Eternal Love Comes from Sincerity

IT was a time of happiness three years ago when Qian Kui, leader of the Chinese Gymnastics Team, took out a platinum ring with an inlaid diamond from a small velvet box and placed it on his wife's finger. Qian, a senior team leader in his 50s, said to his wife with deep feeling, "Twenty-five years ago when we got married, we just put our single beds together. I didn't bring you any gift, which I have long regretted. Today is the Silver anniversary of our marriage. Please accept     

The Tale of Feng Xian

AS the third daughter of an immortal fox called Pi Weng, Feng Xian married a poor xiucai (one who passed the imperial examination at the county level in the Ming and Qing dynasties) named Liu Chishui. Once when Pi Weng's three sons-in-law had gathered to chat in his home, Feng Xian felt wronged by her father, who loved the rich and looked down upon the poor. Rashly she let Liu Chishui leave her home. When they parted she gave him a mirror and said, "Go home and put all your energies into study. Make a good show for your wife. I'm waiting for you in this mirror."     

Promises

AT dusk, I switched on my radio. What I heard was a special call-in program entitled "New Air of the City," on a local music channel; the two silver-tongued hosts were discussing the topic of promises. A young woman with a soft voice managed to get through first. She said that she had been in love for many years. She and her fiance often went to the banks of the Yangtze River in their spare time, lifting stones to look for small crabs, as tiny as fingernails. They liked to raise the crabs in a glass bowl. But one day, there were few stones by the river; they searched for a long time, but found nothing. An old man who was catching fish told them that it was difficult to find those crabs on the bank. Then he took several crabs out of his     

Mom's Hut,A Restful Harbor

I have become very fond of returning to my own parents' home, and to my mother's side, ever since I was 30. When I am tired of life in the noisy city and being a mother and wife, returning to my mother's side makes me feel like a daughter again. There I am free from worries and can enjoy the tender care and love of my mother. In the morning, lying in bed lazily in the most comfortable posture, I do not need to urge my son to get up for school. The clatter Mother makes when she goes to the kitchen to prepare breakfast is the     

读者来信

When I read your opinion column, ＂Are All Parents Toublemakers？＂ it made me realize that I had similar problems with my daughter. I am always concerned about her success and if she will make it in the big, wide world. 1 think any parent feels the same about their child, no matter where they＇re from. Yet, there are times when I think, ＂Is this really what I want for my child？ Is this really what my child wants for herself？＂     

Years of Trials and Hardships Give Way to Happiness

Imarried my wife in 1946. I was 19 years old then and my wife Shao Chunrong was 22. The second year after we got married the Kuomintang army was forcibly recruiting able-bodied men. I ran away from home to avoid being forced to join. For two years I wandered the country; Chunrong was left alone at home to make a living selling pancakes. In 1951 I got a job as a teacher, and soon was sent to the Linjiang Middle School in Jilin Province, far away from my home. Chunrong again waited in peace for me,     

My Ping-Pong Family

WHEN I was born, my father was 40 and my mother was 36. Father is a man of few words and an introverted nature. He belongs to that type of people who are very tough and strong-willed; he has worked hard all his life. Mother, on the other hand, is extroverted and eager to excel. My personality is a combination of both of their characters. Father loves playing ping-pong ardently. He used to be a top player of the Henan provincial team and won the men's singles championship in a contest of five provinces in central and southern China. Mother, a worker at the No. 4 National Textile Mill in Zhengzhou, also loved to play ping-pong when she was young. It was because of the sport that she and Father were brought together and got married. When the Henan     

My Baby Sang Lan——As Recited by Her Father

I looked forward to having a daughter when my wife was expecting;I longed the birth of a beautiful angel. I imagined her cute face andI swore that I would dress her up after she came to this world,hoping that people everywhere would praise her beauty and loveliness.     

Nine Weddings in Half a Century

THERE is a Chinese saying the sentimentof which I am sure you all know: "Themore children you have, the greater your goodfortune and happiness." Here we see a mind-set that existed in China for generations, thebelief that having more children will not onlysafeguard your well-being and care in old agebut will help the healthy development of theclan. My parents belong to a generation whooft stated this philosophy. My mother married young (she was not yetsixteen) and managed to fit in nine children inall - eight boys and one girl, me. When mymother reflects on the past she says that shedid not experience much of the luck the     

Mother's Lahe

IT seems to have become a kind of law of nature that the aged do not easily get accustomed to new situations. But my mother didn't relate to this law. Mother had lived in a small town in the frontier region for more than half a century. In the early 1950s she moved to Beijing. We were always worried that she would not become accustomed to urban life. But we never expected that she would live a vivid and dramatic life of her own free will. We lived in a lane in Dongsi, which is not long. It has a western-eastern exposure, situated between two streets. In     

