The ever-increasing work pressure that white collar workers face in office makes them cherish the memory of the good old days that they spent in their childhood.
As China's Children's Day (June 1) comes, white collar workers in various parts of China have written articles in the Internet forum discussion board, expressing about their worries as an adult. Although they are already too old to spend the Children's Day, many still find some alibi to experience the feeling of being a child.
Ms. Li, who works with an advertising agency, said that when she was a child, she loved painting and could draw very well. However, after she got married and gave birth to her daughter, she never had a chance to take up her painting brushes any more.
Compared with her childhood when Ms. Li could only use wax pens for drawing, kids nowadays have many more choices for their painting materials and the type of paintings that they practice. This made Ms. Li want to take up the painting brushes again. So she did some painting together with her daughter. Like Ms. Li, many other people try to recall their childhood by going to the cinema to see some animation films that were popular at their time, or going to the park to either drive dodgem cars or ride hobbyhorses.
Many people log on the Internet to write articles about their childhood and post them on the web, or in newspapers or magazines. The articles gain an active response from many people, especially white collar workers, who also write in response to recall their childhood memories.
Due to the busy work, many white collar workers rarely have time to chat or play games with their colleagues in the office, and now the Children's Day provides a good chance for them to have fun together. By organizing parties, they can play and talk with each other. "The party itself is not important, the point is that we can relax and talk about our happy childhood together," said Ms. Yuan, a party organizer.
Sociologist Meng Tianyun from Qingdao University says that most adults that love to observe Children's Day are urbanites born in the 1970s or 1980s. These people lived in a relatively affluent life when they were children, and then experienced great pressure in society when they grew up. These changes make them cherish their childhood even more and celebrating Children's Day could be interpreted as a way for them to ease their pressure or to recall the good old times.
(China News Service June 1, 2006)
