Still, she can see a problem ahead. Looking around her one-room flat, she concludes that her daughter will have to sleep with her and her husband. The former often pay less regard to such things as the material incentives of their jobs. Pride in building the country and particularly the distinction of being part of the intellectual elite are more important than rewards or lifestyle. This generation still carries the Chinese education system, but its numbers are dwindling.
Younger teachers scorn the housing project.
He still lives in one of the old apartment blocks, and doesn't know or care when he will be rehoused. Qualifying to become a teacher was a long and bitter struggle, he says, but now he feels he has been cheated by the system. Her friends have cars. And look at me, a teacher - I don't have anything. History graduate Liu Qing had always wanted to teach.