Which is more important, to marry well or to do well? That is an old question for Chinese women. Now it seems a majority of women have reached consensus.

70% of women prefer marrying well to doing well.[File photo]

A newly published survey shows that 70 percent think that marrying well is more important than doing well, Beijing Morning Post reported Tuesday.

The result astonished scholars who have long been studying women's issues. The survey was conducted by China Association of Marriage and Family Studies in 2010.

The survey shows that the belief that women are inferior to men are deep-rooted in many women, and that it's difficult for women to do well or even better than men. Therefore, there's still a long way to go before achieving gender equality, said association General Secretary Fan Aiguo, who was involved in doing the survey.

Meanwhile, people show more tolerant attitudes toward "the other woman" compared with 30 years ago, when the view held that "mistresses are like rats scampering in the street, which everybody wants to beat up".

Up to 40 percent in the survey showed a tolerant attitude toward extramarital affairs, for reasons such as, "It's a normal phenomenon in an open society," "An emotional supplement though immoral but understandable," and "It’s acceptable as long as it does not affect the relationship with the spouse."