Mike Zhang rides the subway in the suburbs of Beijing. His girlfriend called off their relationship after two years because he couldn’t afford to buy an apartment in the capital.
Posted on 06/21/2010 6:36:09 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mike Zhang considered himself serious boyfriend material. He knew what to order at an Italian restaurant. He could mix a tasty margarita. And he always volunteered to carry his girlfriend's handbag.
Then came the deal breaker. Zhang, a 28-year-old language tutor and interpreter, couldn't afford an apartment in the capital's scorching property market.
Rather than waste any more time, his girlfriend of more than two years dumped him.
Zhang's misfortune is not uncommon. China's housing boom has created a woefully frustrated class of bachelors.
Home prices in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai have easily doubled over the last year as families and investors rush to grab a piece of the Chinese dream. A typical 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath apartment in the capital now costs about $274,000. That's 22 times the average annual income of a Beijing resident.
Unlike in the United States, where home buying traditionally takes place after marriage, owning a place in China has recently become a prerequisite for tying the knot. Experts said securing an apartment in this market signals that a man is successful, family-oriented and able to weather challenging financial circumstances. Put succinctly, homeownership has become the ultimate symbol of virility in today's China.
"A man is not a man if he doesn't own a house," said Chen Xiaomin, director of the Women's Studies Center at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. "Marriage is becoming more and more materialistic. This is a huge change in Chinese society. No matter how confident a woman is, she will lose face if her boyfriend or husband doesn't have a house."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
No money, no funny.
...or...
No money, no honey.
Sounds like he’s better off without her anyway.
I suspect that the endemic killing of baby girls throughout Red China is more likely the culprit.
“He could mix a tasty margarita. And he always volunteered to carry his girlfriend’s handbag.” And this guy is wearing purple.
Her reason for breaking up with him over not having a house was just a pretext. Him knowing how to cook, volunteering to carry his GF’s purse, and wearing purple spells M-E-T-R-O-S
E-X-U-A-L which she doesn’t want.
>>And he always volunteered to carry his girlfriend’s handbag<<
The girlfriend must be a slow learner - took her TWO YEARS to figure out he was poor AND gay?
Jeez
Prefectly reasonable behavior on the women’s part considering they hold all the power and can be picky with how skewed China’s male-female ratio is. You see the opposite effect in the US African-American community where black men can behave like jerks because the ratio is skewed the other way; around 10% of black males are in jail or have been in jail.
See Rape of the Sabines, hee hee.
The article managed to find a negative in what is an economic miracle that free markets have provided. People in China can own their own home!!! And, it is so popular the prices are skyrocketing. That means the people will be willing to work very hard in order to buy their own home, they will spur the economy further. Freedom once again shows us how powerful and how prosperous it makes the average person! It is God’s design after all, the “natural” way of things. We are all meant to be free, free to do as well as we choose, to prosper as much as we desire.
The Chinese have women studies classes at their universities too?
Carrying his girlfriend’s purse makes him a gentleman ? Since when ?
Women do not need to be put on a pedestal.
Sounds logical..........Same here......;^)
Abort females for 30 years, and after the male/female ratios become skewed, you’ll find that those women that remain have their pick of men.
Tell that to my wife. She's been on one for 30+ years and won't come down...........
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