Looking for love

Looking for love

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A bouquet-bearing bride watches a couple waiting to join a staged mass wedding in Shanghai - part of a big matchmaking event for singles in the city.

Despite a nationwide gender balance in their favour, it is often urban, educated and well-paid women who can find it particularly difficult to find partners in China, where the husband's social status is traditionally above that of the wife.

. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Women chat while recording an episode of a matchmaking television show, "One out of 100", in Shanghai.

There is social pressure on Chinese women to find a partner before their late 20s, after which they can become known as "shengnu" – directly translated as "leftover women."

Due to China's one-child policy and a cultural preference for males, single men searching for spouses are in plenty. However, these unmarried men often live in minor cities and earn lower wages than available high-achieving females.

'Leftover Women' In China Face Tough Choices In Looking For Love

Xu Jiajie has gone on countless blind dates and to numerous match-making events over the past five years in search of a husband.

At 31, the baby-faced office worker from Shanghai is under enormous pressure from family and friends to get married. But the right man is hard to find, she says, a big issue for urban, educated and well-paid Chinese women in a society where the husband's social status is traditionally above the wife's.

"My parents have introduced every bachelor they know," said Xu, who earns double the average wage inShanghai. "Half of the bachelors I met are quiet and never go out. Outgoing men don't need blind dates."

As couples celebrate the "Qixi" festival on Tuesday, the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day, Xu and millions of women like her face stark choices as long-held ideas about matrimonial hierarchy run up against economic and social changes sweeping the world's most populous country.

The term "shengnu" - directly translated as "leftover women" - was coined to refer to professional women who have not married by their late 20s.

"Chinese people often think males should be higher in a relationship in every sense, including height, age, education and salary," Ni Lin, who hosts a popular match-making television show in Shanghai, told Reuters.

"This leads to a phenomenon in which A-grade men marry B-grade women, B-grade men marry C-grade women and C-grade men marry D-grade women. Only A-grade women and D-grade men can't find partners."

In Beijing, more than a third of women in their late 20s and 30s are looking for husbands, according to the dating website Jiayuan.com. Media reports say there may be as many as 500,000 "leftover women" in the capital.

There are plenty of men to go round among China's nearly 1.4 billion people but social status can conspire against single professional woman once again.

China's population is more tilted towards men than in many countries due to the government's one-child policy and a cultural preference for boys. The latest census in 2011 showed there were twice as many single men born in the 1970s as women of the same age.

But unlike "leftover women", these "shengnan" or "leftover men" often live in lower-tier cities and do not make much money.

The Shanghai city government tries to help women like Xu by arranging regular match-making events. One in May attracted 20,000 single men and women.

Lucy Wang, a 32-year-old Chinese language teacher who attended the event, said all she could find were playboy types or momma's boys.

"I sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with me," she said. "Twenty thousand people and yet I can't find anyone I like."

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Slideshow

The profile of someone hoping to find a spouse hangs in the undergrowth as a couple chat at People's Square in downtown Shanghai.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

The profile of someone hoping to find a spouse hangs in the undergrowth as a couple chat at People's Square in downtown Shanghai.

A man in the square reads flyers giving the details of singles searching for husbands and wives.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A man in the square reads flyers giving the details of singles searching for husbands and wives.

Parents display the profile of their child, who is looking for a partner.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Parents display the profile of their child, who is looking for a partner.

A man looks at a collage of single peoples' photographs during a matchmaking event in Shanghai.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A man looks at a collage of single peoples' photographs during a matchmaking event in Shanghai.

Women sit and chat as they wait to meet men during the gathering.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Women sit and chat as they wait to meet men during the gathering.

A young man waits next to a photography stand at a wedding exhibition in downtown Shanghai.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A young man waits next to a photography stand at a wedding exhibition in downtown Shanghai.

A woman tries out a bed while talking to her partner at a furniture stand at the expo.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A woman tries out a bed while talking to her partner at a furniture stand at the expo.

A woman holds up a sign that catches a young man's eye during a matchmaking event in Jinshan beach, south of Shanghai.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A woman holds up a sign that catches a young man's eye during a matchmaking event in Jinshan beach, south of Shanghai.

A man introduces himself onstage during the matchmaking fest.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A man introduces himself onstage during the matchmaking fest.

Another man introduces himself to the crowd.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Another man introduces himself to the crowd.

Men record an episode of "Meet you on Saturday", a matchmaking television programme, at a local station in Shanghai.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Men record an episode of "Meet you on Saturday", a matchmaking television programme, at a local station in Shanghai.

Liu Tingting, 25, introduces herself during the show.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Liu Tingting, 25, introduces herself during the show.

Hang Cheng, 27, waits backstage during the recording.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Hang Cheng, 27, waits backstage during the recording.

A makeup artist applies cosmetics as women get ready for a staged mass wedding, held as part of a matchmaking event in Shanghai.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A makeup artist applies cosmetics as women get ready for a staged mass wedding, held as part of a matchmaking event in Shanghai.

Couples ride an escalator during the event.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Couples ride an escalator during the event.

Brides and grooms wait in the wings to participate.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Brides and grooms wait in the wings to participate.

A couple kills time on their phones while they wait.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A couple kills time on their phones while they wait.

A woman holds her marriage certificate during the staged mass event.
. SHANGHAI, China. Reuters/Carlos Barria

A woman holds her marriage certificate during the staged mass event.