I’ve lived in China and speak Mandarin too. I’ve always hated the fact you need a photo, but I was truly disturbed when I went with my girlfriend (Chinese) to h

I’ve lived in China and speak Mandarin too. I’ve always hated the fact you need a photo, but I was truly disturbed when I went with my girlfriend (Chinese) to have hers done. Even she was uncomfortable with the level of photoshop used. It looked like a different person, and she complained to have that amount of editing reduced. It’s just such an obvious point of discrimination. While anecdotal, in every in depth discussion with Chinese women about their perception of women’s equality in the workplace, none of them felt it was fair. It doesn’t help that there’s still a strong expectation that women should have a “stable” but lower paying job (1/10th or lower) in comparison to their partner. There’s a definite difficulty with progressing in your career that arises due to a culture that has a strong emphasis on guanxi and male dominance. If you don’t have connections and you’re not a man, there’s a strong chance that you’ll experience huge resistance when trying to climb the ladder.