Girls just want to have fun. Photo: CFP

By Zhou Yongjing

Many Beijing women in their 30s have well-paid jobs, intelligence, and maturity, but live as free as young girls. They are called zhongnenjieceng, the middle delicate class, or sanzitoushaonv, girls in their thirties. They enjoy the feeling of falling in love, but never talk about marriages. They are fashionable, confident, smart, and just worry about themselves and their own lives.

Wang, a 32-year-old communication manager in a fancy hotel, says she does not feel ashamed being a girl in her thirties, although she does not want her real name in the newspaper. Single but highly paid, she is extremely busy during the weekdays, and relaxed on the weekend.

She goes shopping at least once a month. Traveling is one of her favorite hobbies. Two months ago, after breaking up with her boyfriend, she traveled to Qinhuangdao, a coastal city east to Beijing, and spent three days there. "I went to visit a close friend. Walking on the beach, having seafood and talking to my friend made me feel very well."

Wang has a group of friends, who are quite similar to her. "In Chinese, we say ‘things of one kind come together.'"

"The biggest common thing among us is the freedom," she said. "We are exhausted by work, we need free time to have fun."

Li Zhiqiang, a gym coach in Beijing, said that he has noticed a change in his class since he started out. "Around 40 percent of customers are female in their 30s, much more than four years ago."

"They like to have specialized gym classes," he said. "When they decide to diet, they stick to it. It's impressive," Li added.

Younger women admire the lifestyle of the girls in their thirties. Zhong, a 25-year-old office worker in an IT company, says, "I am so jealous." Zhong has a boyfriend, but she doesn't want to get married. She thinks that life as a single person would be much safer.

However, Cui, an office worker approaching her thirtieth birthday, questioned the middle delicate class lifestyle. She graduated with a master's degree from Renmin University of China two years ago. She told the Global Times that living as a girl in her thirties seems comfortable but will cause a series of problems in the future.

"I don't think it can last long. These women have high expectations on their own lives. They don't want to lower themselves to a typical life, and this will lead to loneliness."

Field guide to spotting the Middle Delicate Class Zhongnenjieceng refers to metropolitan women in their 30s.

Nenye refers to young leaves before they get tough, wrinkled and then die.

Behaviors:

Zhongnenjieceng have mature minds, and independent means, but live as free as young girls. They enjoy love and have boyfriends, but marriage is not on their to-do lists, let alone having babies.

Their jobs come first. They are fashionable, confident, smart and funny. They are more focused on the quality of their lives.

Life cycle:

The social roles of women have been changing.

Zhongnenjieceng base their lives around their work. They feel women who have had children turn unattractive in men's eyes, so conclude remaining young girls is much better than growing into adult women.

Marriage:

Zhongnenjieceng neither form families nor have children, but enjoy their single lives.

Procreation:

Zhongnenjieceng plan to procreate–later. They don't think they can give sufficient love to their own children until they have led a full life themselves.

Similar types:

Do not confuse the zhongnenjieceng with the shengnv. The shengnv waited too long to find a mate and have been left behind.

Zhongnenjieceng have no such concerns.