Cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids during the day, Chen Hualiang takes on household tasks many Chinese fathers tend to leave to their wives, bucking a deep-rooted patriarchal tradition and even inspiring a hit TV show.

The former project manager gave up the rat race to join a growing number of "full-time dads," as they are known in China.

"When you work, you dream of a great career and that this money will help your family," he told reporters from a villa in the suburbs of Shanghai, his four-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son playing nearby.