class,and income.That said,the common phenomenon of women "marrying up"indicates the persistence of patriarchal gender norms in the Chinese marriage market. Despite their improved achievement in education and career,single women often have to cope with pressure from multiple sources in the "traditional-modern mosaic"(Ji,2015).As revealed by Ji's qualitative interview data,it is not uncommon for single women to have parents who invested for years into their daughter's education and so are reluctant to lower their expectations of a future son-in-law.Meanwhile,however,such single women may also be subject to discrimination in the marriage market if they do not seem willing to take on the Chinese traditional wifely role (To,2013).Constrained by the "gendered double standard of ageing"(England and McClintock,2009;Ji,2015),well-educated single women who are keen to achieve career advancement have to achieve a delicate balance between timing their marriage at the proper age and pursuing a career while they are still considered"able"female employees. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of "leftover women",it is also essential to frame the issue in the overall social context in which urban Chinese women live.In addition to the possibility of encountering "discriminatory"and "controlling"suitors in the marriage market,single women are also faced with the changing public discourse concerning married women and mothers,which extends the aforementioned traditional family-centered role of Chinese women.In contrast to the image of"degendered""Iron Girl" mothers,working mothers in the modern Chinese market society are expected to practice "intense motherhood"and be versatile enough to meet new demands ranging from earning a high income (long been supposed to be shouldered by men)to being a perfect family educator for their children (Jin and Yang,2015;Murphy,2000).As urban mothers are constantly reminded of the importance of giving their family and children unquestioned priority,another dimension of gender essentialism,has emerged in the apparent discourse of 99 class, and income. That said, the common phenomenon of women “marrying up” indicates the persistence of patriarchal gender norms in the Chinese marriage market. Despite their improved achievement in education and career, single women often have to cope with pressure from multiple sources in the “traditional-modern mosaic” (Ji, 2015). As revealed by Ji’s qualitative interview data, it is not uncommon for single women to have parents who invested for years into their daughter’s education and so are reluctant to lower their expectations of a future son-in-law. Meanwhile, however, such single women may also be subject to discrimination in the marriage market if they do not seem willing to take on the Chinese traditional wifely role (To, 2013). Constrained by the “gendered double standard of ageing” (England and McClintock, 2009; Ji, 2015), well-educated single women who are keen to achieve career advancement have to achieve a delicate balance between timing their marriage at the proper age and pursuing a career while they are still considered “able” female employees. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of “leftover women”, it is also essential to frame the issue in the overall social context in which urban Chinese women live. In addition to the possibility of encountering “discriminatory” and “controlling” suitors in the marriage market, single women are also faced with the changing public discourse concerning married women and mothers, which extends the aforementioned traditional family-centered role of Chinese women. In contrast to the image of “degendered” “Iron Girl” mothers, working mothers in the modern Chinese market society are expected to practice “intense motherhood” and be versatile enough to meet new demands ranging from earning a high income (long been supposed to be shouldered by men) to being a perfect family educator for their children (Jin and Yang, 2015; Murphy, 2000). As urban mothers are constantly reminded of the importance of giving their family and children unquestioned priority, another dimension of gender essentialism, has emerged in the apparent discourse of