Introduction

I remember that, when I was in primary school, sitting down to dinner in KFC or MacDonald's was a celebratory event that only happened on the day of the newly imported festival of Christmas Eve. Another unforgettable scene after the big dinner was the extremely crowded but joyful shopping mall, where my mother would buy me new clothes in the sale. Even now, I can clearly recall the excitement and satisfaction of the occasion. This is certainly not only about eating fried chicken or trying on a Snoopy jacket. As Yan (2000) suggests, in the late 1990s, what fascinated Chinese customers about Western fast-food restaurants was not the hamburger but the experience.

Now fried chicken and burgers are certainly not restricted to a festival dinner. In fact, I am offered far more choices – ordering a delivery from my sofa or visiting a fine restaurant that serves burgers made with Australian Wagyu beef. And the changes go way beyond this. Every time I go back to my hometown of Shenyang, which I left more than ten years ago, or stroll around downtown areas to enjoy a relaxing afternoon in Shanghai, I am often astonished by the ever-evolving urban landscape and changing lifestyles. More broadly, present-day Chinese society continues to experience deep transformations in the very fabric of social life. National gross domestic product may have decreased, but people continue to modify their world views and living experiences. Meanwhile, although enormous social changes induce anxieties and uncertainties, individuals seize on certain constant resources to cope with emerging risks.

In light of these wider shifts and continuities, this book examines young men's views of Chinese manhood and how they construct and negotiate masculinities in their everyday lives. Under the ever-deepening transformations in contemporary China, traditional gender relations have been profoundly reshaped, but elements of patriarchy informed by the legacy of Confucianism still linger. I aim to develop critical insights into how these intricately interwoven forces have affected the gendered lives of urban Chinese young men. Through this research, I attempt to provide timely accounts of how ordinary Chinese young men engage with China’s global modernity, increasing individualization, shifting gender values and local realities.