The consequences of one-child policy in China... by lightmediation

According to Chinese officials, the one-child policy edicted in 1979 would have allowed to cut the number of births by 700 million (the population of the 25-member European Union) but this does not go without problems in Chinese society. An entire generation of single children --a generation of "king- children" to whom everything is owed-- is beginning to take over. They live by social standards radically different from their parents'. But, for traditional as well as economic reasons, the Chinese still prefer to have male offspring. A male-female imbalance in favor of males is constantly growing. According to estimates, the deficit in women reaches 40 to 80 million. Consequences include high numbers of undeclared children, increasing numbers of unmarried men, the near absence of women in some villages, the kidnapping of women and children to be sold in other provinces and harsh repressin against families not abiding by Family Planning rules.

The consequences of one-child policy in China... Photos and text ÂŠAlain Buu/Orizon/LightMediation Contact - Thierry Tinacci - LightMediation Photo Agency +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21 thierry@lightmediation.com

1850-06: In a small village of Hubei province. December 2007.Celebration of a child's first birthday. Traditionally, on the first birthday of child, a ceremony is held to determine his future occupation. Objects are laid before him: an abacus, a pencil, celery, money, etc. Depending on the object the child picks, one supposes he will be a writer if he picks the pencil, a mathematician is he picks the abacus, rich if he picks the money, very smart is he picks the celery, and so on...

1850-01: Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province. August 2006. As all hopes and the future of a family rest on a single child, he tends to be granted everything. Through all sections of the population from the wealthy to

1850-02:Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province. August 2006. Statue of the Mother Yellow River. The Yellow River (Yang Tse) represents the nourishing mother for

1850-03: Beijing. July 2006. Temple of Confucius. All birth limitation policies clash with tradition and the very foundation of Chinese society itself. Confucian philosophy considers the perpetuation of one's

1850-04: Beijing. October 2007. In Behai park next to the Forbidden City, as good tourists, parents take pictures of their children in Imperial dress sitting on a reconstructed throne.

1850-07: Beijing, August 2006. Tienanmen Square outside the Forbidden City. Spoiled and overprotected, the single child become a "KING CHILD". Stuffed with super rich "whim-foods" by his parents or grandparents,, he will be spared any kind of effort.

1850-05: Beijing. October 2007. In Behai park next to the Forbidden City, as good tourists, parents take pictures of their children in Imperial dress sitting on a reconstructed throne.

1850-07: Beijing, August 2006. Tienanmen Square outside the Forbidden City. Spoiled and overprotected, the single child become a

1850-08: Hubei Province. December 2007. Spoiled and overprotected, the single child become a "king child". Stuffed with super rich "whim-foods" by his parents or grandparents,, he will be spared any kind of

1850-17: Beijing. November 2007. Wukai, 22, is an MBA student at Beijing University. he lives in a 150 square-meter apartment his parents have purchased for 1.5 million Yuans (150,000 euros). It is located on Beijing's Third Ring (a good location). He is the CEO of a real estate investment company his parents have bought him which he barely works for. He currently makes 30,000 yuan a month (3,000 euros). He drives a late model Mini. His girlfriend Wang Lin, 22, studies fashion design and already has a diploma in advertising. She would like to become a fashion product buyer. She says she does not want children and that she has no time to waste raising them. Her family will not let her live with Wukai except is he formally asks to marry her. But she does not want to get marry and simply wants to stay independent and pick who she wants.

