Editor's note: The following was translated and edited from the Chinese web portal iFeng's online "Blog Weekly" magazine (《博客天下》), who for their 100th issue asked 100 different celebrities and other notable personages to name one Chinese social norm that deserves to be broken. Below is a sampling of ten responses, along with the person who offered it and their reasoning behind it.

1) Attending university shouldn't rely solely on the gaokao entrance exam
"China is one of the few countries in the world that still relies on a single mandatory college entrance exam. Doesn't matter if you're speaking subjectively or objectively: having two days of exams decide the rest of a person's life is just cruel and unusual."
-Wang Maomao (creator of Tuzki, the cartoon rabbit character)

2) We must be brave enough to face our faults
"Something I've been thinking about lately, and I feel pretty strongly about this, is that people should have the courage to face their flaws head on. That goes for governments as well as individuals. If you don't have the courage to look at your own flaws, you certainly don't have the courage to change them."
-Duan Yihong (actor)

3) I wish Chinese taxi drivers weren't so scared of rainstorms
"I don't know why but, sometimes it's really difficult to get a cab, especially when it's raining. I asked a taxi driver once, he said it's not that they don't want to do their job, it's that if the car gets flooded, it's the driver himself that's held responsible, not the taxi company. Cab driver benefits aren't that great to begin with, so lots of people just leave work and go home when it starts raining rather than take the risk. I really think the companies should rethink whom it is they're supposed to be serving. Also, taxi drivers should wear official company uniforms, with a tie. That's something Japan definitely does better; they're very professional."
-Yano Koji (Japanese actor)

4) An idol isn't the same thing as a role model
"I think the biggest habit we need to break as a contemporary society is idol worship. Everyone's trying to worship someone else these days, even to the point where they ignore their own creations. When people start to worship other people, it's like they're hanging all their own originality on a vapid, superficial, capricious piece of lacey nothing. It stunts their emotional and intellectual growth. It's a waste of life! I'm not saying we shouldn't look up to intelligent people, but it's important to construct your own set of beliefs. If you can't follow the true voice of your own heart, you can't follow your beliefs, and without that it's hard to be a better person."
-Edward Gordon Williams (American poet)

5) We need a ratings system to avoid misleading moviegoers
"The sooner we can get rid of film censorship and institute a reasonable ratings system, the better. Without ratings, we've got small children walking into theatres and traumatizing themselves with all manner of violence and sexual images. We've got grown-ups flying to Hong Kong just to see the uncensored version of Lust, Caution. If we really want the Chinese film industry to take off, film industry workers need to remind themselves who their audiences are, and where they are. We've got to remove the ideological factor and treat films as a neutral cultural product. A proper ratings system would allow movies sex and violence and other things we label 'non-mainstream' to satisfy their intended audiences."
-Tan Fei (film critic)

6) I want the right not to criticize the government
"There are a lot of things the government is directly or indirectly responsible for, but I don't think we should just immediately curse or blame them for every little thing that happens. All that does is pit people against their government and polarize society even further. Dumping all our problems on the government is just lazy, because it lets us ignore our own responsibility. A nation's progress isn't measured by its government's progress alone, but also its citizens'."
-Huang Xiaoshan (environmental activist)

7) Not all old people deserve our respect
"What I would change most is this idea that we always have to respect our elders. A lot of my predecessors are actually juvenile, narrow-minded, poisonous people; just really hard to respect."
-Yang Kui (writer)

8) Just getting something done doesn't equal success
"We need to get rid of the utilitarian conception of personal accomplishment. People are always saying they want to "get married" or "make money"… these are just directional goals; people are missing out on the importance of the process itself."
-Hong Huang (media figure, publisher)

9) Writing about yourself doesn't mean you're narcissistic
"In this modern writing society, it feels like you're not allowed to write about yourself anymore. Biographies and memoirs get labeled as selfish, small-minded and unrealistic. It's like we're trying to get rid of the word 'I' altogether. Yes, there are a lot of changes going on in the world and it's unavoidable, but if we can't write about ourselves, the entire literary world is going to turn into some kind of story time with nothing but plots and landscapes. If you can't breakthrough this fear, this taboo, you're just not going to break through anything in the modern literary world."
-Han Songluo (writer)

10) We lack the courage to say "no"
"When we're afraid to say no, instead saying "yes" to things right off the bat, we end up overcommitting ourselves and becoming victims of our own self-inflicted dilemmas. It's like we're afraid to take anything away from our lives. That's what I'd most like to change."
-Zhou Lian (professor)

Source: iFeng
 

Related links
China Speaks: Top Weibo Posts from Politicians, Businessmen and Academics
Overcoming the Taboo – The Evolution of Sex in China
Survey: Young Chinese Netizens Express Surprising Political Opinions

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Keywords: Chinese social norms Chinese public figures opinions Chinese breaking bad habits