Shanghai Marriage Market

Every Saturday and Sunday, between noon and five in the afternoon, regardless of the weather, the People's Park in Shanghai in China is crowded with parents of unmarried kids, who come to participate in the marriage market. On the walls of the avenues, hundreds of resumes and messages are hung by their parents, often without the knowledge of their children. On the resumes are written or printed the vital statistics of their offspring, the things that matter to the Chinese when seeking prospective brides or grooms for their children - height, age, income, education, Chinese zodiac sign, and whether they own a car or an apartment. The parents walk around chatting with other parents to see if there is a harmonious fit only after their children's standards are met. Shanghai marriage market is like online dating in a non-virtual setting, but some describe it as “a match.com meets farmers’ market”. Photo credit Although the right to choose your own spouse has long been established in China, Chinese parents still feel the need to try and set their children up, because they feel that their children are either too busy or are not actively looking. Traditionally, parents arranged their children's marriages. The first step is to establish contact between the parents on both sides, and if the parents agree to contact, then they will allow their children to go further. Many young people find the idea embarrassing, but for their parents, it is the last resort and the only way to uphold a traditional dating style for their children in modern China. Marriage patterns have changed over the years in China. The young generation in the twenties and thirties are generally in less of a hurry to get married, for there are more pressing matters such as careers. Well-educated women in China have more options than women in past generations and are not afraid to put their career first.