1850-09: Tianjin. August 2006. Aimin Hospital (love the people) Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital. http://en.aimin.com.cn/

1850-10: Tianjin. August 2006. Aimin Hospital (love the people) Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital. http://en.aimin.com.cn/

1850-11: Tianjin. August 2006. Aimin Hospital (love the people) Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital. http://en.aimin.com.cn/

1850-12: Beijing. July 5, 2007. Beijing University. Graduation ceremony. According to Tian Chengping, Chinese minister of Labor and Social Security, about

1850-26: Shanghai. November 2007. A single child of 32, Zhou Yan is not married. She is a modern young woman, an example of the new generation of independent young urban women. She lives in Shanghai and works two jobs: art director of a magazine and is in charge of events with Noblesse All, a communication company. This executive woman does not want to get married as she does not want to become a submissive wife. On the contrary, she advocates equality in couples. She proudly says she picks men and never lets herself by picked. When she finds a man to her liking, she makes her move, a very unusual behavior in a still very traditional society. Being 32 in China, she has reached an age at which it is difficult to find a husband. It is not her main concern. For now, she is entirely dedicated to her jobs. In that context, she plans to have eggs frozen to be able to have a child when the time comes for her. Her parents who live near her support her and do not pressure her to get married now. She attends yoga classes three times a week at a quite exclusive Shanghai club.

1850-13: Beijing. July 5, 2007. Beijing University. Graduation ceremony. All close relatives attend the graduation ceremony. One can feel the pride of

1850-14: Beijing. July 5, 2007. Beijing University. Photo session on graduation day. According to Tian Chengping, Chinese minister of Labor and Social Security, about 1.24 million students will not find a job

1850-15: Beijing. July 5, 2007. Graduation day. Wu Rui Jing (Rui Jing means: "very intelligent girl"), 22, has just obtained a BA in French.

1850-16: Beijing. July 5, 2007. Graduation day. Wu Rui Jing (Rui Jing means: "very intelligent girl"), 22, has just obtained a BA in French.

1850-27: Beijing. July 1, 2007. Wedding fair (dating club) organized at Hotel Chao Yang, in the Chao Yang section of Beijing. About 300 are in attendance. Here, people are taught how to make contact with the opposite sex. Today, 90% of unmarried persons in China are men and the trend is not about change. Ironically enough, women have become increasingly sought are they are in short supply.

1850-17: Beijing. November 2007. Wukai, 22, is an MBA student at Beijing University. he lives in a 150 square-meter apartment his parents

1850-18: Beijing. November 2007. Wukai, 22, is an MBA student at Beijing University. he lives in a 150 square-meter apartment his parents

1850-19: Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. August 2006. On a visit to her parents' Wengjing, 26, shows us her single child certificate. She works as a translator for an adoption organization working with

1850-20: Beijing. August 2006. On a visit to her parents' Wengjing, 26, shows us her single child certificate. She works as a translator for an adoption organization working with Belgium and also as a

1850-28: Beijing, July 2007. On Thursdays and Sundays at Sun Yat-sen park, a stone throw from the Forbidden City, parents gather to find spouses for their children. Many young people have a hard time finding partners -- one-child policy has created a dearth of women -- and Beijing's dating market is one of the ways parents have found to best the best possible spouse for their children. My son is 29, 5 foot 10, he has studied commerce, his astrological sign is the goat and here is one of his pay slips. What do you have to offer? Is your daughter's sign compatible with my son's?

1850-21: Beijing. August 2006. On a visit to her parents' Wengjing, 26, shows us her single child certificate.

1850-22: Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. August 2006. Wengjing's parents live in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, over 2,000 kilometers from Beijing. They are both of working class origin, and

1850-23: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. December 2007. The very independent-minded , Wang Gang, 37, is the single son of a general of the People's army. He left his family quite early and had to go

1850-24: Shanghai. November 2007. A single child of 32, Zhou Yan is not married. She is a modern young woman, an example of the new generation of independent young urban women. She lives in Shanghai

1850-31: Sanya, Hainan Island. November 2007. Paid vacations are new in China. In 1999, the Communist government granted the Chinese a week of paid vacations. Today, the Chinese can enjoy three weeks of paid vacations every year. Tourism and consumption have sharply risen throughout the country. In 2003, it is estimated that over 100 million Chinese have traveled in the country. Hainan is often compared to Hawaii, a paradise-like island off Hong Kong which sees 12 million Chinese visitors: fiances, honey-mooners or tourist from a fast rising middle-class.

