Beijingnese Women

By Peter Chambers


For some 860 years, Beijing has been the capital of China. From the Forbidden City, the royal palace within Beijing, centralized imperial powers have ruled the rest of the nation with mighty reign for more than five decades. A result of the vastness of China, the metropolis state of Beijing contains a huge and long-lasting influence which will rival any major Western city.

Because of that, being a citizen of Beijing means being nearer to the era-defining characters and events, that is, to history itself. Therefore it's not surprising that even in modern China today, people describe the Beijingnese as still regarding themselves to be at the center of the universe, and the fact that they are living beside the "kings and queens" for generations causes them to be intrinsically better than the people elsewhere. Or so goes the stereotype.

But even as a stereotype, the female 50 % of the people receives a fair share of it. Beijingnese girls have been proved to be proud, strong and boyish. They are independent, cultured, at ease in social situations and large-hearted - by no means like the picture of small, sensitive and reliant southern girls. They are certainly not the scheming kind, although they won't let themselves being taken advantage of either.

The native-born Beijingnese girls don't feel the need to depend on their husbands for cash or status, given that they could get very far by themselves. They are also quite humorous and like to tease. Usually the closer they regard your relationship as a friend or lover, the harder teased you will get.

Another reminder to non-Beijingnese is the fact that, just as how the imperial court can always attract talents from all over the place, many women you meet in Beijing are not native-born or are second generation. Because there have been many outstanding young ladies who enjoy to live in Beijing, they have made the feminine culture there more merit-based, instead of a great deal based on the family backgrounds. This is the reason Beijingnese women highly value education. In addition, they subscribe to a subtler aesthetics than the remaining portion of the northern states, where tastes are certainly less sophisticated.




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