--- title: Bigger Parking Spaces in China For Women Spark Accusations of Sexism description: Gender equality is the official line in China, but sexism persists canonical: https://time.com/3007811/china-women-parking-sexism/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-19T20:20:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:41.637Z og:title: Plus-Size Parking Spaces for Women in China Spark Accusations of Sexism og:description: Gender equality is the official line in China, but sexism persists og:url: https://time.com/3007811/china-women-parking-sexism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f9346a043d4e573/69869c6ce8524b592a603f69/452363666.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: CHINA-SOCIAL-GENDER-TRANSPORT-OFFBEAT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Plus-Size Parking Spaces for Women in China Spark Accusations of Sexism twitter:description: Gender equality is the official line in China, but sexism persists twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f9346a043d4e573/69869c6ce8524b592a603f69/452363666.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Plus-Size Parking Spaces in China Spark Accusations of Sexism by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 19, 2014 8:20 PM UTC  Mall manager Yang Hongjun in front of cars parked in pink spaces in front of the Dashijiedaduhui, or World Metropolis centre, in the seaport city of Dalian, July 7, 2014\. The parking spaces are distinctive: marked out in pink, around 30 centimetres wider than normal, and signposted "Respectfully reserved for women". Mall manager Yang Hongjun in front of cars parked in pink spaces in front of the Dashijiedaduhui, or World Metropolis centre, in the seaport city of Dalian, July 7, 2014\. The parking spaces are distinctive: marked out in pink, around 30 centimetres wider than normal, and signposted "Respectfully reserved for women".Johannes Eisele—AFP/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 19, 2014 8:20 PM UTC Extra-wide parking spaces outside a mall in China designed for women have sparked a debate on social media in the country over [allegations of sexism](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10977763/Wider-car-parking-spaces-for-women-drivers-in-China-spark-accusations-of-sexism.html). The mall, located in the northern Chinese port city of Dalian, has 10 spaces with an extra 30 centimeters marked in pink outside the main entrance that were provided after women had trouble parking in the standard basement slots, managers said. “We just wanted to make things easier for women, who make up most of our customers,” said manager Yang Hongjun, a woman herself. China’s official line is that of gender equality—Mao Tse-tung said that “women hold up half the sky”—but in reality, sexism persists in the country. Beijing police said in a microblog last year that women drivers “lack a sense of direction” and often “hesitate and are indecisive about which road they should take,” Agence France-Presse reports. Driving for both men and women is a perilous endeavor in China, where in 2012, 60,000 people died on the roads. \[[AFP](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10977763/Wider-car-parking-spaces-for-women-drivers-in-China-spark-accusations-of-sexism.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3007811/china-women-parking-sexism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3007811/china-women-parking-sexism/"},"headline":"Plus-Size Parking Spaces in China Spark Accusations of Sexism","datePublished":"2014-07-19T20:20:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:41.637Z","description":"Mall managers said women had trouble with navigating standard width spots","url":"https://time.com/3007811/china-women-parking-sexism/","keywords":["Living","feminism","China","World","driving"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f9346a043d4e573/69869c6ce8524b592a603f69/452363666.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f9346a043d4e573/69869c6ce8524b592a603f69/452363666.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CHINA-SOCIAL-GENDER-TRANSPORT-OFFBEAT","caption":"CHINA-SOCIAL-GENDER-TRANSPORT-OFFBEAT","creditText":"Johannes Eisele—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3007811/china-women-parking-sexism/","name":"Plus-Size Parking Spaces in China Spark Accusations of Sexism"}}]}] ```