1850-25: Shanghai. November 2007. A single child of 32, Zhou Yan is not married. She is a modern young woman, an example of the new generation of independent young urban women. She lives in Shanghai

1850-26: Shanghai. November 2007. A single child of 32, Zhou Yan is not married. She is a modern young woman, an example of the new generation of independent young urban women. She lives in

1850-27: Beijing. July 1, 2007. Wedding fair (dating club) organized at Hotel Chao Yang, in the Chao Yang section of Beijing. About 300

1850-28: Beijing, July 2007. On Thursdays and Sundays at Sun Yat-sen park, a stone throw from the Forbidden City, parents gather to

1850-32: Shanghai. November 2007. Ever larger numbers of young Shanghai residents adopt the look of young Japanese of their age.

1850-29: Beijing, July 2007. On Thursdays and Sundays at Sun Yat-sen park, a stone throw from the Forbidden City, parents gather to find spouses for their children. Many young people have a hard time

1850-30: Beijing. July 2007. Happy Valley amusement park.

1850-31: Sanya, Hainan Island. November 2007. Paid vacations are new in China. In 1999, the Communist government granted the Chinese a week of paid vacations. Today, the Chinese can enjoy

1850-32: Shanghai. November 2007. Ever larger numbers of young Shanghai residents adopt the look of young Japanese of their age.

1850-35: Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. July 2007. Fleeing possible Family Planning fines for their undeclared children ("black children"), families move to large urban centers where controls by civil servants are made more difficult given the density of the population of migrants on the outskirts of big cities. Here, children in a neighborhood mainly occupied by migrants.

1850-33: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. December 2007. New generation of young executives in Guangzhou.

1850-34: Shanghai. November 2007. Qi Rong (the woman) an English graduate and Zin Xian (the man) a computer science graduate currently preparing for an MBA are both 27. The former classmates are both

1850-36: In a suburb of Beijing. July 2006. In China, school is free and mandatory. But the children of migrants, who are no longer in their town of origin, can be enrolled only at private schools as long as their

1850-37: In a suburb of Beijing. July 2006. In China, school is free and mandatory. But the children of migrants, who are no longer in their town of origin, can be enrolled only at private schools as long as their parents pay tuition fees. Here, one of the 300 private schools not recognized by the state where the children of migrants and children not recorded at birth (black children) can be schooled. The problem has become so important that the government has take over this school in 2007.

1850-38: In a suburb of Beijing. July 2006. In China, school is free and mandatory. But the children of migrants, who are no longer in their town of origin, can be enrolled only at private schools as long as their

1850-39: Bobai, Guangxi Province. November 2007. Information board with Family Planning one-child slogan (Fewer and healthier children will make a better life) and AIDS prevention message.

1850-40: Small village of Hubei Province. October 2007. Information and propaganda bills at a Family Planning office in a small provincial town.

1850-41: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. Above the door of the sonogram consultation of this provincial hospital, a governmental order can be read in large red font to remind that, according to

1850-42: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. Above the door of the sonogram consultation of this provincial hospital, a governmental order can be read in large red font to remind that, according to

1850-43: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. Birth by caesarean section at a provincial hospital. At this hospital, caesarean sections are performed in 93% of births. A method considered faster

1850-44: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. 2007 is the year of the Golden Pig. In China, popular beliefs have it that a child born under the astrological sign of the pig will bring prosperity to the

1850-45: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. 2007 is the year of the Golden Pig. In China, popular beliefs have it that a child born under the astrological sign of the pig will bring prosperity to the entire family. The year of the Golden Pig occurs only every 60 years and is considered as promising even more prosperity. 2007 being a Golden Pig year (February 18, 2007 to February 6, 2008) should be marked by a notable increase of natality if not a real "baby-boom".

1850-46: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. 2007 is the year of the Golden Pig. In China, popular beliefs have it that a child born under the astrological sign of the pig will bring prosperity to the

1850-47: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. 2007 is the year of the Golden Pig. In China, popular beliefs have it that a child born under the astrological sign of the pig will bring prosperity to the

1850-48: Small village of Anhui Province. October 2007. The month following the birth of a child is marked by festivities destined to introduce the newborn to the community.

