BEIJING - A new set of standards for "harmonious families" created by the Beijing Women's Federation and the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences have been criticized for being "irrelevant" to whether the actual lives of families are harmonious or not.

The standards were released on Thursday and feature a list of 27 activities or tasks that families should pursue in order to remain "harmonious," including recycling, taking public transportation and participating in community volunteerism.

However, some of the list's "modern" standards have aroused discussion by the public, drawing ire for their supposed irrelevancy. The standards specify that a "harmonious" family should own more than 300 books, travel frequently and go out for family dinners in order to "strengthen the sense of cohesion" and have Internet access.

A Beijing resident surnamed Zhou jokingly said that her family is not "harmonious" because it doesn't meet all of the standards. She said that she believes the emotional aspect of being a family is more important in terms of maintaining harmony.

"If a migrant worker's family works hard, the children study hard and the family members have good emotional exchanges, but they do not have much money or time to travel or go shopping, is the family not harmonious?" said Zhou.

The Beijing Women's Federation did not respond to the criticism by press time. According to the federation, 200 "harmonious families" will be selected among nearly 5.25 million families all over the city every two years.