The marriage dilemma in China

it said everyone has a story China has almost 1.4 billion of them from the mega cities to the vast countryside from the ancient modern it's our job to bring these stories to you direct from one of the most rapidly changing nations on the planet I'm Laura Schmidt and we're rediscovering China today we're exploring marriage pressure of annual champagne and it's in that hold on infielders what a cool it's causes its consequences and how China's Singleton's are fighting back go on a shopping trip on a Saturday afternoon in downtown Beijing and you might find something unexpected on offer [Music] the young men and women are making their way to a restricted area in the heart of the building the details of the latest arrivals flash across a big screen and the DJ is warming up the turntables then there's salsa welcome to speed dating Chinese style [Music] if you ever needed proof that what China does it does big just take a look at this speed-dating activity over 200 single turns are estimated to show up today and take a shot at finding true love and finding it fast but this really hasn't been what I expected of a speed-dating session there's been a lot of dancing a lot of loud music and a lot of bright lights not really the perfect environment to chat and meet new people but that doesn't seem to have deterred our eager participants they are part of the latest wave of single day there are currently over 200 million single people of marriage bull age in China that's virtually equivalent to the populations of the UK Germany and France put together this has created a marriage economy a feature of which is huge speed-dating activities like this in Beijing alone the organizer a dating website holds hundreds of these events every year by Renaissance yellow [Music] children's or sure three or four are slowly making sure no one will compete right so at your mail to you a tearful fat water boil children children receiver for Oksana turn red potatoes hundred owner and taro from Etobicoke nation so you're fluent children following up the alcohol in a society where a third of young women admit they prefer watching TV drama series to socializing and to the young men confessed they'd rather stay at home surfing the internet the chances of meeting mr. or miss right are obviously limited and even when they make the effort full-on physical contact with a total stranger can feel a bit awkward what these speed dating events set out to do is make people come out of their shell and see if there's a spark I don't show the intention knew usually an image market anyway I mention well until I see how I doubt it eventually so dummy chamber clear to the judge you know about my mates those who walk Helen Lewis Cunha so job done banana in China traditionally the cutoff line for what is considered Marable age is 25 for men and 23 for women but times are changing and so-called late marriages are becoming the norm at the same time the pressure to seal the deal is growing young Chinese are becoming increasingly anxious about being left over without the four dimensions young guy work I'm not here to tell you honey on the show sipping her daughter Xuan yelling I should suppose we are about your sweetie to the insula thirty cents every Yana since I'm a colleague or Archer our son sweet a new husband says she Shalini has a higher quality you're talking number no you're nailing really ideally Wow John Cancun is a professional matchmaker with the largest dating website in China she serves its VIP clients while professional matchmaking is hardly a new concept in China through the internet it has experienced a revival as services are moving online the dating website Miss John works for claims to have around 200 million users for you to cancel it you know who enter your cell 0 hey har too much attention on Damon Hey Yamaha document open Khun na ho chi minh city - incoherent organelle crema neo-keynesian sentences in each city additional Yoshi tomato juice your life was here she attention Ajanta a half your walk willing to be mark this kind of one-on-one dating advice is not cheap the fees start at around fifteen hundred US dollars and can run up to over 7,000 her clients do not want to reveal their identity as being single is still considered a sensitive topic in China and so it's only through talking to miss Jiang that we can get an insight into that dating wants and needs new has a sebum Nilan your turns in the hall too harsh in yes I know you - I told y'all an iron and the wall on totally I'm a what controversial civilians in town now hold central trio should sync up see cheap tin hey out the other day when I sleep in Paola Jimmy sushi and chronic what I was wrong [Laughter] then chance would take them back ah your new has a willpower item that your phone that you can shoot yeah yeah Kaluga Pru Apollo I talk what kind of Dhoni is your sure but um yeah copy hide your shitty little ha ha so yeah I think oh my okay yeah ha ha hey guys sorry I don't know yeah just a little sample goes over you and our identity identity Allah then Allah the whole which I've got you ha ha you had to come we put it coming to other people short geological in Johor high supercar you know what side you move quite a quite a courtier shop man I really Bank on the way made on your multicolored toys the others were