The Great Gold-Digger Debate
A 2004 survey in China by Peking University showed that roughly half of Chinese women believed that it is better to marry a rich man than to work hard for a living. Three years later, the debate continues. The Shanghai Daily, Wednesday, 7 February 2007 carried 6 short responses to the debate from four women and two men, all currently at university; the responses chosen to represent both sides of the debate.
The situation for college graduates today in China is challenging. A record 4.95 million students are expected to graduate this spring, while an estimated million or more are expected to remain jobless. While Mao opened employment to women, promoting the concept that women hold up “half of the sky”, and Labor Law states that women have equal access to employment there remains significant job discrimination. With a societal expectation of marriage in their mid to late twenties and childbearing shortly thereafter, employers are inclined to not only hire, but specifically advertise for male employees.
China is not unique in the focus on money as opposed to love. A quick Google search on “gold-digger” and “marry for money” turns up innumerable articles and blogs on the role of money in marriage. The consensus is that while money does not buy love or happiness, lack of money can be a significant barrier. In the booming economy of China, seeking money to live better and enjoy the luxuries of life is natural. While there are men who look for money from the women, the bias is that the male should be the provider.
So are “girls hunting rich men dangerous” as one headline suggests? Or is it reasonable that until the job market improves, a university education for some women is a necessary catalyst to finding a successful husband? What do you think?
Labels: gold-digger debate, Shanghai
Teachers Pig Out on Pregnancies
In the Shanghai Daily Top News of Saturday-Sunday 13-14 January 2007, we find the headline “Teachers pig out on pregnancies”. The mind reels with the possibly meanings and ramifications of this header! Teachers are eating pregnancies? Teachers are reacting oddly to other’s pregnancies? Teachers are getting pregnant wildly? Teachers are having too many pregnancies?
Most people are aware that the Chinese have 12 astrological signs that are denoted by animals – rooster, rat, dog, dragon, etc. In addition to the 12 animals, there are 5 elements – metal, water, wood, fire and earth. The traditional calendar then cycles through 60 combinations of animal and element. To be more precise about the next lunar year, it will be the Year of the Female Fire Pig (
Chinese Astrology Online), more commonly referred to as The Year of the Golden Pig. Babies born under this combination of signs are believed to be destined for good fortune and a long life. With most couples limited to having only one child*, much is done to ensure the child is given the best possible start. And so, China is facing the potential for a baby boom during the next lunar year. Considering that a boomlet will have future ramifications on competition for school seats and jobs for graduates, one can only wonder how all of these children will manage their good fortunes.
In Shanghai, 30 to 40% of the teachers in primary and middle schools are young or middle-aged. Some schools have more than half of the teachers under the age of 35. The immediate consequence of the upcoming new year and the demographic of the teachers is that applications for maternity leaves are up in advance of this auspicious period. Schools are looking at doubling up teacher’s workload, recruiting retired teachers, hiring postgraduate students and shuffling the pregnant teachers into lower grades.
All quite interesting, but it still leaves you wondering...who wrote that headline?!
Please let me know what thoughts came to you when you read the article title.
Labels: Shanghai
Saving with Scalpers?
Merriam-Webster: scalp - to buy and sell so as to make small quick profits ; especially : to resell at greatly increased prices
It's the
assumptions that are the bane of travelers and expats; continually getting in the way of enjoying the best that life has to offer. In this case, it was in enjoying shows at a local price.
I read the paper just about every day, and make sure to scan the section dealing with upcoming events. Shanghai is a city of roughly 20 million people, so there should be interesting events happening all of the time. I just don’t seem to always find them. Part of my problem is that I am stuck in the mode of needing to plan ahead. If you don’t plan ahead in the US or Europe, you’re not likely to get tickets, will have to pay a fortune for tickets or will have a choice of only the worst seating -
assumption. Just because that’s the case in most of the world, doesn’t make it the case in Shanghai.
Events are frequently not scheduled until the close to the time of the event. For our latest event, a stunt show by the Filmska team, the announcement came in Friday’s paper for the event on Saturday at 2 PM. I’ll have to say that most events are announced a bit earlier than that, but less than a week is not uncommon.
Not having tickets, did we need to leave early? Our driver assured us that “no”, leaving so we would be there 15 minutes before the show was more than adequate.
He dropped us at a gate. No ticket office in sight. The guards turned us away – we had no tickets. The scalpers descended. Buying tickets written in a foreign language from people who can’t speak your language, well, that’s just not something we’re comfortable with. Flagging down the driver, he comes back to help us. More scalpers descend. Tickets presented, tickets rejected. Scalpers rush off, come back with more tickets. We’re going to get scalped -
assumption.
The outcome? We bought 4 tickets with a face value of 588 ¥ ($75) that had us seated centerfield, one row behind the VIP seats – there were few better seats in the stadium. At what greatly increased price did we pay? After all, we were scalped, right?! We bought the tickets for 150 ¥ ($20). Let me clarify, we bought the FOUR tickets for $20 – we paid less than 7% of the original ticket price.
Jaws dropped as we found our seats, as we watched the show (not worth $75, but more than $5), and again later as we calculated what I would have paid at the box office versus what our driver paid for the tickets.
As I head off to spend untold US dollars on Eric Clapton tickets, I can only wonder what would happen if we just waited and bought tickets outside the gate the night of the event. Well, that will be a future experiment – I really do want to see Eric Clapton in a small venue in Shanghai!
...assumptions can be problems in expatriation and repatriation. Visit
Expatriate Solutions for resources on getting the most of being an expat or repatriating.
Labels: assumptions, expatriation, Shanghai
Water Jugs and Perspective
Living in Shanghai, our drinking water comes in 18.9L jugs, delivered by bike. These plastic jugs are returned for refill. While they are delivered wrapped in plastic with new seals, you might imagine that they get quite scratched. Much to my amazement, this week we had a very clear, almost new jug. I’d never seen one before. It had a nice even blue tone. You could see clearly through both sides of the jug. See http://readsolutionsgroup.com/2006/12/water-jugs-and-perspective.html for the rest of the article.Labels: perspective, Shanghai
Christmas Shopping in Shanghai
In the US, Christmas decorations appear in the malls as the Halloween stores close their doors. By late November with Thanksgiving, the shopping season is in full swing.
In Shanghai, the decoration store turned its inventory over as Halloween ended. But wasn’t until early December that the malls and stores decorated for Christmas, putting up trees, lights and piping (loud and tinny) Christmas music through the speaker systems. For a country with little overt religion, Shanghai, at least, has readily picked up Christmas as one of its holidays; an opportunity for a get-together, good food and exchanging gifts.
For the expat shopping in Shanghai, there are wonderful presents to buy for people back home – silks, trinkets, artwork, and jewelry. The challenge is rather to find presents that might have been under the tree back home. Clothes – well yes you can get anything made, but it you want that latest skateboard/surf fashions, they might be hard to come by. Books – we are fortunate that there are now a number of foreign language/English bookstores, but for those who long to spend hours in a Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstore, perusing books over coffee and sampling the latest CDs, the choices are limited. Moreover, when the request is for a fun gadget – in this case, a clock for the shower – there is no Brookstone or Sharper Image at the local mall that might just have it (and some inflated price).
That said, with winter still not declared (see blog below), continuous rain, and decorations abounding, this expat found a shower clock, t-shirts satirizing communist propaganda, some interesting novels/biographies on China, wrapping paper and ribbons. There will be presents under the tree. The presents won’t be covered with Santas, sleighs and holly. But then it is a Chinese helper who delivers the presents from Santa here, isn’t it?Labels: Christmas, Shanghai
