'Cold wars' lead to Shanghai's first 'purely foreign' divorce

According to the recently released results of a 2004 survey conducted by the Chinese Medical Association and the Chinese Sex Science Society, a quarter of married Chinese women are dissatisfied with their sex lives (surprisingly, only 10 percent of men had the same complaint), and with divorce still somewhat taboo, most of these couples will likely choose to remain in their marriages.

Not so for one French couple in Shanghai. They have called it a jour on their marriage (here is the story in Chinese). Enter French concession joke here. At a cost of 50RMB, the Guichards strolled into the Jing An courtroom, initiating the first "purely foreign" (纯正涉外) divorce (as the local rags are celebrating it as calling it) in Shanghai in 20 years. They cited too many arguments and "cold wars" ( 冷战 -- Chinese for "withholding sex") for the break up.

But what gives the world hope is that China's first transsexual marriage is still going ... for now, at least. Zhang Lin, the female party, wants a divorce, the husband doesn't. Well the wife is used to letting go of things. In fact, the husband has threatened to do unspeakable things to his wife, and the daughter she had before the snip, if she does divorce him. I think in the West this is where we say "allegedly".

How cruel the world is. Could this be the same man that gave us the lump in our throats when he said, "If you were a woman, I would definitely fall in love with you ... " (如果你是一个女人，我一定会爱上你的) when they were teens? Well that lump in our throats has been removed, just like the one in Zhang Lin's throat after her third operation of 2004. We shouldn't scoff. Her only wish is "to be a simple woman who is loved, and who goes into the next world with no regrets".

There's that lump again. Yes, in the throat.

Related:
Getting married in China (Stinky Tofu Blog)

Pictures from China Daily and Sohu.com.