1850-49: Hubei Province. October 2007. The Zhangs are a typical traditional rural Chinese family which four generations living under the same roof. They offer an image now mostly belonging to the past given

1850-50: Gansu Province. August 2006. Slogan on the wall: "If you have two daughters and get sterilized you will get 600 yuans a year from the government when you turn 60".

1850-51: Miao village near Kaiyuan, Yunnan Province. July 2007. M. Tao Shu Min, 39, and his wife Xue Zhen, 37, have five children. The elder is a girl of 17, then come

1850-52: Miao village near Kaiyuan, Yunnan Province. July 2007. Miao children. Minorities such as the Miao ethnic group enjoy a special status. Miao couples are allowed

1850-51: Miao village near Kaiyuan, Yunnan Province. July 2007. M. Tao Shu Min, 39, and his wife Xue Zhen, 37, have five children. The elder is a girl of 17, then come three boys of 15, 11 and 8 and finally a 6-year old girl. Minorities such as the Miao ethnic group enjoy a special status. The Miao couples are allowed two children, but they generally have four or five as they do not have access to modern contraception means and do not practice infanticide. Having more than two children exposes them to a fine (which they won't be able to pay) so, until a boy is born girls often go undeclared. The status of boys is important as they will stay with their parents and take care of them when they can no longer farm their land. Once married, girls will join the family of their husbands.

1850-53: Small village of Guangxi Province. December 2007. Mei is the mother of four children, the youngest is a boy. She has received a visit from Family Planning agents in April 2007 who have had to

1850-54: Small village of Guangxi Province. December 2007. Mei is the mother of four children, the youngest is a boy. She has received a visit from Family Planning agents in April 2007 who have had to

1850-55: Small village of Guangxi Province. December 2007. In 2007, Mei, a mother of four, was fined 200 yuans (20 euros) and a second fine in April 2007 4 enfants, a reĂ§u une premiĂ¨re amende de 200

1850-56: Small village of Guangxi Province. December 2007. Yu Lian, 28, is mother of two. She lives in a small village of the Bobai district in Guangxi Province. In the spring of 2007, as she is walking on the

1850-57: Zhong Jiang, Sichuan Province. November 2007. Zhu Wen Guang, alias Zhulo (Zorro in Chinese). Zhu Wen Guang, a former militiaman, has turned rescuer of abducted women in Sichuan. He is

1850-58: Zhong Jiang, Sichuan Province. November 2007. Zhu Wen Guang, alias Zhulo (Zorro in Chinese). Zhu Wen Guang, a former militiaman, has turned rescuer of abducted women in Sichuan. He is

1850-59: Photographs of women whose abduction "Zhulo" has investigated.

1850-60: Zhong Jiang, Sichuan Province. November 2007. Zhu Wen Guang, alias Zhulo (Zorro in Chinese) . Zhu Wen Guang, a former militiaman, has turned rescuer of abducted women in Sichuan. He is

1850-62: Kunming, Yunnan Province. July 8, 2007. Mr. Wanng Weimin and Mrs. Luo Wuyan have lost their daughter Ai Xiaohua (little flower). She was kidnapped four days ago in the kindergarten of the Fude section of town. The mother is posting a missing notice below another notice concerning a young boy. Several children have been kidnapped in the area. The same day in this province, a woman who organized kidnappings was sentenced to death. Some families do not hesitate to buy a boy instead of conceiving a baby for fear they would get a girl, for if their first child is a girl, they'll have to try again without assurance they'll have a boy but with the certainty of having to pay a handsome fine. The kidnapping of boys finds its origin in this sordid trade. But young boys are not the only ones, young girls can also abducted to be sold to families in search of a wife for their son. This practice is called Tong Yang Xi which means: life long companion of the son. A girl will change hands for 200 to 500 euros and four times as much for a boy. Judging from the calls it receives, the Association of Parents of Missing Children, which counts about 100 families from 14 Chinese provinces estimates 40,000 children are abducted every year (UNICEF places the figure around 10,000 children and women).

