Drummer's drink choice exposes generation gaps

ZHAO MINGYI, the drummer in the rock 'n' roll band Black Panther, was photographed drinking tea, and many marveled that "our rock star since childhood is entering his middle age". The WeChat media World Insight comments:

Snapped drinking tea, Zhao was identified as middle-aged and he received more than 1,700 comments on his micro blog, most of which expressed sympathy for him getting old.

Afterward a post was widely spread on social media linking different age groups with a typical drink, such as fizzy drinks for children, beer for young people and hot tea for the middle-aged and the elderly.

It implied that young people can afford to live unhealthy lifestyles by consuming alcohol and staying up late at night, while those in their middle age must take more care of their health. That logic is rather absurd because everyone has the right to care about their health, whatever their age. Being young is no reason to ignore one's health.

The incident also reveals the wide and still growing generation gaps in Chinese society. The young tend to depict the middle-aged as conservative, while the middle-aged tend to think of the young as irresponsible. Such stereotyped images are formed by a lack of mutual understanding and it is time for different age groups to interact with each other to break them.