Zoe Murphy, Mixed marriages in China a labour of love. BBC, Oct 23, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24371673
("In 1978, there was not a single inter-racial marriage registered in mainland China, according to government figures. But the numbers of Chinese marrying foreigners has gradually risen, with 53,000 such couples tying the knot in 2012. * Includes Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau[.] Source: Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs")
Note:
(a)
(i) Zoe (name) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_(name)
(Greek noun meaning "life")
(ii) I can not find the meaning of her last name Eickenburg. Apparently she keeps her maiden name, though.
(iii) It appears Ms Zoe Eickenburg does not have a Chinese name. Her blog is "Speaking of China" (as indicated the this report; Chinese: 谈中国)
(b) "She had moved to Shanghai in 2003 to be with her now-husband Jun Yu."
The translation is: Jocelyn在2003年时搬到上海,与她现在的丈夫Yu Jun同居。
The English sentence did not explicitly say "cohabitate" or "live together." The modifier "now-husband," by itself, only say they eventually got married but not then.
(c) "She [Ms Eickenburg] says she now receives scores of emails a month from Chinese people curious about meeting and dating foreigners, or partners new to, or experiencing difficulties, in cross-cultural relationships."
It made me pause. At last I came to realize (before I read the chart caption) what the sentence means. You see, the comma is misplaced and the sentence should have been: "She says she now receives scores of emails a month from Chinese people curious about meeting and dating foreigners, or partners new to, or experiencing difficulties in, cross-cultural relationships."
The "partner" is a noun, though it can also be a verb (transitive or intransitive). The most easy example is a partner from Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan, which China considers a part (but not necessarily vice versa). Then the partner is not a "foreigner" but still "new to, or experiencing difficulties, in cross-cultural relationships." I can imagine it would be culture shock for Taiwanese to visit China, even not forming a relationship with a Chinese ("imagine" because I have never been there. Still I experienced something profoundly (and wondered then that it might be culture shock) five years after arriving City of Taipei from City of Kaohsiung, and worked as a waiter at a beer bar catering to foreigners, in a floating world 浮世: Section 2, Chung-shan North Road 中山北路二段 (full of night clubs).
(d) Richard Burger, Behind The Red Door; Sex in China. Hong Kong: Earnshaw Books, 2012.
(e) "Earlier this year, British actor Hugh Grant announced the birth of his second child with Chinese partner Tinglan Hong 洪婷兰."
(i) Hugh Grant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Grant
(section 5 Personal life)
(ii) The above quotes Mr Grant as saying the media has treated Ms Hong badly. He might have meant:
(A) Jo McFarlane, An Intriguing Portrait of the Woman Who's Had Hugh Grant's Baby; Ting Ting has photos of her and little baby Bamboo * * * but Hugh isn't in any of them. Daily Mail, June 26, 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvsho ... t-Tinglan-Hong.html
("Ting Ting proudly told him [Robert Hodge, her former boyfriend] that her little girl had been nicknamed Bamboo but that her Chinese name translated as ‘Happy Accident’")
* Wiki says that with her Mr Grant has an elder daughter, whose Chinese name is Xiao Xi 小喜, meaning "happy surprise." (The daughter's full name is Tabitha Xiao Xi HONG GRANT.)
Tabitha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabitha
("an English language feminine given name, derived from an Aramaic word that means gazelle. It is a biblical name from Acts 9:36 in the Bible, in which Tabitha is a woman raised from the dead by Saint Peter")
* Wiki also says their (younger) son was "named Felix Chang," full name being Felix Chang 长 HONG GRANT.
(B) Nadia Mendoza and Jo McFarlane, These Are the Curves That Seduced Hugh Grant Into Bed; Tinglan Hong poses in a series of provocative modelling photos. Daily Mail, June 26, 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvsho ... delling-photos.html
("the 31-year-old" Hong)
Quote: "He [the now 55-year-old Robert Hodge] first met Ting Ting in 2006 at the Dog and Fox pub in Wimbledon, and was attracted by her vivacious and bubbly personality. Ting Ting had just graduated from a hotel management degree at the University of Surrey in Guildford after arriving in the UK several years previously. She told Robert she was running an internet-based import and export business from her tiny flat in New Malden, Surrey."
(f) "Yong [Zhi] met her husband David within two months of arriving in the UK to study at the University of Liverpool. She is celebrating 16 years of marriage."