‘As long as you’re happy’: Chill Chinese parents tell daughter, 34, marrying from pressure a bad idea, winning applause on social media

A woman whose friends married after intense parental pressure struggled to relate, as she never experienced this and decided to ask her parents why. Their response has been praised on social media as traditional ideas about Chinese children having to obey parents remain strong. — SCMP

A Chinese couple who went against the grain by not forcing their 34-year-old daughter to marry have been praised in China, where the cultural norm is to push children into marriage as soon as possible.

The unnamed daughter, from Shanghai, eastern China, said she was surprised when her parents told her they hoped she could live the life she wanted, instead of being pushed into an arranged or loveless marriage, Sina News reported this week.