on the heart may be without her shut up make way she was in the sensual so special will see the show please tell y'all that don't you really this rush to get married especially for China's women is not a new phenomenon in fact it has a long history that over and over sure Luciano say Abajo it that numb not it only thing could be linearly knee-high me with you wanna have a yo-yo your high vegetation fishery and such a fool with your the means a shank or / - they were not hire you to hide it with you know a social fool or young geisha shows in your man's will come the senior vocal yeah well your challenge you've done in your life well number new boutique halogen well definition village you should run with a fool truth out what that's what it is you your energy on that you want in the face of this immense pressure to bring home a partner particularly over Chinese New Year young Chinese have become incredibly creative in how to appease their parents one option is to rent a fake boy or girl friend online so let's take a look how that works [Music] this websites name translates as rent a friend calm their banner says they're members of the services including traveling and meeting parents there's even the possibility of a fake marriage users have profiles similar to social media sites and can upload photos so potential partners can get a good look upon registering I get asked a few rather personal questions including my height weight and body shape and not inclined to be entirely truthful signing up is simple enough now all I need to do is pick a person to pose as my boyfriend and get in touch but what do their services actually include so on one of the biggest forums in the Chinese web we've discovered this post by a male persons who offers their services as a fake boyfriend for Chinese New Year so as you can see it's a really detailed post and services range from going shopping with you for around three US dollars per hour to watching a movie at just over one US dollar per hour he'll also go and see your parents a little bit more expensive at just over seven US dollars per hour and then there is the possibility of getting physical so you can have a regular kiss for just under one US dollar fairly inexpensive or French kissing for just over one US dollar and then from what we can tell there are also more intimate services on offer so whether this is a fake boyfriend or something else is entirely up to you while we can't verify how serious that post was this one seemingly is we decide to get in touch with the young man advertising himself he replies within minutes [Music] as I pretend to be a Chinese girl facing marriage pressure it occurs to me that you never really know who is on the other side of that screen is this really a good solution I wouldn't say is is probably is a changing society so for the old generation they have very formulaic type of life what is good and what is bad but not the case for the new generation so therefore there's been a extreme as a quite a lot of conflicts in 2013 professor Wang published a book on the economics of love and marriage he is skeptical of the renter boyfriend business I'm not entirely sure I really like that but if you think that the old generation cannot change and there's no way to communicate well why not right I mean it makes life a lot easier for everyone and makes people are not happier for everyone so but however I think that if I would like to say is maybe it is a good thing to to try to get to your parents to understand the problem rather than pretending the problem does not exist renting a fake partner is a relatively new concept a majority of young Chinese still choose to deal with their parents nagging head-on fairway is one of them she is from George Jung province and works in Shanghai she has a good degree and a good job in her free time she teaches floristry in Toronto just reported a shortage of the incident under your mu shall keep on the joey guila but none of her achievements seemed to matter the day she turned 25 waa waa waa waa waa virgin country team has awoken rrrrah doc we got our girl I wish Mohammed remember Jason King wanna say on convey as a general can the other water sure they are allowed to talk without the quad here new Jordan Jordan Jordan area Yamato 18 June Jana do you want mommy constitutional thank you how is staying in your body starts out who am i looking yummy what a nice thing here you go y'all got girls handle tool for the wall it has a my bunny actual sure seem that kind I didn't go high yet but they're hot - boy am I thinking because Shanti [Music] say ways hometown is just 40 minutes from Shanghai by high-speed train however the visits home are no longer a pleasure was in that back with our angel Shiva comes I'm Jana Jana it's a white shirt running shoe Kamala or don't run from Autotrader Allah you boys Jana want you can enjoy bein a champion I'm sure you'll put your worrying for Obama and the highway in and I want my poor now hey whoa change him fairways mother is a small town primary school teacher her colleagues and friends frequently ask about her daughter and whether she's still single so she's merely passing on to her daughter the pressure she faces herself Feifei is still very young why are you so worried about her getting married as soon as possible honey a little mental achievements 