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Gallery|Arts and Culture

Finding a spouse in a Chinese marriage market

Thousands of singles search for partners each Sunday at a park-based marriage market in bustling Shanghai.

Visitors to the marriage market at People(***)s Square view the thousands of marriage classified ads on display. The registration fee for a marriage broker is $16, while a five-month advert costs $3.20.
By Dave Tacon
Published On 6 Apr 20136 Apr 2013
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Shanghai, China – “Single male: born in 1969 under the Chinese zodiac of the monkey, height 170cm, a non-smoking, non-drinking, only child seeks a wife 35 to 40 years of age, around 160cm tall, healthy, never married, with a stable job.”

So reads a hand-written advertisement held by the man’s mother at Shanghai’s marriage market at People’s Square in Shanghai. Competition for a spouse is fierce, but this prospective groom comes with a sweetener: a two bedroom apartment, paid out in full.

Thousands of singles search for partners each Sunday at the site of Shanghai’s former race course. While parents hold placards or browse the long rows of classifieds that line the paths of this leafy park, the singles themselves are curiously absent.

“Children find it embarrassing to be advertised here, it’s a loss of face” says Jiang Jin, 38, an office worker who says she has come to the market out of curiosity. “It’s the parents who arranged this market. They’re the ones who come here.”

A five-month advertisement costs about $3.20. Unlimited phone numbers can be obtained from marriage brokers for a registration fee of $16.

High standards

Although marriage is serious business, the market is also a social outlet for concerned parents, the vast majority of whom raised their children under China’s one-child policy. Long conversations are often struck up with complete strangers with the familiar question: “So, do you have a son or a daughter?”

Mrs Hu, who declined to give her second name, claims to be on her third visit to the market to find a wife for her 34-year-old son, a university graduate and bank employee. With women representing 80 percent of singles advertised at the market, Hu is at an advantage, but she has exacting standards.

Her ideal daughter-in-law is between 164-168cm, three years younger than her 182 cm son, with a similar education and income level.

Additionally, a prospective spouse must be a compatible sign of the Chinese zodiac for her son, who was born in the inauspicious year of the goat. “As soon as I hear a daughter’s age, I instantly calculate their horoscope to see whether they are a horse, pig or rabbit,” Hu says.

Yet the mother shows no outward signs of doubt that she will find a match for her son, although she has neglected to bring a photo of him. “Everyone says he’s handsome,” she insists. “He’s outstanding.”

Young women browse rows of marriage ads strung up at the wedding market at People(***)s Square. The market has been in operation since 2004 on the site of a former race course.
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Hundreds of people pack the park each Sunday looking to find a spouse.
Mr Tsai exchanges numbers to put one of his nieces in touch with the son of Mrs Hu. After a quick conversation, it was decided that Tsai(***)s niece, a 28-year-old Singapore-based aircraft mechanical engineer with Singaporean citizenship, may be a good match for Hu(***)s 34-year-old son, a bank employee.
Marriage seekers, or perhaps just the curious, chat as they shelter from the rain beneath a small pavilion at People(***)s Square.
Advertisements for children as marriage prospects at the market. Parents gather at this park in downtown Shanghai each week in the hope of matching their offspring with desirable partners.
Curious onlookers examine advertisements for prospective spouses at People(***)s Square.
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A crowd of parents mingle with marriage brokers at the market; the gathering is a social outlet for many regular visitors.
A couple browses rows of classifieds for marriage-seekers. About 80 percent of singles advertised are women.
A Chinese man scours the ads, numbering in the hundreds, in Shanghai for a prospective partner.
Competitionfor a spouse is fierce as thousands of singles vie for attention each Sunday.


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