Beef market in China
星期五, 07月 2nd, 2010Beef
market in China
Ralph Jennings is a journalist and long time resident of China.
He currently lives in Taipei. From mid-2000 to 2006, he had an advice
column in the 21st Century weekly newspaper in which he answered letters
from thousands of students and young professionals. Below is a letter
from the archive, with an introduction by Jennings.
There’s a different kind of meat market in China. Female mate
shoppers check out not only a man’s looks, humor and signs that he’ll
treat her well. They also look for a bit of beef, as in
where’s-the-beef. That means a man’s potential to earn money. Existing
personal wealth is part of the cow. Future earning potential is another,
or as advice column letter writer N.D. puts it, “achievements.”
Student letters to a foreign agony uncle
Dear Ralph,
I’m a new student at a university. In our class I see a girl who
is very beautiful. And I find that many characteristics of hers are like
mine. At the beginning I wanted her to become my girlfriend. But I
haven’t had any achievements. So I got rid of my idea to pursue her. Do
you think I’m right?
N.D., Shanxi
November 2001
http://www.danwei.org/newspapers/beef_market_in_china.php
