Category: Chinese Culture

In 2013, Beijing implemented a new visa-free transit policy. The policy allows international travelers who transfer at the Beijing Capital Airport to stay in the city for sightseeing without a visa.

女人撑起半边天，这是中国的毛主席曾经的一句名言。但是在中国，独生子女政策以及传统的“重男轻女”观念意味着新生婴儿的男女比例为117：100。据侧，这同样意味着每十年，两千四百万的中国男性将找不到另一半。Women hold up half the sky, China's Chairman Mao famously said. But in China, the one-child policy and the traditional preference for boys mean that 117 boys are born for every 100 baby girls. By one estimate, this means there could be 24 million Chinese men unable to find wives by the end of the decade.
随着中国的经济发展，婚庆市场上的女性对房和车有了新需求。As China's economy booms, the marriage market has become just that: a market, with new demands by women for apartments and cars.
如今，70%的中国女性认为男性应该在婚姻关系中提供房子。从经济角度来看，女性稀缺给了她们这样一个讨价还价的机会。正是这些女性的需求让中国的经济发展得更快。Nowadays, 70 percent of Chinese women believe a man should provide an apartment, along with a marriage offer. In economic terms, the relative scarcity of women is giving them bargaining power. These women's demands are making China's economy grow even faster.
张晓波，北京大学的经济学教授说：“不断上升的性别比例带来了国民生产总值2%的增长。” 他同时还任职于国际食品政策研究所。"Rising sex ratios contribute to two percentage points of GDP growth," says Xiaobo Zhang, a professor of economics at Peking University.
张晓波发现在性别比例不均的地区，有儿子的家庭容易不高兴，他们必须努力工作去承担所有贵重的聘礼——房子。Zhang has found families with sons in areas with higher gender imbalances are more likely to be unhappy, and to have to work harder in order to be able to afford that all-important wedding gift — the apartment.

吉林德惠米沙子镇宝源丰禽业公司发生严重火灾，至少造成至少119人死亡。The fire broke out at around 6:06 am at a slaughterhouse owned by the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Company. At least 119 people were killed.

目前广州约有50万外国人，其中经商、留学占多数，这类人对学习汉语有较大的需求，因此广州各类对外汉语教师的机构趁机崛起，可获取相关国际汉语教师资格证的噱头吸引学员报名。但是想出国教书却不易，毕竟这样的证书国外不一定认可。

编剧六六的新作《宝贝》近日在电视台开播，该剧延续了六六其作品贴近生活的特点，但新作中一些大尺度的台词还是引来观众的热议。对此，编剧六六昨天接受采访时回应称，《宝贝》的三观还是正确的，能安全过审证明没问题。
When the TV series "Sweetheart" aired recently, it sparked heated debate among netizens for its subject matter. But scriptwriter Liu Liu defended the series, saying she was responsible for her own words. In response to the criticism, Liu Liu said the three views presented in the series, namely the outlook on the world, the outlook on life and the outlook on values were correct. Otherwise, the script would not have passed the censorship board.
电视剧《宝贝》讲述了70、80、90后三对欢喜冤家的一系列啼笑皆非的故事，六六说希望通过这部剧解决三个问题：“第一，人为什么要有婚姻？第二，有了婚姻之后为什么一定要有个孩子？第三，关于养老。中国大都市里出现了养老荒，因为养老金、社保金不够用，我们希望能打开一个新的政策空间。”
The TV program "Sweetheart" tells the stories of three couples born in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Liu Liu said she hoped the series could answer three socially relevant questions: first, why should people get married; second, after marriage, why should they have a child; third, how should the problems confronting senior citizens be dealt with.
六六认为，现在社会中存在这样的现象：“70后夫妻想多要个小孩，80后夫妻想丁克，90后夫妻要小孩不要婚姻。”
"Couples born in the 1970s would like to have more children, couples born in 1980s want to have no child, and couples born in 1990s wish to have a child but no marriage," Liu Liu said.
In major cities in China, there are concerns about problems relating to support for senior citizens because of the lack adequate pensions and social security. Many citizens would like to see new government policies to address the issue.
《宝贝》的话题涵盖丁克一族、家庭暴力⑤、二胎政策、不孕不育、一夜情等大胆话题，被网友戏称为史上最大尺度的家庭剧。
Different episodes of "Sweetheart" have covered DINK (short for double income and no child), family violence, China's second-child policy, adverse pregnancy and fertility and one-night stands.