Friday, February 3, 2012 | By: Beijing Zhu (朱蓓静)

“Do you have a boyfriend?”, “How much do you earn a month?”, “Why ask for trouble by working in Beijing?” When I was back in Shanghai for this year’s Spring Festival, I found myself under an increasing amount of pressure. It wasn’t the stress of finding enough money to gift all the little kids in my big family, despite the minimum amount of cash deemed acceptable for a “red envelope” rising to RMB500 from RMB200 within two years, it was the constant barrage of personal questions put to me by my “considerate” relatives.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one irked by this annual inquisition.

Over the holiday week, a graphic titled “Questions Asked by Relatives at Family Gatherings” (《亲戚聚会发言大纲》Qīnqi jùhuì fāyán dàgāng) flashed across the inboxes and microblog accounts of thousands of Chinese netizens, with the pic forwarded up to 20,000 times on Sina Weibo alone. The graphic is the brainchild of a Sina Weibo user, who illustrates vividly, if not a little extravagantly, the most popular personal questions older relatives love to ask the younger generation (especially those in their 20s and 30s) at New Year gatherings. The game is rigged, as no matter what your answer, it will be met by further probing. Just check out our translation and reworking of the graphic to see what we mean:

Many netizens reacted by claiming the graphic was the perfect representation of what went down in their own family homes over Spring Fesitval.

“I find it extremely annoying that relatives inquire about private affairs under the guise of looking out for your welfare. Won’t you guys just let me enjoy my New Year holiday?!” said one poster, a sentiment echoed by a host of others.

To cope with what netizens have dubbed “venomous tongue questions,” some suggested various “revenge” strategies. For example, under pressure sons and daughters can fight back by inquiring about the academic performance of their interrorgators’ kids, the cost of a property they bought or the size of their pension.

Others took a more lighthearted approach. “Don’t take it too seriously. Your relatives are not ill-willed and don’t mean to be mean. It’s just their way of showing affection,” said one.

This is the classic busybody defense.

“If we didn’t ask these questions, what else could we ask? I bet the younger generation will ask their kids the same questions as we do when they reach our age,” said a middle-aged woman when interviewed on the street by Shanghai Media Group.

People in the West tend to be a little more discreet, but everyone’s been put on the spot and asked embarrassing questions by their families. Why not let us know the most cringeworthy questions you’ve been asked and how you replied?

Share this