1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
SocietyChina

Chinese women between ambition and tradition

58:24

This browser does not support the video element.

April 21, 2026

Three young women from China are struggling to realize their dreams. While Chinese society is undergoing profound change, they are simultaneously feeling the social pressure to start a family and have children.

China has developed at record speed to become one of the most modern countries in the world. The documentary follows three young, single women between 2016 and 2023. Amber, Jingya and Tingting try to achieve their goals in very different ways — in their careers, as well as in love. All three women were born in the 1980s — at a time when China's rulers were trying to control population growthwith the one-child policy. On the one hand, this enabled many girls to receive a good education, as well as to spend time abroad. On the other, women still find themselves confronted with the expectation that they will marry and have children. In China, having children is considered the best form of provision for a person’s retirement. The Chinese state is also concerned about falling birth rates; a development that’s both a trigger and a challenge for young women in China. While Tingting pursues her own path in China, despite family expectations and social norms, Amber and Jingya are drawn to Europe - independently of one another - in search of a better life. But can Europe really fulfil their dreams?

Skip next section About the show

About the show

DocFilm

Exciting stories, a wide variety of topics, fascinating pictures: every day, half or three-quarters of an hour of carefully researched background reports from the worlds of politics, business, science, culture, nature, history, lifestyle and sport.

Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW

More stories from DW