If you take the Chinese character for happiness and double it, what do you get? Double Happiness, of course, the wonderfully optimistic idea the Chinese associate with marriage. In China today, however, the practical reality seems to have a hard time living up to this romanticized ideal. Chinese women have told me that prior to marriage their men treat them like princesses, only to treat them like slaves afterwards. The number of divorces, especially in developing cities like Shanghai, is increasing rapidly and one recent China Daily article spoke of how the one or two month marriages are becoming common, younger people lacking the patience and commitment to last any longer.

    如果把两个汉字的“喜”放在一起 ......