中国年轻人的"中产阶级焦虑症"

Ni Lu takes things one step at a time. "It's most realistic to set yourself targets for the next three or five years — longer periods of time you can't control," the Shanghai girl says.

倪璐（音译）按部就班地计划着自己的生活。这位上海姑娘说：“给自己设定一个未来3年或5年的目标，是最现实的事情——再长就无法控制了。”

Ms Ni's short-to-medium term goals include working less, travelling a lot; finding a man to marry and having a baby.

她的中短期目标包括少工作一些、到处旅游；找个人结婚然后生孩子。

With her ambitious agenda, the 24-year-old office worker at Shanda, an internet company, is an emblem of China's young generation. Markedly different from their parents and grandparents, under-30s in the world's most populous nation have grown up in a relatively stable society and experienced increasing, if modest, prosperity, so they have certain expectations.

这位志向远大、在互联网公司盛大(Shanda)任职的24岁白领是中国年轻一代的写照。与他们的父辈和祖辈明显不同，在这个全球人口最多的国家，30岁以下的人群是在一个相对稳定的社会中长大的，他们经历了越来越富裕（即使富裕程度还有限）的生活，因此会怀有一定期望。

"These people have what I call middle class anxiety," says Li Chunling, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing. "They all strive for a decent standard of living which makes other people respect them."

“这些人患有我所说的中产阶级焦虑症，”位于北京的中国社科院(Chinese Academy of Social Science)研究员李春玲说道。“他们都追求高品质的生活，想让其他人尊敬自己。”

It is a familiar picture.

这种现象很常见。

As continuously growing demand makes China the world's largest market for everything from mobile phones to cars, and as the country develops a voracious appetite for luxury goods, the plans and expectations of young people also seem increasingly to resemble those of their western peers: and, it seems, they share the same status symbols and desires.

随着持续扩大的需求让中国成为全球一切商品的最大市场（从手机到汽车），加之中国人对奢侈品产生了强烈兴趣，中国年轻人的未来规划和期望也似乎越来越像西方靠拢，他们似乎有着同样的社会地位象征和愿望。

But the path to realising these seemingly simple dreams in China is very different from what it might be in Europe or America.

但在中国，实现这些看似简单的梦想的道路与欧美截然不同。

China's society and economy are changing rapidly. The countryside is urbanising at a dizzying speed, the job market is being transformed overnight, and the media and entertainment landscape is undergoing sweeping changes.

中国的社会和经济正迅速发生变化。农村正以惊人的速度城市化，就业市场日新月异，媒体和娱乐业格局正在经历彻底变革。

While these conditions offer many opportunities to strike it rich, they also create huge hurdles for young people to attain their desired state of a middle class goal.

这些环境造就了很多暴富的机会，但也给年轻人实现期望中的中产阶级目标制造了巨大障碍。

"As a result, they feel a lot of pressure," explains Mr Li.

李春玲表示：“因此，他们感受到很多压力。”

To be sure, the lives of the young can differ vastly, depending on whether they were born in a big city or in the countryside and whether they come from an affluent or well-connected family or a simple peasant household.

无可否认，年轻一代的生活千差万别，这取决于他们出生在大城市还是农村，是来自富裕或是有着良好社会关系的家庭还是简单的农民家庭。

Mr Li says: "It is broadly felt that one's family background is an increasingly important factor in one's future, that social mobility is somewhat decreasing in China."

李春玲表示：“人们普遍认为，一个人的家庭背景对于他的未来是一个越来越重要的因素，在中国，社会阶层的流动性正开始有所减速。”

But what young people across all social groups share is the expectation of a good life and the sobering realisation that getting there can require a rather uncomfortable struggle, if it does not turn out to be impossible altogether.

但各个社会群体中的年轻人所共有的是，对美好生活的期望以及对一件事实的清醒认识：实现这一理想可能需要相当痛苦的奋斗，甚至有可能完全失败。