The series' scriptwriter, 49-year-old Shi Kang, says he tries to avoid perpetuating stereotypes, and Fen Dou is more about youth in general than balinghou in particular.

"I appreciate many of the balinghou's traits: They're ambitious, aggressive and very capable," he says.

Xie still believes the series sends out the wrong message. "We really know what Fen Dou (also translated as 'working hard') is about," she insists.

"Our lives aren't as tough as our parents' have been but it's not that different. Mostly, the type of difficulties we have are different."

And sometimes such dissimilarities lead to intergenerational clashes.

"We don't understand each other on many issues and I have found myself avoiding communication with the older generation, even at work," Zuo says.

However, he says that both generations often work to figure out what makes the other tick.

"The younger generation is trying to learn to be more mature and courteous, while the older generation, like my father and mother, is trying to have a younger mind."

Zuo says the biggest difference in the way he would raise his child would be to provide "more choices and the confidence to be themselves".

"I don't care if they are different from the mainstream, if they are minorities or are homosexual or bisexual," he says.

But many balinghou are quick to point out the generation gap they encounter isn't only between them and their seniors.

Because of the speed of change in China, they often have trouble understanding the mindset of their juniors, the jiulinghou (post-'90s generation).

"Their ideas about society, family, responsibility to family are so different," Xie says.

"They'll make themselves comfortable first, and then, if it's convenient, they'll make others comfortable. If balinghou did this, we would feel a little guilty."

She says she recently took a multigenerational delegation on an all-expenses-paid trip to the United Kingdom. The jiulinghou complained about staying in the same five-star hotel every day. Then, when they did switch hotels, Xie says the jiulinghou complained the new one wasn't as nice as the first.

When they complained about being served burgers rather than pizza, a balinghou organizer scolded them.

Zhong also says he has trouble relating to the jiulinghou, and even some balinghou who are two or three years his junior, especially on sex.

"Sex is much more casual for people who are younger than me," Zhong says. "I think love is more important than sex, and I think the younger generation is more open with it and just doesn't care."

But balinghou are also divided among themselves on romantic relationships. "My generation is so used to dating they think of it like having meals," Zuo says. "My father and mother think of dating like getting married."

Xu says that if couples were to even walk hand in hand until the '80s, "people would point fingers", but "today, people kiss in the streets".

He also says many older people began reassessing the balinghou after seeing their "enthusiasm and patriotism" following the Sichuan earthquake. He recalls once seeing a group of 20-somethings in a Beijing street - one was tearful - with donation boxes and a banner reading: "We were born after the 1980s. Can you trust us?"

He says he had "mixed feelings" about their motivations.

Cao believes the very breakneck speed of transformation that created such a generation chasm can also help people overcome them.

"China is a developing country," she says, "and we will continue to accept more and more new things all of the time."

(China Daily August 28, 2008)