Yang Jing works in a government department in east China's Jiangsu Province and, lately, she has not been willing to speak even a word to her family after work.
"I have been busy over the last two months, and I feel so exhausted that I only want to surf the net, not talk to my husband," Yang said about her after-work habits.
Yang is not the only person keeping silent after work. The habit is spreading from those with occupations that require large degrees of concentration, such as programming, engineering, design and medical professions, to others in a wider range of jobs.
According to a survey carried out by myhenan.qq.com, a major online community in central China's Henan Province, more than 90 percent of 2,751respondents tend to keep silent after work.
According to a survey by China Youth Daily, 83.1 percent of the 2,750respondents said that they keep silent after work to different degrees, with 34.7 percent reporting feeling melancholy.
The report also shows that 50.1 percent of those surveyed were born after the 1980s, and those born after the 1970s take 30.9 percent.
"I have the symptom of keeping silent after work, what can I do?" "Xiaomofangdeshijie" wrote on Sina Weibo, China's most popular Twitter-like service.
Netizen "maryxu990" wrote, "I would rather not dine at home because I do not want to talk to my family."
Meanwhile, there is growing concern and worry that some people's habit of keeping silent may lead families to break up.
According to local civil affairs departments in Henan, a couple divorced in the last week, citing "dead silence" in the family, and such examples are not few.
