Love in Beijing
A common phenomenon in China is for 2 generations to live together - kids often don’t leave home until they are married, and after that often the parents come live with the kids and take care of the grandkids (or grandkid, as per the one child policy).
All of this family togetherness however can put a crimp in plans for privacy, so pretty often in Beijing I will see couples together making out in public like highschoolers. There is also a ton of outdoor bench sitting, which I think is just a big deal in Asia altogether, from what I saw in Japan.
The other phenomenon in Beijing is the nerdy western guy with the super hot Chinese girlfriend. This is kind of amusing, but in certain circumstances one must pretend as if one is not at all like all those other guys ;) It’s not quite as common to see western girls with Chinese guys, but it’s not unheard of.
I should note with regard to the aforementioned one child policy, this is not a hard and fast rule for everyone in China. First: minorities may have two children, second: the one child policy generation may have two children if they want. There are other exceptions…
The reality of modern style city life however is that raising kids is expensive, and many people can’t really afford to have more than one anyways.
