The curator of the China Ethnic Museum, Wang Ping, urged the government to keep rural children away from big-city universities. 'Rural kids should stay out of university,' Wang said. 'The government should discourage young people in the countryside getting college educations in big cities because once they get there they will never return, and that will be a family tragedy. The biggest problem is that many university graduates cannot find jobs nowadays. Four years of tuition and living costs break the backbones of most rural families, and what good is it to send kids to college if, at the end of the day, they have to live in snail-shell apartments with salaries barely enough to feed themselves? Young people who stay in the countryside will be happier. Armed with determination and modern technology, they will get rich.'

Plea to help women stay home

Delegate Zhang Xiaomei said the mainland should copy examples from western countries which encouraged women to stay at home after having children. 'Housewives should get government subsidies,' Wang said 'In the West and some Asian countries, many women give up their jobs after marriage, serving their husbands and teaching children with skills and wisdom learnt from a professional career, which inspires social harmony ... If [the government] enhances family harmony, our country will enjoy more social harmony ... Even if some women cannot give up their professional careers immediately, the government should increase their holidays so that they can spend more time with their children.'

Time for a break in commercials

National People's Congress deputy Fang Ming, a retired news anchor, called for state-owned television channels to ditch advertising. 'Many of the advertisements on mainland TV rely on exposing flesh to catch the eye,' said Fang. 'How can a media industry overly driven by business interests make people believe what it says?'