1850-61: Kunming, Yunnan Province. July 8, 2007. Mr. Wanng Weimin and Mrs. Luo Wuyan have lost their daughter Ai Xiaohua (little flower). She was

1850-62: Kunming, Yunnan Province. July 8, 2007. Mr. Wanng Weimin and Mrs. Luo Wuyan have lost their daughter Ai Xiaohua (little flower). She was

1850-63: In a small village of Guangdong Province. December 2007. In 1995, Ngha, a young Vietnamese woman of 21 studying at the University of Hanoi, leaves her family who want her to marry a man they

1850-64: In a small village of Guangdong Province. December 2007. In 1995, Ngha, a young Vietnamese woman of 21 studying at the University of Hanoi, leaves her family

1850-65: Hainan Island, November 2007. Often compared to Hawaii, Hainan is a paradise-like island off Hong Kong which sees 12 Chinese visitors: fiances, honey-mooners or tourist from a fast rising

1850-66: Hainan Island, November 2007. Often compared to Hawaii, Hainan is a paradise-like island off Hong Kong which sees 12 Chinese visitors: fiances, honey-mooners or tourist from a fast rising

1850-67: Hainan Island. November 2007. In countries where no gender preference prevails one can note a natural ratio of 103 to 107 for 100 women. In China, the ratio reaches 119.6 and, on Hainan Island 175

1850-68: Ile de Hainan. Novembre 2007. According to Xinhua News, in 2004, the village of Sanbo on Hainan Island counted 420 families in which 260 persons were of marrying age of which 200 were men.

1850-63: In a small village of Guangdong Province. December 2007. In 1995, Ngha, a young Vietnamese woman of 21 studying at the University of Hanoi, leaves her family who want her to marry a man they have chosen as she is in love with another man. She ran into the wrong people, she was abducted and sold in China for 8,000 yuans (800 euros) to a man older than her own father living in Guangdong Province. After a few weeks she manages to escape and finds refuge at the home of another Vietnamese. A few months later, she meets Xiao Yi, a merchant, whom she falls in love with. They have now been living together for 12 years but Ngha not being successful in conceiving a baby, the couple bought a child this year. This child has cost them 10,000 Yuan (1.000?) to which they had to add another 90,000 Yuans (9.000?) to "launder" him with the local authorities. The 8-year old boy would be the son of a separated couple. he would have been placed in the care of his paternal grandmother. The latter being too poor to provide for both of them would have sold him to Ngha's husband. Talking to me, Ngha knows she talking to a journalist, yet she readily gives me all this information. She is very happy t be able to tell me her story in her native Vietnamese language for I am also of Vietnamese descent.

1850-69: Hainan Island. November 2007. Many unmarried men bear with boredom and loneliness in the village of Hong Xing which counts 30 families totaling 160 persons in the Bao Ting county of Hainan

1850-70: Hainan Island. November 2007. A member of the Li minority, Zen Yunqin, 37, lives in the village of Hong Xing which counts 30 families totaling 160 persons in the Bao Ting county of Hainan

1850-71: Hainan Island. November 2007. Many unmarried men bear with boredom and loneliness in the village of Hong Xing which counts 30 families totaling 160 persons in the Bao Ting county of Hainan

1850-72: Beijing. August 2006. Li Sheng Li, 23, is a migrant, he counts among the peasants who have left their land to work on the construction sites of big cities. He is poor and eventhough he has a fiancee he

1850-73: Beijing. August 2006. Li Sheng Li, 23, and Guo Jinli, 21, are from the same village and count among the migrants who have left their land to work on the construction sites of the big cities. Both have

1850-74: Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province. October 2007. In rural areas, women often desert their village to go and find work in big cities. Most often they find jobs as waitresses and will never return to their