Mommy and daddy dearest

Zheng Yuanjie, also known as the "King of Fairy Tales", has more than 3.4 million fans on the micro-blogging service Sina Weibo, where he often expresses his views on social and personal issues, including filial piety to his parents.

He has posted pictures of himself washing his mother's feet, and cooking for his parents, who are both over 80 years old.

His highly publicized filial love has won him support and compliments, while others express their shame that they do not treat their parents like Zheng.

However, when the Office of the National Committee for Senior Citizen Affairs recently published 24 Filial Exemplars, guidelines targeted at a new generation, it stirred up a mix of emotions.

According to the guidelines, children should visit their parents often, call them at least once a week, teach them to use the Internet, buy insurance for them and watch films with them.

Some of the guidelines are seen as novel in relatively conservative Chinese culture, like telling your parents how much you love them and supporting single parents to remarry.

"The intention is good, but there is no absolute standard of filial piety. The whole of society and government should do more, practically, to benefit the elderly and cope with an aging society, rather than just release some guidelines," says the writer Xiao Fuxing in Beijing News.

Zhu Yuan, a senior writer at China Daily, is more positive: "People should bear in mind that the new code of conduct is not a law that people have to abide by. The code of conduct is simply meant to remind children that their parents need their care and attention."

Naturally, there are also divergent opinions on the Internet.

"I don't even have time to cook for myself. How can I cook for my parents?" says one post on Sina Weibo.

"The government shouldn't divert the public's attention. The elderly need a better welfare system, not only children's filial piety," another comment adds.

Filial piety has traditionally been a core moral standard in Chinese thinking. "Among the hundred virtues, filial piety comes first" is one oft-repeated saying.

But the situation has changed since the ancient 24 filial stories came to prominence, as children are more mobile and the situation is more complex than simply showing filial piety by kneeling down or performing sacrifices.

It has been 10 years since Li Feng, 32, left his hometown in Shanxi province. Like millions of migrants to the big cities, he worked in Shanghai, Guangzhou and finally settled down in Beijing three years ago.

His parents, both in their 60s, retired several years ago and often pressure their son to find a girlfriend and get married.

"For me, the guidelines are a good reminder. Though my parents ask me for nothing, I suddenly realized I owe them," Li says.