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| Useful
Advice for Tourists Visiting China |
Social Observations
- Dating and Marriage |
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| The
aim of this section is to give those travelling to China
for the first time an insight into the lives of ordinary
Chinese People |
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Personal Relationships
Dating
Young people usually have their first proper 'Date'
during late teens. Often this is someone from their
college, whom they will see until they graduate. Afterwards
they may work in different Provinces or Countries, and
they will endeavour to see each other for a day or so,
once every four to six weeks. This continues for several
years, and usually until they can afford a home of their
own, and get married. It is unusual for traditional
Chinese youngsters to have many partners.
Whilst this still holds true for the majority of modern
Chinese, it is now more normal for Eastern City dwellers
to have two or three relationships before marriage.
However, most Chinese will be considered quite niaive
by Western standards, even in the most religious of
families. That stated - A small minority walk a very
different path in life...
Age of Consent
The Age of Marriage in all China is set at 22 for boys,
and 20 for girls. There does not appear to be a specific
Age of Consent for sex - please correct me if I am wrong?
Abortions
These are legal in China: They are cheap, quick, and
performed to very high clinical standards. They are
also more common than you would imagine, as engaged
couples will usually abort if they are not married before
pregnancy
One Child Policy vs Abortion
Originally this Policy was introduced to slow the Chinese
population explosion, and it has worked fairly well
in general. The main problem is that being a male dominated
society, couples were choosing to abort female embryos
and only give birth to boys. This has since led to a
disparity between the numbers of boys vs numbers of
girls available for marriage; currently around 10% more
boys in areas like Beijing and Shanghai. Cantonese are
not usually bothered by this enough to abort a foetus.
Due to the possibility of social problems in the future,
abortion is no longer allowed simply for the purposes
of gender manipulation
Marriage and Children
Whilst Cantonese do adhere to the 'One-child' policy
in cities, there are exceptions. Wealthy people can
pay the state a very large amount of money to have more
children, the fees rising for each additional child.
Farming communities can have two children, provided
the first is a girl. There are other specific exceptions,
too complicated to list here
Few modern Cantonese suffer arranged marriages - however,
to marry a girl your parents disapprove of can be extremely
bad. For lovers it actually goes like this:
1. Your first option is to marry a
girl your parents approve of = Her Family is revered
in their specific local culture, and from good stock
(Sounds a tad English?)
2. You have to be very much in love,
or lucky, or think outside the box for any other optional
marriage partner. Very serious stuff
3. The Number-One mate for a Cantonese
Boy is otherwise actually a Japanese Girl - Japanese
boys remain by their unrepentance 'Unforgiven', and
this is a very deep-seated resentment, especially in
Guangdong
4. Chinese girls often want to marry
a Western foreigner for a passport to your country,
your money, or a better type of life...? Very few of
these girls actually marry outside of their local community
in reality, but are given to flirting with the idea...
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| This
information is as supplied by the Chinese Embassy in
UK, as dated 20th June 2008, and/or other reliable sources.
Please check this information yourself as it may alter
without notice, and whilst we try our best to ensure
it is correct, please do not hold us responsible for
any errors - this is intended as a simple guide only |
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