Calling for number 128?
Speed dating, Shanghai-style
Over the last 20 years, the number of people getting married in China has fallen by almost 50%. Now, Shanghai parents are taking matters into their own hands: hundreds of parents who believe their children are too old to be single have formed matchmaking parent’s groups. At meetings, parents of male and female children line up on opposite sides of the room. They then watch a slideshow displaying information about children of the opposite sex, including age, height, education and income, family background and housing status (men are often expected to own their own apartment to qualify as suitable candidates). When the lights go up, parents search for each other with the aid of loudspeakers. The meetings, which began in July, are already oversubscribed until January 2006.
Pressure to marry can run high—the older generation believes that women in China should be married before they turn 28. Many of the parents at September’s meeting, who had female children aged between 23 and 30 years old, pinned their hopes on the parents of number 128: their son is 177 centimetres tall, studying for a master’s degree and earns 13,000 yuan per month (about $1,600), almost double the average annual wage in China.
Over the last 20 years, the number of people getting married in China has fallen by almost 50%. Now, Shanghai parents are taking matters into their own hands: hundreds of parents who believe their children are too old to be single have formed matchmaking parent’s groups. At meetings, parents of male and female children line up on opposite sides of the room. They then watch a slideshow displaying information about children of the opposite sex, including age, height, education and income, family background and housing status (men are often expected to own their own apartment to qualify as suitable candidates). When the lights go up, parents search for each other with the aid of loudspeakers. The meetings, which began in July, are already oversubscribed until January 2006.
Pressure to marry can run high—the older generation believes that women in China should be married before they turn 28. Many of the parents at September’s meeting, who had female children aged between 23 and 30 years old, pinned their hopes on the parents of number 128: their son is 177 centimetres tall, studying for a master’s degree and earns 13,000 yuan per month (about $1,600), almost double the average annual wage in China.
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