Many of my younger Chinese friends and acquaintances often talk about how they "have to" do whatever their parents tell them to do. For a few of them it has meant even breaking up with someone they really like or staying in a hick city they really didn't want to stay in. This might seem like an incredibly stupid question but can I assume when they say "have to" they are referring only to societal and "cultural" pressure or is there actually something in Chinese law that compels people to obey their parents? For example, when a Chinese reaches "adult" age (which I guess is 18, right?) are they free to pack their things and leave like in most Western countries? Or is there a LEGAL reason they have to follow the whims of their parents? One of my friends, a 21 year old full-fledged adult person, absolutely hates her home city and wants to leave but her parents constantly deny her "permission" to do so. I tell her , "Hell, you don't need their permission, just go" to which she responds "You don't understand." I have long presumed she means, "As a Chinese I simply must follow convention and do what I'm told like a good girl." Is this correct? Or is there a LAW telling Chinese they must do what their parents say? Sorry if this is a dorky question but everything here is so "different" it wouldn't surprise me at all if such a law actually existed.