Li Yuru doesn't want to miss a moment with her daughter.

"I think at my age, it's better to enjoy the fruits of love." she says. "And I'd like to devote my time to the early years of her life."

She chose to give up her job, a choice Chinese women didn't have 60 years ago.

"In old China, women belonged to the lowest class. Most of them were illeterate. They stayed at home and served their husbands."

Chen Zhili is the president of the All-China Women's Federation, one of the top-ranking women in the Chinese government and witness to the major changes in women's status since the Communist Revolution.

Among the first laws passed by Chairman Mao's government were statutes banning foot-binding, bride selling, dowry, paligmy and concubines. Women were invited to leave the home and join the labour force. Mao spoke those famous words: Women hold up half the sky(女人撑起半边天).

If the statistics are any indication, Communism has been good for women. Today, half of all college students are women. Women make up 45% of the work force. In corporate China, women have top jobs.

Yang Chen was the first female partner in China at her international law firm. She also has a young daughter, but chose to work.

"I will be healthier mentally if I can, you know, be a mother in the same time. I can give her all the things that I learned during the day time. I think, you know, the way's good for her as well."

'But in many ways, women's rights in China still lag far behind. A growing gender gap reveals a cultural preference for sons. Labour laws don't effectively protect pregnant women and mothers. Rural women often lose their land when they marry and are uncompensated after a divorce. And China's seedy sex and hostess industry is thriving among other things.'

"The proportion of women in government is still not very high." says Chen. "But compare with the pathetic suffering Chinese women experienced in the past five thousand years, the situation has improved dramatically."

Of China's 51 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, women won 20. Female fighter pilots flew in China's recent 60th anniversary parade. Long after Mao's time, most agree today's Chinese women really do hold up half the sky.

Emily Chang, CNN, Beijing.

生词汇总：

All-China Women's Federation: 中华全国妇女联合会

statute: A statute is a rule or law which has been made by a government or other organization and formally written down 法令，法规

foot-binding: 裹脚

dowry: money and/or property that, in some societies, a wife or her family must pay to her husband when they get married （新娘的）嫁妆

paligmy: 一种家族内部联姻的封建习俗

concubine: (especially in some societies in the past) a woman who lives with a man, often in addition to his wife or wives, but who is less important than they are （尤指旧时某些社会里的）妾，姨太太，小老婆

seedy: dirty and unpleasant, possibly connected with immoral or illegal activities 肮脏的；污七八糟的；乌烟瘴气的；下流的

sex and hostess industry: 色情服务行业

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