to do with money. If you are a white guy into Asian women, you'll have no shortage of opportunity in China.
The pressure to get married and have kids still exists, and that comes from the older generation. The modern generation who are increasingly educated with more access to income and lifestyle opportunities, tend to slough off this traditional expectation and do things their own way. It has created a rift between two generations.
The reason why it's so apparent in China is because the communists have essentially created this gap within a single generation. It was just over 30 years ago that people were marching in the communist revolution, their gender and identities erased, and everyone expected to work for the common good; now you have a young, materialist generation who only seems to care about the now, what can serve them and make their lives easier/more entertaining, and getting what they want regardless of tradition.
Because of the one child policy though, it's more difficult for Chinese youth to brush off their roles than it is for Westerners. In China, parents place all their hopes onto one child, so when they get old, that child will come to take care of them. Nursing homes are next to non-existent in China, and there is meager social security. Your family is all you've got. So... in the more modern generations, all you have are your grandparents, parents, and yourself; no aunts and uncles, or cousins, unless your parents were born before the one child policy, then you're blessed with a big family, or if your parents were fortunate enough to have twins.
China is full of contradictions now. Old versus new, traditional versus modern, clean versus dirty, nationalism versus cynicism.
