The hit Chinese TV reality show inspiring women to make waves
- Hunan Television’s programme presents confident older women overcoming obstacles as they compete for a place in a band
- The contest and the personal strength of the competitors has struck a chord across the country for defying the usual focus on youthful female performers
Zhang Xiqing is an outlier in Chinese society.
At 33, the designer based in the southern city of Shenzhen is happily unmarried, has no plans to have children with her boyfriend, and left her job at tech titan Tencent for a start-up because she wanted to “try something new”.
“I wanted to live just for myself, and just for us,” she said.
But Zhang faces immense pressure from her family, who insist that she is “getting old” that a woman “of her age” should be married with children.
She does her best to deal with the pressure to conform to convention but it can be a lonely path to follow.
Now, however, she is drawing inspiration from a reality show that has become a hit on Chinese television.
Instead of giving young ingenues a shot at fame, Sisters Who Make Waves, produced by Hunan Television, has invited established actresses and performers over 30, and some in their 50s, to compete for a spot in a five-member band.