91/2 essential tie you couldn't have it's audition mrs. Haughton wake-on-lan another ninja tada can your chilli Thomas Anita Tala it turns the pedal to eat here and kettle hi to your auntie and team associate harder can have soda and good Pandavas Adama - sushi - Tony diem equation s the season high 30 your touch it is [Music] this is Daniel yen and his girlfriend waiting Daniel returned to China after completing his studies in the UK and now manages a book cafe in Nanjing he's 26 he and his girlfriend have been dating paths and now they've decided it's time to tie the knot a lot of people say I think yeah Western I think I think - I mean one man can't wait the girls on the other side is is nah-nah-nah-nah - my stress mostly comes from my micro fans well for China's women it's the prospect of ageing and an idea that this makes them less valuable that creates marriage pressure for China's men it's mostly a financial headache I thought you know what do we learn to do good how are you here me Vega pod union at Google censor my girlfriend and her family are quite traditional you know like traditional Chinese family the the the wish the wedding could be like huge or you know just like face stuff right I don't just they just don't want to lose face so the kind of wishing the the wedding should be like yeah like amazing for Daniel at the moment marriage pressure translates into financial pressure even though the couple have tried to minimize the cost they are still looking at a cost of over 20 thousand US dollars for their wedding in Chinese culture it is the norm for the groom's family to pay for the wedding but Daniel earns less than a thousand US dollars per month and his father he won't pitch in but Daniels future in-laws still think it's his responsibility as groom to pay seriously oh yeah as your children Soichiro Yagami is Nebojsa mentioning the temperature of food reform initiating Ted Ted $10 and a hardship in a slow vehicle owner of the mood in the theater when is Allah the general benefit easy American leaders [Music] no where is the pressure on young people to marry more visible than at the marriage market in Shanghai's People's Park here we see the extreme lengths parents are willing to go to in order to escape the embarrassment of an unmarried child we're here at People's Square where once again hundreds of people have come to the market but it's not just any kind of market there are no properties or items on offer here but rather actual people sons and daughters who are single and whose parents are desperately trying to match them up with the highest bidder the tension in the earth is tangible [Music] [Music] [Music] height age income education household registration a life's achievements summed up on a sheet of a4 paper pinned to an umbrella except the people on offer may not even know they're being advertised like this and by their parents to who hide from the cameras for fear of being exposed you look at the reunion in Shanghai the successor rate is remarkably low and because I think that China has changed way too much so it is very difficult for them to understand what what their children actually like so I think that's a successful rate is going to be very very well what is the effect of this marriage pressure on the economy in your opinion well I think the more the pressure actually coming from too many single men rather than single men specially you can see that housing prices being one of the chief result of such kind of pressure for men to be able to find a good wife one of my colleagues have done research in this and the find out that this actually has been rather significant effect in pushing up housing prices some people offer a slightly different take on who is affected more by marriage pressure men or women one of them is George hen she wrote a book advising young women in China not to marry before reaching 30 in this she was encouraging them to fly in the face of the stigma of being a leftover woman a term coined by the Chinese media almost a decade ago printed demographic standpoint the leftover women label is completely inaccurate there are many more leftover men in society than there are leftover women yet this stigma persists it starts to make women desperate I mean I've had women who tell me there 20 and they're left over right so women start to get very desperate as they near age 30 and say if I don't marriage marry the next guy who comes alive I don't grab him and trap him then it may be too late but that argues miss Chen is a potentially disastrous in her book she encourages young women to first focus on becoming the person they want to be to build a career and most importantly to wait for the right guy to come along a marriage sealed in haste she warns won't end well I've seen studies that say that in Beijing and Shanghai for people under age 30 who get married the divorce rate is 60 percent so I think it also comes back to a fundamental question about security you know I think that that question really goes to the heart of this question of marriage and a basic assumption that marriage will bring you entering again in fact for the majority of young women in some of these big cities marriage will lead to the exact opposite which is divorce an upsurge in divorces resulted from the so-called first wave of singledom in China's cities in