Young professional women in China's big cities, many of whom are fans of Sex and the City, highly prize independence, gender equality and personal expression.

Ladies the world round love Sex and the City-a popular icon of modern single life that is now as recognizable to audiences in Beijing as in New York City, where the original HBO series was filmed.

For many young urban Chinese women, the show has become a familiar guide to the often-fraught relations between the sexes, as well as a beacon of the latest international fashions.

As the movie version of Sex and the City hits the big screen recently, viewers and critics pause to ponder the meaning of its plotline, and weigh in on its relevance for women in modern China.

The success of the series on the mainland may mean that a new generation of women has emerged. Since Western cultural influences hit cities in China over two decades ago, popular attitudes on many topics have evolved in pronounced ways.

Many women in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are choosing to lead lifestyles different from those of Chinese women in the past. These young urbanites say they highly prize independence, gender equality and personal expression.

Feng Yonghua, 35, a young professional in Beijing, remembers when her mother advised her to get married at an early age, like her two older sisters. "If a woman does not get married, let's say before 30, people thought they were abnormal or even outcast. But now, people think, 'I'm proud of that! There is no need to worry about being single as long as I am happy with that.'"

In China, a new generation of young women has abandoned some aspects of traditional modesty upheld by their mothers and grandmothers. Although younger women may take numerous paths, their lifestyles often have one thing in common: freedom and the enjoyment of life.

"In the past, wearing revealing clothes meant that you are not a good girl," says Feng. "Now, more and more women equate dressing sexily with being pretty." Feng says she goes to the gym with her friends about three times a week to keep fit and trim.

The 22-year-old Yang Yang says she closely follows the fashion tastes of Carrie Bradshaw, the lead character on Sex and the City. "I always thought that I would never wear floral-patterned skirts," she says. "I like solids, but now when I'm in a Carrie mood, I'll wear them."

Xu Bingyu, 29, is another devoted fan of the TV series. She is a senior project manager at a German consulting company based in Beijing. Like many other young professionals, she enjoys shopping and dining with friends after work. When she wants to have a quiet night, she sometimes spends hours curled up on the sofa watching the adventures of Carrie Bradshaw.

Sex and the City gives Xu and her friends an excuse to chat about sex and their own relationships - topics they are usually too shy to bring up on their own.

In China, sex used to be a taboo subject, and women in particular exhibited conservative attitudes.

"If you ask sex-related questions to your parents, they probably will think you are a bad or strange kid, or, probably they even do not have enough sex education to explain anyway," says Xu. But now the once highly provocative idea of one-night stands, a frequent plot twist in the TV show, is no longer as shocking.

In China's large cities, new nightclubs and bars cater to singles and serve as popular pick-up spots. Suzie Wong, a bar named after a famous party girl from 1930s Shanghai, is one such trendy nightspot in central Beijing. The bar's atmosphere created by dim lights and big Ming Dynasty beds encourages women's indulgence of wine, music, and pleasure.

In addition, women will often have conversations comparing their own lives to those of the fictional women from Sex and the City. "I believe all girls do that, and not just for this series," Xu says. "Most people are trying to find themselves in someone else, in the movies, in the real world."

She admits that it isn't only the glamorous aspects of the TV show that speak to her. "Single, sexy, successful, mid-age ladies searching for real love, it's not easy, but we keep looking and keep our heads up. There are sad moments, but we still like to keep our hopes."

Newspapers and fashion magazines in China are now touting the latest fashions from the Sex and the City film. But some wonder: "Is it a realistic depiction of life in New York?"

"It can be very reflective of Manhattan as it is, but it really is just a pocket of the city, a specific group of people in a specific neighborhood. It isn't like this everywhere and for everyone," says Regina Schrijvers van Zenden, who lived in New York and now splits her time between Beijing and the United States.

Not everyone, however, see the lives of the Sex and the City characters as models for their own lives.

"I like the show, but I think it'll be hard for Chinese people to accept the characters' lifestyles, with so many boyfriends and one-night stands," says Mercy Sun, a former Beijing magazine editor and now a public relations agent.

"We have to admit that today's Chinese women are totally different from the past. They are smart, confident and successful. But the country's history still has its strong legacy," says Liu Jianhong, a 33-year-old married woman who runs a gallery in Beijing's 798 art district. "For me, I have my job, but I am also willing to put energy into my family, which is more important for me."

She enjoys watching the show, but adds, "We, as Chinese, still have our own values."

(China Daily July 2, 2008)