BBC連國內戀人們的“分手費”都開始關注了

Earlier this month, police in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou responded to a call after bar staff reported finding a suspicious suitcase.

本月初，杭州市警方接到報警，有一家酒吧的工作人員稱發現可疑行李箱。

It contained two million yuan in cash - an extraordinary amount of money, maybe even life-changing.

行李箱中有200萬元鉅額現金，或許可以改變人的一生。

They managed to track down the owner, who according to the local police, had arranged to meet with his ex-girlfriend in the bar.

警方設法找到了行李箱的主人。據當地警方稱，這筆鉅款的主人此前曾在酒吧與前女友見面。

The money? It was a "break-up fee".

而這筆錢是他支付的“分手費”。

真愛的代價？

Everyone knows that dating can be expensive; forking out a bit of cash to buy drinks or meals in the early stages of a relationship, or buying gifts and holidays later on.

人們都知道約會可能很費錢，早期約會時要花錢買飲料付餐費，之後還要買禮物和支付度假消費。

No longer content to just have the awkward meeting to hand each others' stuff back, break-up fees have emerged in recent years in China as a sort of compensation at the end of a long-term relationship.

分手時見面取回個人物品已經很尷尬，而現在中國的戀人們已不再滿足於此。近年來中國開始出現“分手費”，作爲結束長期戀情的補償。

While not legally binding, it's a bit like one party giving their former partner a divorce settlement.

分手費並不是法律規定的，不過卻有點像離婚時給前任支付協議金。

It's the person that ends the relationship that pays the fee. They decide, based on the amount of time, effort and money they have invested in the relationship, how much money they should give to their former partner.

決定分手的一方支付這筆費用。雙方基於交往時間、付出的精力和金錢來決定要付費前任多少分手費。

Break-up fees are more commonly paid by men - out of guilt or in order to offset their partner's upset. However, increasingly some women see it as acceptable to pay a fee, given that it is traditionally the man who will pay for meals and gifts in a Chinese relationship.

分手費一般由男方支付，通常出於愧疚或者爲了彌補對方的情感。然而，越來越多的女性也開始支付分手費，這是由於在中國談戀愛，支付餐費和買禮物通常都是男方掏腰包。

Reports suggest that the fee can specifically helps older women who feel they have lost opportunities that they might have had in their youth to either prioritise their career or meet "the one".

有報道稱，一些大齡女性分手時感到自己年輕時本可以優先考慮事業，或者遇到“合適的人”，但卻錯失了機會。分手費尤其可以幫助她們撫平傷痛。

男性的玩物？

In the case of the money left in the Hangzhou bar, the Global Times reported that the woman had thought it was "a few million short".

在杭州酒吧遺留鉅款的這起事件中，《環球時報》報道說女方之前覺得“錢還差幾百萬”。

"I didn't take it, and left. I told him to get it himself. That was it," it reports her as saying.

報道稱女方說：“我沒拿就走了。我告訴他自己去取。就是這樣。”

She didn't realise, however, that her former boyfriend had already left the bar. Both subsequently turned up at the police station hoping that they might be able to recover the money.

但她沒想到，前男友已經離開了酒吧。事後兩人都出現在派出所，希望拿回這筆錢。

It was returned to the man, who was told by police not to be so careless with it in the future. However, he said that he was still puzzled over whether the amount of money he had given to his ex-girlfriend was sufficient.

警察把錢還給了男方，還告訴他以後對錢別這麼不小心。不過，他說他還是不知道這筆分手費夠不夠。

However, the man, who was in his twenties replied: "Is two million yuan a big sum?"

這位20多歲的年輕人說：“200萬很多嗎？”

Users of the popular Sina Weibo microblog were incredulous, with one commenting: "Two million can buy you a decent house in Hangzhou."

新浪微博的用戶們感到難以置信。有人評論說：“200萬足夠在杭州買套不錯的房子了。”

"Why do you need money in order to leave?" one user asked, and another questioned the woman's will to be independent. "How must this woman regard herself? As a product or a plaything of men?"

有人問道：“拿錢才肯離開？”還有人質疑這位女性不想自立：“她把自己當什麼了？一件商品還是男性的玩物？

Users noted the pressure that such fees put on Chinese men. "Why is it that men must always give women money and goods? Are men and women unequal?" one user asked.

微博用戶們提到了這種分手費給中國男性帶來的壓力。有人問道：“爲什麼男性必須總是給女性錢，給她們買東西？男女不是平等的嗎？”

It also called some to question the connection between money and love, and to ask whether such customs put added pressure on China's poor to find a partner.

還有人質疑金錢和愛情的關係，這種傳統會不會給囊中羞澀的男性找對象增加壓力。