China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Singles appeal to urgent parents through ad
Singles are now speaking out against their parents for putting pressure on them to get married.
With the Chinese Spring Festival approaching, an ad recently appeared in Beijing’s Dongzhimen subway station with this message to parents: Please, do not urge me to get married, especially when I come back home for the Spring Festival.
It is a Chinese tradition for family members to have a reunion during the Spring Festival holidays, which begins on Sunday this year.
The ad, a result of crowdfunding by young singles from around the country who have experienced the pressure to get married, goes on: “Dear Dad and Mom, don’t worry about me. The world is so big and there are many different kinds of lifestyles. Singletons can also be very happy.”
Li Hao, who works in Turkey, said his mother has been urging him to find a girlfriend since he finished graduate school in 2013.
“She arranged lots of blind dates for me and was unhappy when the dates didn’t work out. She also criticized me for spending two-thirds of a year working overseas, which she believed made it difficult for me to establish and maintain a stable relationship with a girl,” said the 29-year-old.
Chen Linxi, a 28-year-old civil servant in Changsha, Hunan province, said 80 percent of the calls her parents made to her were to compel her into marriage.
“Although I know they did this out of concern for me, but I still feel unhappy because their remarks made me feel that I was like an outdated product that should be sold as soon as possible,” she said.
But Chen does not think ads are effective. “Getting married and having children at the right age is an idea that is deeply rooted in many parents’ minds and that might not be easily changed,” she said.
Li believes a better way to convince stubborn parents is to lead a happy life. “They will be relieved when they see that you live well even though you are single,” he said.