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Mrs Li is over seventy years old. She has lived in Beijing all her life. I asked her about life today and in the past.

What was your life like in the past?

My family lived in a tiny house. There were no electric lights, only candles. My father was a postman, and he often worked twelve hours a day outside in the winter cold or in the summer heat. My mum was a farm girl before she met my father. She was a kind and loving mother. She didn't go out to work. There were five children in my family, and looking after us was more than a full-time job.

I remember the family meals. The food was simple. We could only eat meat once or twice a year. I wasn't sent to school because my family couldn't afford it, and what's more， because I was a girl.

How has life changed?

Families have got smaller than they were in the past. Today most people only have one child! The role of women has changed too. My daughter is really lucky. She has a good education, and she goes to work even after getting married. I'm happy to see she's busy working every day, but sometimes I feel lonely because she can't come to see me often.

Transport and travel are easier today. When I was young, I went everywhere on foot or sometimes by bike. Now you can take the bus everywhere, and there's also the underground. And you young people can take a plane to anywhere in the world. The only thing I don't like, though, is that there's so much more traffic. It's so difficult to cross the road.

Of course, we didn't have television when I was a child. I really enjoy watching television today. There're so many good programmes, like the Beijing Opera and old films. But some of the shows are too noisy for me.

Generally speaking, I think life is better today. We eat better and we live longer.