Why do young people in China hurry to get married? (2) [speed writing 2] This essay follows https://www.italki.com/notebook/1336728/entry/723047 So why do many young people and their parents get so anxious about marrying young? As far as I am concerned, there are at least *** reasons. First, the tradition of getting married as an obligation to one's family or clan is deeply rooted in Chinese people's minds. In China, and maybe most of the world, there was no such thing as marrying someone for romantic love until some 100 years ago. Back then, all matches in China were made "by dictates of parents, and through the words of go-betweens". The main purpose of getting married, as I see it, was to produce offspring and to make the clan that one belongs to grow. That's why there's a famous saying in China: "There are three offenses against filial piety, among which not producing an heir is the gravest." Though China has undergone tremendous changes in the past century or so with all kinds of revolutions, reforms, and introduction of western technology and values, its thousand years of history is still weighing heavy on its people. Even nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear young people say that they feel sorry for failing to fulfil filial piety by not getting married in their "golden" age. Second, harmony, which is highly valued in China, advocates that one should do what everyone else does. While “you are different” may be a compliment in the western culture, it is very often a negative comment in China. My mum likes to call me "different" as a sign of acrimonious objection against any view of mine that deviates from the "mainstream". So, if everyone is married by 30, why not you? Why do you choose to be a misfit, an outcast, a black sheep? There are a set of standards of being successful, meeting these standards and thus meeting the expectation of others are the lifetime goal of a majority of us. A perfect route of life would be: scoring high in school, going to a good college, getting a secure job, marrying young, having a baby young, etc. Many of us have strived hard to achieve all these, but have forgotten to listen to our own voices: Is this what I really want? Or it's just what others want of me? (To be continued) Time count: 50 min

Why do young people in China hurry to get married? (1) [speed writing 1] In China, getting married by a certain age is not a choice, but an obligation -- to quote a BBC documentary named "Secrets of China", although I don't like the female host who has been wearing a scornful smile throughout the show, as if she were examining a civilization far more inferior than her own. Let me get back to my topic. Chinese usually come under the pressure to get married by a certain age, probably 30 for men, and 25 for women. If you fall behind the schedule, people around you, even relatives that you see only once a year and neighbors that don't even know your full name, may think you are strange and naturely gain the right to lecture in your face the importance of settling down. It's no news for young women who are still undergraduate students to go to a blind date to make sure that they will secure a husband right after they leave college. And "marriage markets", which are places for people to exchange information about potential partners, have sprung up in many big cities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Some marriage markets are set up by individuals, and some by the government. But people that go there are not singletons themselves, but their parents, desperate to find an eligible daughter- or son-in-law amid numerous cards with personal information or even more luckily, to meet the parents of their future daughter- or son-in law on the spot. To be continued Time count: 42 min

Annoucement to Return to the Community It's been 2 years since I last updated on Italki, and I now come back to start a project: speed writing every day. By speed writing, I mean jotting down what has happend to me recently in half an hour or less every day, as a way to train myself in quick organization of English sentences. It has been a problem for me for a long time -- I got almost full scores in IELTS for reading and listening, but my active output of English has been relatively poor. I can understand many essays in English magazines like Time quite easily, but I still stutter when I chat with an English native speaker. Having worked for three years after college graduation, I feel that I still can't identify my strengths and core competitiveness in the workplace, and I feel like turning back to my old advantage: language. I want to become an interpreter, not necessarily full-time, but work in a position that demands high English interpreting skills. So I need to improve my active output of Engish, and think apart from interpreting exercises, which asks you to translate what others have said, writing, which is a way to express yourself, is another good method to "force" me to use English. So that's my announcement of returning to the community, and in the next couple of months, I will monitor my progress in speed writing, and I welcome your supervision too ^^ Time count: 13 min

The first lady of China Unlike first ladies in western countries, for example the U.S.A., first ladies in China were so low-profile as to be totally ignored by the public. I can't remember a single first lady of the past, neither their names, nor their faces. The only impression I have of one or two of the previous first ladies is a short old woman dressed in old-fashioned clothes, walking in the shadow of her husband and drawing no attention to herself. In China, you could never see a first lady giving a speech in support of her husband's latest policy, launching a charity campaign, or hosting international guests on her own. They seemed to be determined not to make their presence felt, which is quite confusing for me. But Peng Liyuan, the present first lady of China, has altered the stereotype completely. Once a household name as a Party singer, she is beautiful, demure and elegant, fitting perfectly the image of "the mother of the country", as what Chinese call their first ladies. Years of experience in the spotlight lends her incredible ease and charisma in front of the public, and her gorgeous looks make her a perfect model for the display of Chinese traditional elements in a trendy way--she's become a new fashion icon, just like Michelle Obama and Princess Kate did. She made her own headlines--there is never a lack of news featuring her fashion and her presence at important occasions, her husband not necessarily included. Peng Liyuan reminds me of the distant past when China had an influential first lady--Madame Chiang. In fact, Madame Chiang exerted much greater power than Peng Liyuan does due to her direct and impressive involvement in politics at a turmoiled time when China was being ravaged by the Japanese. The highlight of her career was her making a speech at the U.S. congress in impeccable English with a slight southern accent, appealing forcefully for support for China's hard-fought war against Japan. She was so powerful that Time made her the cover of the magazine twice. As a Chinese, I feel so proud that we finally have another first lady that makes her own voice heard and displays a positive image to the world.