On an idyllic holiday, questions of population become a weighty matter

Many Chinese born before 1979, like me, are sensitive to the population issue.

We often grew up in bigger families with more members than those born in and after 1979, when China adopted the one-child policy as one of its basic development strategies.

Over the years we have seen the size of Chinese families shrink, especially in cities, and felt the policy's profound influences on our daily lives and our society.