Tradition and Modernity 1063 METHOD Table 1.Characteristics of Informants (N=30) The Setting of Shanghai Characteristics n Located at the mouth of the Yangtze River and Age midway along the coastline of China,Shang- 26-29 10 hai is the largest city in the country and one 30-34 16 of the largest in the world,with about 23 mil- 35-40 lion people according to the 2010 China Census. Education An important global financial center,Shanghai Bachelor's or associate's degree 15 attracts highly educated professionals from all Master's degree 13 over the country.As one of the first five cities Doctoral degree 2 to open to foreign trade over 150 years ago, Ever had overseas education/work experience 9 Shanghai is the most Westernized city in main- Urban-rural land China.Women in Shanghai arguably have Native of Shanghai 11 the highest status in China in terms of gender Urban but not from Shanghai 13 equality,at least in the private sphere,and it is Rural 6 the norm there for women to be in charge of the family finances (Da,2004;Long,1999;Xu aIncludes those bom in Shanghai or those with parents Yeung,2013). from Shanghai. Sample and their referrals made it easy for me to earn the The 30 research subjects were all single women trust of other potential research candidates and between age 26 and 40 years,with the majority thus secure their agreement to participate. in their early 30s.Some of them were currently I began by asking friends,relatives,and dating,and others were not in a relationship,but coworkers to recommend interview candidates all of them had a boyfriend before.All of the in Shanghai.I then asked research informants to women had a college or higher degree,except recommend potential research subjects.Per one two who had an associate's degree.Half had a informant's suggestion,I placed a recruitment master's or doctoral degree,and close to one advertisement on Wechat (a popular Chinese third had overseas education or work experience mobile phone-based social networking appli- Most of the women were employed at the time cation with about 400 million active users) of their interview.The informants were from and asked some research informants to post professions such as medicine,engineering,and it.The strategy was extremely successful and academia.Geographically,about one third were ultimately played a crucial role in recruiting the natives of Shanghai,and the rest were from 14 sample.Wechat operates through various friend out of 31 provincial level districts nationwide. circles,so two people can see each other's posts All of them were Han ethnic,except for one, and messages only when they are friends on who was an ethnic minority.More details on the Wechat.It is an important networking outlet in subject characteristics are listed in Table 1. China today,through which news and gossip cir- culate as people forward posts within and across friend circles.Through Wechat,I recruited close Data Collection to one third of my informants. I conducted 30 semistructured interviews in I used a semistructured interview technique. Shanghai in 2013 using a snowball sampling I usually arranged interviews in public coffee technique.I used this technique because the shops or cafes in Shanghai and,with the infor- "leftover"women issue is a sensitive one in mants'permission,recorded interviews using a China,in particular for young women who are digital recorder.The interviews varied between under great pressure to get married from their 50 and 100 minutes.My informants and I usu- families and society in general.It is not an easy ally chatted for at least an hour before and after task to find them,and it is even more difficult to the interview.The longest time I stayed with an find ones who are willing to share their stories. informant was about 5 hours.It is important to Fortunately,my research subjects usually knew note that some of my informants told me later other female friends who fell into this category, that it was precisely because they did not knowTradition and Modernity 1063 Method The Setting of Shanghai Located at the mouth of the Yangtze River and midway along the coastline of China, Shang￾hai is the largest city in the country and one of the largest in the world, with about 23 mil￾lion people according to the 2010 China Census. An important global financial center, Shanghai attracts highly educated professionals from all over the country. As one of the first five cities to open to foreign trade over 150 years ago, Shanghai is the most Westernized city in main￾land China. Women in Shanghai arguably have the highest status in China in terms of gender equality, at least in the private sphere, and it is the norm there for women to be in charge of the family finances (Da, 2004; Long, 1999; Xu & Yeung, 2013). Sample The 30 research subjects were all single women between age 26 and 40 years, with the majority in their early 30s. Some of them were currently dating, and others were not in a relationship, but all of them had a boyfriend before. All of the women had a college or higher degree, except two who had an associate’s degree. Half had a master’s or doctoral degree, and close to one third had overseas education or work experience. Most of the women were employed at the time of their interview. The informants were from professions such as medicine, engineering, and academia. Geographically, about one third were natives of Shanghai, and the rest were from 14 out of 31 provincial level districts nationwide. All of them were Han ethnic, except for one, who was an ethnic minority. More details on the subject characteristics are listed in Table 1. Data Collection I conducted 30 semistructured interviews in Shanghai in 2013 using a snowball sampling technique. I used this technique because the “leftover” women issue is a sensitive one in China, in particular for young women who are under great pressure to get married from their families and society in general. It is not an easy task to find them, and it is even more difficult to find ones who are willing to share their stories. Fortunately, my research subjects usually knew other female friends who fell into this category, Table 1. Characteristics of Informants (N =30) Characteristics n Age 26–29 10 30–34 16 35–40 4 Education Bachelor’s or associate’s degree 15 Master’s degree 13 Doctoral degree 2 Ever had overseas education/work experience 9 Urban–rural Native of Shanghaia 11 Urban but not from Shanghai 13 Rural 6 aIncludes those born in Shanghai or those with parents from Shanghai. and their referrals made it easy for me to earn the trust of other potential research candidates and thus secure their agreement to participate. I began by asking friends, relatives, and coworkers to recommend interview candidates in Shanghai. I then asked research informants to recommend potential research subjects. Per one informant’s suggestion, I placed a recruitment advertisement on Wechat (a popular Chinese mobile phone-based social networking appli￾cation with about 400 million active users) and asked some research informants to post it. The strategy was extremely successful and ultimately played a crucial role in recruiting the sample. Wechat operates through various friend circles, so two people can see each other’s posts and messages only when they are friends on Wechat. It is an important networking outlet in China today, through which news and gossip cir￾culate as people forward posts within and across friend circles. Through Wechat, I recruited close to one third of my informants. I used a semistructured interview technique. I usually arranged interviews in public coffee shops or cafés in Shanghai and, with the infor￾mants’ permission, recorded interviews using a digital recorder. The interviews varied between 50 and 100 minutes. My informants and I usu￾ally chatted for at least an hour before and after the interview. The longest time I stayed with an informant was about 5 hours. It is important to note that some of my informants told me later that it was precisely because they did not know