the 1950s the country's first marriage law finally enabled women to file for divorce the 1970s saw a second wave after educated young men and women sent to the countryside from the city under a government policy were allowed to return home in many cases they left behind a spouse in the provinces then in the 90s China's opening up and reform led to a third wave as people questioned traditional family values this latest wave was kicked off by rapid economic development and the increased independence of Chinese women don't do it well and for or do actually but now facially today order things it will cook corn that hired toilets when elephants if they talk about God how many like a really good deal offer single powerful I mean she said what kind of was another Johnny the sound powerful drunk-ass okay that's just homework for about need you tell them how much you're so much fun but now why should you know what happens in your condo do I need you the male anime or not there sure tell numpy oh yes much home but now maybe also you're a parent you wanna Rubio you can you see why did you do the other good need you to reach out in kappa guys you know we only come out I take a second guys increasing show how the illusion of personify off the back Chickasaw Hashima take a yamaha yama tumba de ba so you will be generation well ninety push our who do her the poor who are lumineer columns transition area the concision don't adapt in Germany Hungary waited on here the consistency with Jenna's a quite sure the marriage hung but whatever twenty junior you build a solid what do you think is better for the economy staying single being married well then it depends on what you mean by the economy right economics is about maximizing what we call happiness or utility of and beings and and as a liberal economists my belief is that do whatever that pleases you most probably maximizes the happiness of the society more in 2001 The Economist magazine highlighted the importance of single women to an economy as more of China's women are choosing to stay single and becoming increasingly independent they consume more spend more and thereby contribute more to the economy if they're a lot more single women we probably should have more services catering for these single women because single women actually are some of the highest spenders in the society they are willing to travel they are very willing to explore different things they they're more likely to die out and they are more likely to try what we call experienced tourism meaning meaning tours that provide you with experiences rather than just go here take a photo and then come back but for the increasing numbers of young Chinese who stay single by choice there is still a major problem to face how do they deal with their parents and one group of people is trying to get parents to rethink their stance there the anti marriage pressure union they first caught the public eye with an advert posted in the Beijing underground during the Chinese New Year of 2016 the ad quickly gained a huge following its creator is 31 year old Chen Yin Xiu Qing Yun Yun Jie - oh ho no time oh it's actually - ah - the Trinity or Lila now hold you have which Allah take her to show me to break when I talk about Hodja characters walking good since you lost rely on your pure good tailors or quarantine which chakra bangkokrandy NUMC sha na yamaraja cocoon Elysium you sure woman like true Thien ly truth or you gonna go insurance inshallah phanpy hoonigan goner the advert addressed the parents directly telling them not to worry singles can lead a happy life - it cost over fifty four hundred US dollars the funds were raised by the drink themselves as well as through an online crowdfunding campaign season 1 and ma hanshan's rajagopal call me a true doc usually opens hello Yoshi unusual known to other - Nam at the a pensioner woman yeah woman playing guy - should see true eco car sound for more rockin on nigga 2008 dad hi good people not new it had taken hold okay sure I mean to the largest religion that don't remain you look want gods and we handsome handsome yonder haven't you create you take a fact your whole life Tony ocean from the sample to see you got your you the water [Music] the ad is a small attempt to narrow the generational gap that has been the main source of marriage pressure we've witnessed how hard some young people are trying to escape it the fact is Chinese youngsters are marrying later now the main issue is getting their parents to embrace their choice potassium are in the ion tension potential I can pay even more attention to the short addition so they go check me warp in butchers and I show the NGO community tension word on the Coney Island or citizenship or what are the solutions or tangential short on single knot re-entry appreciating to the charity premiere image or the attention whore digitalization the Padang Huckabee Joe Giudice to fake a proton Neutron sorry economy [Music] there are hundred people to come with your millions and I saw the total number [Music]

Channel: CGTN

Views: 300,592

Rating: 4.7071362 out of 5

Keywords: CCTV, CGTN, CCTVNews, News, ChinaNews, China, Marriage, RediscoveringChina, Marriagedilemma, Women, Marriagepressure, Singledom

Id: KWJ3gm3tiDA

Length: 29min 33sec (1773 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 22 2018