Short and sweet online love letters
Source: Xinhua |
February 16, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AS love letters go, they're short on length - and, some would say, short on romance.
"My dear husband, I appreciate your contribution to our family. Happy Valentine's Day," said the post by "Nuannuan Aunt" on China's t.sina.com.cn microblog site.
It was one of more than 163,000 short love letters - up to a maximum of 140 Chinese characters - posted on the website.
But while many young lovers let their emotions spill over on the new medium, simple expressions of mundane affection showed a glimpse of traditional Chinese reserve and a time when life was less complicated.
Romance has hit a rocky road in China, where tradition puts a premium on material comforts for the marital nest.
Back in the 1980s when the country was just beginning to reform its economy and open up to the outside world, the "three major items" - a watch, a bicycle and a sewing machine - could usually secure a woman's hand in marriage.
Those were the days when courting couples would walk side by side in public at a respectable distance.
With growing wealth in the 1990s, courtship was transformed and couples could go to the cinema together. The three major items became a modern refrigerator, a TV set and a washing machine. Other items of furniture and gold and silver jewelry could embellish the package.
But for many young Chinese today, an apartment has become necessary for marriage - and at today's prices, that's unobtainable.
A survey by the Baihe.com matchmaking website of 32,676 people across the country last year found 70.8 percent of single women believed Mr Right should own a home before marriage.
So the microblog love letter has brought a return to simplicity for those wanting to show their affection the old-fashioned way.
A railway policeman named "Yongkangrailway," who worked away from his family for long periods, said in a post to his wife that he would never forget last year's Spring Festival, which they spent together.
Fan Lizhu, a professor of sociology at Shanghai's Fudan University, said: "Times are changing, but the true meaning of love should not change."
"My dear husband, I appreciate your contribution to our family. Happy Valentine's Day," said the post by "Nuannuan Aunt" on China's t.sina.com.cn microblog site.
It was one of more than 163,000 short love letters - up to a maximum of 140 Chinese characters - posted on the website.
But while many young lovers let their emotions spill over on the new medium, simple expressions of mundane affection showed a glimpse of traditional Chinese reserve and a time when life was less complicated.
Romance has hit a rocky road in China, where tradition puts a premium on material comforts for the marital nest.
Back in the 1980s when the country was just beginning to reform its economy and open up to the outside world, the "three major items" - a watch, a bicycle and a sewing machine - could usually secure a woman's hand in marriage.
Those were the days when courting couples would walk side by side in public at a respectable distance.
With growing wealth in the 1990s, courtship was transformed and couples could go to the cinema together. The three major items became a modern refrigerator, a TV set and a washing machine. Other items of furniture and gold and silver jewelry could embellish the package.
But for many young Chinese today, an apartment has become necessary for marriage - and at today's prices, that's unobtainable.
A survey by the Baihe.com matchmaking website of 32,676 people across the country last year found 70.8 percent of single women believed Mr Right should own a home before marriage.
So the microblog love letter has brought a return to simplicity for those wanting to show their affection the old-fashioned way.
A railway policeman named "Yongkangrailway," who worked away from his family for long periods, said in a post to his wife that he would never forget last year's Spring Festival, which they spent together.
Fan Lizhu, a professor of sociology at Shanghai's Fudan University, said: "Times are changing, but the true meaning of love should not change."
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