Caution

Though many young people know the kind of questions they will face, they still need to be cautious and well-prepared. Some even choose to travel overseas with friends during the holiday, rather than go home and face such questions.

"At the beginning, when I had just started working in Beijing, I hated my relatives asking questions such as how much I earned, if I had a girlfriend or when I would marry," said Zhang, a native of Shaanxi province, who works in the movie industry.

Having worked in his favored sector for three years since getting a master's, he is familiar with the questions he will face.

"Usually they come from older relatives. I used to wonder if they were trying to unearth secrets or make fun of me, because all the questions were quite personal. It was as if I had no privacy in front of them," he said.

"Most of my relatives live in small towns, so they think that working in a first-tier city like Beijing means I must have a good income and lifestyle, and everything is going well. The truth is that like many young people who have only worked in Beijing for two or three years, my life is generally very hard because of the high cost of living and intense competition."

When questioned by relatives, he always responds with short answers and a quick smile, before quickly moving their attention onto other topics, such as food, clothes and entertainment.

"Actually, after chatting with my family in recent years, I have come to understand why they ask such questions, and I now know they are not based on bad intentions," Zhang said.