Friends and family gather for a post-wedding banquet in Kangxian county, Gansu province. [Photo provided to China Daily] In an isolated pocket of Northwest China, women have traditionally been dominant, with husbands assuming their wife's surname and living with their parents-in-law, as Wang Xiaodong reports from Kangxian county, Gansu province. In most regions of China, women leave home to get married and then follow their husbands. However, in many parts of Kangxian county in the northwestern province of Gansu, the reverse is true: traditionally, the groom moves in with his parents-in-law and his children take his wife's family name. Although this tradition mostly prevails in the southern parts of Kangxian, it also exists in a few other places nearby, such as Lueyang in neighboring Shaanxi province, said Li Wenkang, chairman of the Kangxian Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Unlike most regions of China, where men traditionally play the main role in the family, women are usually dominant in Kangxian, and they, rather than their husbands, are registered as the head of the family on household registration forms, according to Li, who researches local customs. Status update The tradition has some advantages, such as helping to improve the social status of women. With the development of society and the growing integration of these places with other parts of China, some members of the younger generation are abandoning the tradition, but it is still well preserved in these areas. Last year, I attended two weddings, and at the banquets I heard family members, both male and female, discussing the grooms' new names so they will follow their wife's families. In 1993, Liang Yan, 47, from Ningqiang county, Shaanxi, married Xu Guilan in Yangba, a township in Kangxian. Liang, who has three brothers, said his family was poor, so he came to Yangba to work as a brick carrier on construction sites. My parents didn't object when I told them I was getting married in Yangba and would live with my wife, he said. They were actually pleased because they knew I would have a better life there. On my wedding day, I took a bus from Ningqiang to Yangba, accompanied by dozens of my relatives, including my father and my brothers. After he married, Liang moved in with Xu and her parents. They both looked after the older couple, while Liang also grew tea and repaired houses. Following a brain hemorrhage in 2009, his mother-in-law could barely move or take care of herself. She died in 2012, but during the last three years of her life, Liang spent a lot of time taking care of her and helping her to move around the township. Almost every year, he returns to his home village to see his parents, who are in their 80s and live with one of his brothers. However, he always spends Chinese New Year, traditionally the most important festival for family gatherings, at his home in Yangba. wristband makeryouth wristbandsuv bracelet
Many sectors of Chinese society mourned the death of renowned Hong Kong philanthropist and prominent industrialist Tin Ka-ping, who died at the age of 99 in the city on Tuesday morning.Leading the tributes was the central government's top representative in Hong Kong, Wang Zhiming, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Wang expressed his sorrow over Tin's death on Wednesday.He said he respected and appreciated Tin's lifelong love for the country and his great contribution to education in China.Tin cared about society and promoted public welfare in ways that will benefit future generations, Wang said.Joining him was Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. She said on Tuesday that Tin not only made significant contributions to the industrial development of Hong Kong but was also devoted to philanthropy over the past few decades, both in the special administrative region and on the mainland.Lam said she was grieved to learn of Tin's passing and extended condolences to his family.Hong Kong's Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yunhung said the Tin Ka Ping Foundation funded various educational institutions, from kindergartens to universities, as well as several scholarship and exchange programs that benefit a large number of local students.Born in Guangdong province, Tin moved to Hong Kong in 1958. He was successful in his early days in the chemicals business and later made a fortune in real estate. He devoted his life to promoting the development of charities, donating 80 percent of his total assets to different fields, especially education.So far, the foundation, a nonprofit charity founded by Tin in 1982, has funded 318 education institutions, more than 1,800 rural libraries, 29 hospitals and about 130 bridges and roads across 34 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China.Educational institutions that were funded by Tin in both Hong Kong and the mainland also expressed both sorrow and appreciation.The University of Hong Kong said that Tin was a selfless educator and philanthropist who had contributed immensely to the development of teaching, learning and research in Hong Kong and on the mainland.Zhejiang University posted a tribute to Tin on its social media account. Tin provided money to establish the Tin Ka Ping Academy on the Xixi campus of the university. As it is the place where most students go for classes, the building bears witness to students' growth, the university said.Tin's name and the building have been integrated into the university, the post said.Other universities and middle schools in different provinces, including Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Jiangsu, also mourned Tin. All of them have received donations.
