Some 50 years ago, most Chinese believed marriage should be the most important issue in life, no matter the two loved each other or not. However, today, love and sex play a more important role than marriage, particularly among young people.

In the 1950s, marriage was part of the political life, for it required the approval of the Party (if she/he was a CPC member) or the organization (if she/he was its non-Party staff worker) to get married. Sometimes, young people didn’t know their spouses very much before they were “made” couples.

In the 1960s and 1970s, urban students were sent to rural areas, where many of them fell in love with local boys or girls, without knowing that such love affair might haunt them all through their life.

In the 1980s, dating parties and lonely hearts ads became popular. At that time, most Chinese had a very romantic view of marriage.

Since the 1990s, with the booming of the Internet and cable TVs, it has never been easier for young people to get in touch with each other, which is a great benefit for long-distance lovers.

(Chinanews.cn August 1, 2007)