sassy and the city
Posted: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 10:55 AM by Sam Singal
By Adrienne Mong, NBC News producer
Whenever we have an assignment in Shanghai, there's something of a mixed reaction amongst the NBC news team.
Three of us look forward to all the fun things associated with the glitzy big city: a faster urban pace, cool high-rises, great restaurants. The fourth (yours truly) dreads the attendant fuss that comes with the glitzy big city: congestion, noise, and, in particular, attitude.
Shanghai has attitude in spades.
Our fixer, Millie, embodies the city's sass.
One time, our correspondent Mark Mullen offered up praise for lining up a particularly tricky interview for NBC by telling her, "You're good."
Without missing a beat, absent any irony, Millie replied, "I know."
So when Mark wanted to cover the story of China's growing gender imbalance by twisting accepted wisdom on its head - that while the number of men here outnumbers that of women by 37 million, young women in big cities are so much in demand they can pick and choose a mate, we figured Shanghai would be the place to find interesting examples of this modern, empowered Chinese woman.
While filming a speed-dating event one weekend in Shanghai as part of the story, we came across Christine Yu. Vivacious, successful, confident, and charming, the 29-year old accountant is single and looking for love.
Although she still harbours some traditional Chinese ideas about life, Christine also exudes attitude - just like her hometown. Here's a look at her take on relationships in the big city.
