The test of distance
Zhang Qianyu, 23, fell in love with her boyfriend Tao three years ago while at college in Tianjin. However, after graduating in 2017, Zhang left to pursue a postgraduate degree in education at Miami University in Ohio, while Tao left for the University of Leeds in England.
Currently, Zhang's boyfriend has returned to China and is working in Beijing, while she is still has a year left to finish her degree. Like most people in the youth.cn survey, they accept that things will be difficult, but remain optimistic about their future and are willing to put effort into it.
"Obviously, it is acceptable to both of us," said Zhang. "The jet lag and distance are not problems for us. However, it can be different for different people."
"Both of us have time during the Christmas and Easter holidays. I went to England during Christmas and he flew to the U.S. twice to reunite with me," Zhang told the Global Times.
Unlike many who commented on the internet, Zhang also thinks there are advantages to a long-distance relationship.
"We are able to focus on our studies and works without disturbing the other. However, there are more problems than benefits."
Zhang said that she also believes that the "70 percent of college students believe long-distance relationships will break up" shows, to a certain extent, the attitude of young people today.
"I think time and distance are just excuses and alibis. The thing is that those relationships that finally break-up are not as deep as me and my boyfriend's," Zhang said.
She also believes that the ease of transportation and communication today has helped eliminate some of the problems caused by distance.
"My boyfriend and I talk to each other almost every single day through WeChat, we make full use of his commute from home to his company," Zhang said.
"And we play videogames online together, which is a really good way to maintain our relationship."
Similar to Zhang, Ruan Ying, a 23-year-old dance teacher in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, prefers to play games with her boyfriend in Shanghai through WeChat. This year, when they played together the night before Valentine's Day, they expressed their affection and gratitude for each other by joking that "two smartphones have connected two hearts."
"I think the youngsters of our generation are more open and rely more on feelings instead of calculating material things when they start a relationship. But on the other hand, this attitude might cause the loss of firmness and confidence when crises arrive in their relationship," Zhang said.
"The distance is never the reason for the break-up, it's just because they don't love each other anymore, or they have a better choice," Zhang noted. "Anyway, I hope every couple gets a happy ending."
