At your service – China’s Little Emperor Syndrome

http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2008/09/china-so-many-little-emperors/

“Little Emperor Syndrome” is a name for condition affecting both parents and their one child. It is considered to be an indirect result of the one child policy (which is very interesting, by the way - take some time to look at this) created in 1979. Both parents lavish attention, time and energy on their one child, thus the child becomes ridiculously spoiled and gains a 'strong' sense of self worth. In researching this I found that it is common for parents to wait outside the school for their children all day, carry their school bags around after them and cater for their every need right into teenage and early adult life. That's incredible...These children have now become the center of their entire extended family. They are given privileges that might not have been given - this is their parents' only opportunity at getting it right, so they give their child everything they have. It's possible they don't want their child to be upset with them and potentially grow to resent them if they place rules on the child, so they give in to whatever their child hankers after. No longer is the parent the head of the family; it is now the child.

Another interesting fact: the generational pyramid is top heavy in China and the surrounding countries - 4 grandparents, 2 parents and one child. So, the family tends to over nourish the child, potentially causing the child to become overweight or even obese.

Colourful “Mooks” for Chinese Teens

The latest craze to hit the Chinese market is a range of “mooks” (cross between magazines and books) which are aimed at a predominately teenage audience. The “mooks” have colourful layouts but are printed and bound like books, making them both long-lasting and attractive to young consumers. According to a recent report, popular “mooks” can reach sales of up to 500,000 – 600,000 copies per issue.

Here are just some of the many popular “mooks” available on the Chinese market:

Blogging – Fashion for Chinese Teenagers

http://www.chinateenscomp.com/

Netizens in China have paid greater attention to blogs. For Chinese teenage internet users, blogging has become the latest fashion. A recent survey conducted by the Beijing Youth Daily shows more than 90 percent of the respondents have read or written blogs and one-fifth of them even say they can't live without personal blogs. The figure means that individual communication tools, such as blogs, have become a major way for Chinese teenagers to be socialized. The latest fashion of writing blogs has become an easy way for them to express their emotions in a non threatening environment.

Meanwhile, many young bloggers use the Internet to join and participate in longstanding groups. Furthermore, blogs are used to integrate with local communities and learn more about one's neighborhood.

As a result of the latest fashion, many young Chinese teenagers are finding it hard to tear themselves away from the Internet.

Trend Alert – China’s most popular social network for teens

Where do China's 500 million teens hang out online? Facebook? MySpace? Twitter? Nope. For Chinese youth, it's all about 360quan.com.

The popular social networking service is the leading social media network for Chinese youth cliches to retire in 2010" href="http://shanghaiist.com/2009/12/29/enovate_chinese_youth_cliches_to_re.php" target=_blank>Chinese teens. Like other social networking platforms, 360Quan provides all the most popular features, including personal digital space, blogs, music, videos, photo albums, games and other multimedia services.
According to China Travel Trends.com: "360quan.com targets a young teenage based audience and specifically those born in the 1990s: hip, trendy, and new. It has strong influence on Chinese teenagers by promoting the pages of ‘cool’ kids on the website – for instance those who skate, graffiti artists and punks.

The Lifestyles of Chinese Teenagers – Balancing old traditions and new options

China’s teenage generation has a brand new attitude, and a brand new clothing - Western type; nothing like their parent’s generation. Making a sharp break from their parent’s habits, Chinese teens are energetic, ambitious, innovative and individualistic. Chinese teenagers are now faced with mixed influences of traditional Chinese and modern Western cultures.

In spite of the Western beliefs, teens in China are not much different than American teens. Having developed amazing abilities to quickly adopting Western lifestyle, Chinese teens are considerably more consumerist and business minded than their parents.

Chinese society has changed over the past few decades, especially among the teenagers. Although there is still an incredible emphasis placed on being an exceptional student, there is also room for some of the social aspects of being a teenager. More and more teenagers in China own mobile phones and MP3 players. They are wearing clothing that more closely reflects their personality and not the traditional wardrobe that their parents did. They are changing the face of the typical Chinese teenager.

The typical Chinese teenager still goes to dinner with their parent and always displays the utmost respect for their parents. It is still commonplace in China to have a multi generational household, in which grandparents, children, and parents all live in the same house. There is a wide variety of teenagers in China who dye their hair, wear make up and stylish clothing. The influence from the west on China is evident at every turn, but the traditions of their parents and grandparents is still a large part of their every day lives. Chinese teenagers have seemed to achieve the proper balance between modern and traditional values and how they are incorporated into their lives on a daily basis.

Teenagers in China like to hang out with their friends and go to the mall, they are listening to the current pop songs on their MP3 players and their mobile phones, they are connected to the Internet and are staying up on the current fashions and gossip at school. But they are also doing chores at home, paying their respects to their ancestors and praying their family's religion or other family traditions.

Education is one of the most important factors of development in Chinese society as it is seen as the key to a better job. Remember, education costs and parents would want the most for their money. Since school is a luxury, teachers actually get to teach instead of solve discipline problems all day long like some teachers in Australia. A typical day in urban Chinese areas starts at 7:30, when students arrive at school to have an extra half-hour for studying. 8:00 classes start until 12:00pm when students have lunch. Classes resume at 1:30pm and finish at 5:00pm. Then, at home, students do their homework, watch educational TV, practice written or spoken English, have dinner, play a bit and go to bed by 10:30pm the latest. In rural Chinese areas, they might do some farming or horse riding as exercise or play.