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Young professional women in China's big cities, many of whom are fans of Sex and the City, highly prize independence, gender equality and personal expression.

Ladies the world round love Sex and the City-a popular icon of modern single life that is now as recognizable to audiences in Beijing as in New York City, where the original HBO series was filmed.

For many young urban Chinese women, the show has become a familiar guide to the often-fraught relations between the sexes, as well as a beacon of the latest international fashions.

As the movie version of Sex and the City hits the big screen recently, viewers and critics pause to ponder the meaning of its plotline, and weigh in on its relevance for women in modern China.

The success of the series on the mainland may mean that a new generation of women has emerged. Since Western cultural influences hit cities in China over two decades ago, popular attitudes on many topics have evolved in pronounced ways.

Many women in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are choosing to lead lifestyles different from those of Chinese women in the past. These young urbanites say they highly prize independence, gender equality and personal expression.

Feng Yonghua, 35, a young professional in Beijing, remembers when her mother advised her to get married at an early age, like her two older sisters. "If a woman does not get married, let's say before 30, people thought they were abnormal or even outcast. But now, people think, 'I'm proud of that! There is no need to worry about being single as long as I am happy with that.'"

In China, a new generation of young women has abandoned some aspects of traditional modesty upheld by their mothers and grandmothers. Although younger women may take numerous paths, their lifestyles often have one thing in common: freedom and the enjoyment of life.

"In the past, wearing revealing clothes meant that you are not a good girl," says Feng. "Now, more and more women equate dressing sexily with being pretty." Feng says she goes to the gym with her friends about three times a week to keep fit and trim.