(Go ahead, try to say the title out loud without cracking a smile.)

In Beijing, our tourguide gave us an interesting summary of what gifts/offerings made a man a desirable bachelor through the years, due to the changes in society in the pre-Communism, Communism, and current hybrid Communism-Capitalism eras.

Before 1911: China is big and transportation was expensive if not unavailable. When a woman married into her husband’s family, she was hubby property and moved into his household, away from her own family. She’d rarely be able to make the trek back to her parents’ home, and could visit only every few years. Her parents (or mother, really) gave her a jadeite bracelet for her wedding which she would wear daily as an indicator of whether she was happy in her marriage. See my post on this here. Her husband gave her a handkerchief as his gift. Why? To wipe away her tears of longing for her own parents.

1960s: After what China calls “The Liberation” (change of government over into Communism), the 3 most desirable assets a man could have were a watch (“He’s so groovy! He always know what time it is! Watch, ask him!”), a bicycle (“He actually rides to work! He doesn’t have to walk! And I can sit on the handlebars and he rides me around and drops me off at work! I’m so proud when I sit on his bike.”), and a sewing machine (“We can make our own clothes, whenever we want! As many as we can afford fabric for!”).

1980s: This’ll sound familiar to you if you’re a child of the 80s like I am. A man is bitchin if he has a color television set (the newest technology and entertainment for leisure time), a refrigerator (“We actually have excess food that we can keep for a prolonged amount of time, we’re so privileged!”), and a washing machine (“What a good life I’ll have as his wife, I don’t have to scrub my hands raw doing laundry with a bar of soap against a scrubbing board!”).

1990s: The 2 most desirable things a man could possess are a computer (“My man’s technosavvy, and he makes more money than your man. Now that wages are no longer standardized equally by the government.”), and a college or technical degree (same reason: increased earning capacity).

2000s: Can you just smell the materialism increasing over there, catching up to the rest of the capitalistic world? Now the 2 most desirable assets in a man are a car (no explanation needed, I’m sure you understand) and credit card (the goverment actually has a program where if you make a lot of money, they’ll pay your wages directly into an interest-earning account, and give you a credit card linked to that account, similar to our debit cards. So having one of these cards means you have a high-earning job, AND have credit, AND outside earnings from interest. Pretty cool stuff.).

The changes in valued assets in China indicate a change in priorities, which in turn point to a change in its political system and how it affects the people’s lifestyle through the years. In the last 20 years or so, the people have expressed much contentment with the increase in “freedom”, as the oppressive style of communism depicted in novels and movies of the 40s and 50s gradually gave way to priorities and luxuries that almost meet those of socialist, if not quite capitalistic, government ruled countries. There are still reminders that they’re different, though. The inability to show public dissent against the government; the quantity of government jobs and government-owned property; and on a more personal level, the wistfulness of their people when they express their wishes for having more than one child, or to travel outside of their country.


Technologically advanced, cell phones are a huge thing over there.