Marriage Market

For one of my classes, I wrote a paper on China's one child policy and I learned that due to China's traditional preferences for a boy and the resulting abortions or infanticide which happen thereof; there is a resulting 32 million surplus of men.* That has made the situation complicated for young males trying to find a bride...especially since women can raise the stakes...and they have. In order for a young man to get a bride in the city, he'll need to have an apartment and a good job. Apartments are quite expensive, so it becomes a serious investment from the side of the parents. Their remedy: take matters into their own hands and play match maker for their children on weekends in People's Square. While doing the research for my paper, I read about such charade but it wasn't until yesterday that I actually got to see it first hand. They are thousands of flyers advertising age, height, weight, salary, and some even have the occasional picture. Then, imagine hundreds of parents aged, 40-60, discussing and negotiating deals. Yup, that's the Shanghai marriage market! Unfortunately, I was unable to find a Chinese husband, so guess that means I'm back to Germany (Germans beware). ;)

* Dvorsky, George. "The Unintended Consequences Of China's One-child Policy." Io9.com. N.p., 03 Oct. 2012. Web. 22 Dec. 2012.