Having Xie Youyu With Us Again

XIE Youyu went to Antarctica in November, 1985. It was the second time that China sent a scientific expedition to the South Pole. On the eve of her Antarctic trip, my colleagues and I visited her. On behalf of all the staffers of Women of China, we presented her with a flag bearing the words "Bring Credit to Our Country" and asked her to plant the flag at the South Pole which expressed our concern for China's research in Antarctica, as well as our respect for Xie and her brave venture. Xie spent four months at the     

I Return to my Second Home

LAST September, Chai Ran, my classmate and roommate in Shanxi, and I took a train to Yuanping to visit our second home. Twenty-five years ago, we 31 students from Beijing went to live in the Xiadalin Village in Yuanping, Shanxi Province, where we lived and labored for seven years. In our railway car, Chai told me that Yuanping, to which the Xiadalin Village belonged in the past administration, was celebrating its emergence as a city. Chai had married a villager and had returned to Beijing only two years ago. Her son and daughter, who were both born in the village, had just visited there and had brought her the news. Although I knew that Yuanping had changed a great deal, I was still unable to imagine what it had become, since I had left eighteen years ago. In my memory, it was only a series of streets with a     

I Have Learned to Accompany Myself

XIAO Ya was my middle schoolmate. She was gentle and quiet. We called her Ah Fang because she looks like Wang Fang, the leading lady of the film "Heroic Sons and Daughters." Xiao Ya lived in the red building that was constructed in the 1960s near the small wood behind my family's home. Her family lived on the second floor. Below the window was a board which read "Aiguo Grain Shop" (aiguo means love the country). Xiao Ya didn't like to speak. When she did, her face often turned red; but when she sang, she had an easy manner. I could hear her singing from a long distance. I used to take my worn-out accordion to her house. Since I could sing to my own     

Rural Women Fight for Their Right to Land

TONG Sufang never expected that she would lose her land ongetting married.Tong,27,was married in 1992 to a man inanother village.The couple moved to the city to find jobs,leavingtheir land to their parents.Earlier this year,when the village whereTong lived before her marriage distributed another round ofcontracted land,Tong was not listed as a candidate for a share ofthe village soil.The reason:Tong is married and does not live inthe village any more,although she has never moved hermembership to her husband’s village and is still legally a memberof the village of her childhood. The same thing happened to Hou Cunli,who moved to her     

Revamping the Glory of Traditional Chinese Medicine

WHEN mentioning Zhang An’sname in Dong’e,LiaochengPrefecture,Shandong,peopledescribe her as tough and capable.Sowhen I met her I was somewhatsurprised to find that she did not fiteither,with her slow speech as she toldus about the company’s production,marketing and development of newproducts.Only after I knew more abouther did I discover that they were rightafter all. Now deputy general manager ofShandong Dong’e E-Jiao Group,ZhangAn has been working there for 30years.When she graduated from theLaiyang Agriculture College inShandong in 1968,she parted with herhometown,the beautiful coastal cityQingdao,and went to Dong’e County     

Chinese Family Patterns Undergo Changes

IN China, family patterns change as children get married, have children and the family line continues. Aunt Cheng is a retired teacher. After her husband died, Aunt Cheng continued to live with her unmarried younger son. She got on well with neighbors in the building, who would often see her out walking with her son. One day, she began to furnish their apartment. Her neighbors assumed her son     

介指的故事(英文)

Many women dream that oned thcy will have a wedding ring slid onto their finger by someone they dearly love，and they will happily spend the rest of their days with that person.     

Wife Supports Husband Through Hard Times

IN 1946 I got to know Wei Shuwan, who is now my wife, through a friend. Back then I was a mechanic for Central Aviation in Kunming, Yunnan Province, and Shuwan was working at the Baihong Photo Studio in the same city. Shuwan was a gentle, kind young woman who was from Fujian Province like myself. We liked each other and got married in April of the same year. In March     

Threads of Youth Needlework Helps Woman Recall the Past

MAYBE I should be grateful to my mother. When I was very young, she taught me how to knit socks. Using a kind of white nylon thread and a needle made from a kind of hairpin, a durable sock could be made. Before long I had mastered the skill, then knit a pair of socks for each of my family members. However, my mother seemed to be a collector of socks and didn't allow me to stop knitting them until I came to hate this task. Luckily, my mother changed her interest. One day while she was     

信箱(英文)

It brings Chinese culture and history right into our living rooms你们的杂志再现了中国的历史和文化Editor-in-chief Yun Pengju said in his article that the May issue is a tribute to Mother's Day - may I add my congratulations to all mothers out there! I am humbled that you saw fit to include my article in this special edition, though I must say I was caught off I guard.Thanks for capturing the Forbidden City in Motion-quite a fascinating experience we had, and, of course, for all the informative articles about successes and milestones for the Women of China, These make interesting reading from cover to cover. As women, we need to have a vigorous campaign for this very informative magazine, as it brings Chinese culture and history right into our living rooms.Neo Gaseitsiwe, Botswana