By staff reporter LU RUCAI

ON April 10, 2005, famous Chinese painter Chen Yifei died in Shanghai at 59 years of age, just before he could finish what was to be his debut film, Barber. In January, two professors at the country’s top university, Tsinghua, passed away at the untimely ages of 36 and 46 years old. The causes of their deaths were remarkably similar – overwork. Fatigue had affected their health, but they failed to seek timely treatment in hospital. Chinese sociologists, medical professionals, and indeed the general public, have since been talking about the effects of chronic fatigue syndrome. Social studies show that China’s young and middle-aged citizens are generally not in good health, and that only a small proportion of them pay adequate attention to their well-being.

Heavy Career Pressure on Young Men

Young people are under intense pressure.

Film director Chen Yifei (first left) talking to actors for his debut film Barber.

Keeping fit at Beijing Fitness First Club.

Thirty-year-old Zhang Liang is project manager at a medium-sized communications company. During this year’s week-long May Day break, he worked every day, and earned triple pay for his efforts. Zhang couldn’t relax at home, or go on a holiday, but has no regrets. “We have just bought a new house and pay a monthly mortgage of RMB 3,000,” says Zhang. “As we live quite far away from our workplaces, we plan to buy a car. I have to work extra hard to cover all these costs.” Zhang takes home around RMB 7,000 per month, but his financial burden still weighs heavily on him. Many of his peers feel the same. Marriage lies on the horizon, as do house and car purchases and children. None of these comes cheap.

Having spent just a few years in the workplace, young professionals have limited savings. Many are forced to work extremely hard, taking any available overtime to make all the ends meet, says Zhang, “I would have no hesitation in taking on more work, when I have the time.” Most of his friends have part-time jobs to boost their income. According to a recent survey conducted by China Youth Daily’s Social Investigation Center, 66.5 percent of Chinese young people feel that they are under heavy pressure, 3.7 percent feel under bearable pressure, while only 0.3 percent feel no pressure at all.

“I feel that I have aged, and often have trouble controlling my emotions,” says Zhang Liang, who has lately been under greater stress than usual. As his girlfriend has also noticed the changes in his character, he sought medical advice. The doctor told him that he was overstressed, and facing burnout and warned Zhang that if he didn’t adjust his lifestyle, he risked developing chronic fatigue syndrome. Earlier this year, 3,206 people were examined in the Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital’s health center, and an alarming 67.3 percent was found to be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Of those affected, 62 percent were male, and 38 percent female. Most were aged between 25 and 45 years.

So why are Chinese men under more pressure than their female counterparts? Some blame Chinese culture, which traditionally places greater social and family responsibilities on males, because they are considered the dominant sex. Another factor involves the different ways in which men and women generally deal with pressure. Chinese men are discouraged from revealing their emotions, so most prefer to bottle up their worries and seek out their own solutions. Women, meanwhile, are more open with their emotions, and talk problems out with their friends.

Money and Life

Yang Zhaoxu is a professor at the Beijing Ciji Healthcare Center. He says that most Chinese people are either unaware of or not paying proper attention to the state of their health. A small percentage, he says, do have some medical knowledge, but their hectic working lives leave them little time for regular physical check-ups. The problem is particularly prevalent among white-collar workers and university professors. In April 2005, the Social Investigation Center of China Youth Daily and China View Intelligence Co., Ltd carried out a joint investigation among 1,218 people, which revealed that 34.4 percent of those questioned worked less than 8 hours a day, 65.6 percent worked more than 8 hours, and 20 percent worked more than 10 hours a day. Why are they working so hard? The investigation shows that 82 percent would work over 15 hours a day if the financial rewards were high enough – a common attitude among people aged 20 to 40. It indicates that 75.1 percent of Chinese young and middle-aged people understand how people can die of chronic fatigue syndrome, yet only 18 percent think these tragedies can be avoided. “What’s the use of good health if we do not have money?” Zhang Liang argues, and many of his peers agree with him. Meanwhile, middle-aged people who have already achieved success in their careers are aware of intense competition from young people in a rapidly changing society, and feel obliged to work harder to keep their positions.

China’s current period of social transformation is having a profound influence on the younger generation. The Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences spent four years researching stress and psychological problems among different careers and age groups. The results indicated that those aged between 20 and 30 feel the heaviest pressure. “These results are normal,” says Lu Shizhen, vice president of China Youth University for Political Sciences, “China is still adjusting its social structures, and young people are most influenced by this. Our current social welfare policies, such as the house purchasing and medical reform policies benefit middle-aged and the elderly, but they put great pressure on people aged between 20 and 30 at the start of their working lives, who also have to deal with the obligations of finding marriage partners, housing, child-rearing, and participation of various social activities.

Inadequate Health Awareness

Few Chinese go to hospital for regular physical check-ups and. Healthcare awareness is generally low among the population. In view of China’s huge population, its hospitals are limited. People generally view them as places for treating illness, rather than to check the state of one’s health. Professional healthcare organizations like the Ciji Healthcare Center are few and far between, and are not widely accepted, most of the clientele comprising young professionals. Another factor, particularly among elderly and middle-aged people, is that they’re accustomed to the old medical expense reimbursement policy, and are unwilling to pay for treatment, so they refuse to go to the hospital unless it’s absolutely necessary. Physical check-ups, they feel, are not essential, especially when they have to cover the expenses themselves. “Forty percent of the Chinese population never go to hospital,” says Professor Yang Zhaoxu. “Many youngsters prefer to leave things to chance, and do not understand that chronic fatigue syndrome leads to serious disease.” The Third National Healthcare Service Survey, concluded in 2004, shows that only 14.8 percent of those questioned participate in regular sports to strengthen their health.

Safety valves through which young people may release psychological pressures are few. Last April’s survey by the China Youth Daily and the China View Intelligence Co., Ltd revealed that 43.1 percent of those questioned relaxed by listening to music, 40.4 percent by talking to family and friends, 27.3 percent by writing diaries, while 31.2 percent did nothing. The same survey also showed that 37.1 percent accepted psychological clinics, 41.4 said there were no psychological clinics in their community, or none that they know of, 24.7 percent worried about the standard of such clinics in today’s China, and 7.8 percent were reluctant to go along out of fears of becoming the subject of local gossip mongers.

Compulsory Vacation

Civil servants working for government organizations make up another major group suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. The Henan Provincial Center for Social and Medical Insurance recently handed in a report showing concern over the state of local provincial civil servants’ health. The report said that between 2003 and 2004, 15,000 civil servants underwent physical check-ups. The results showed that 32 percent had cervical or lumbar vertebra diseases, and 18 percent had fatty livers. Similar studies carried out in Beijing showed that 40 percent of civil servants were overweight; in Jiangsu Province, 40 percent had clinical disease; and in Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province, 70 percent of its 30,000 civil servants showed symptoms chronic fatigue syndrome.
After reading the report, Henan’s provincial governor Li Chengyu ordered the immediate implementation of a compulsory paid vacation system for civil servants in his province from March 7, 2005. All civil servants would get extra paid leave. Paid vacation was also made compulsory in Jiangsu Province, and employees were given special holiday allowances. Studies show that only 20 percent of Chinese civil servants have the time to enjoy a paid vacation. In Shanghai, only 6.9 percent of journalists take their full paid vacation, 21.2 percent enjoy less days than the government allows, and 64 percent of them take no paid vacation whatsoever. Making vacations compulsory shows that the Chinese government is serious about improving the health of its employees.