Shanghai Marriage Meet

On Saturday, on my way to the Shanghai Museum, I stumbled on the Shanghai Marriage Meet.  I had read about the meet in my guidebook, but I wasn't planning on attending.  However, as I was walking through the park, I realized that I had walked right into the middle of it.

The market consists of both DIY parents and those that hire agencies for their children.  The idea is that young people are too busy or don't care enough to find their mate.

Reading some of the "marriage resumes" really opened my eyes to how marriage can differ across cultures.  Most listed the birth year, height, and apartment ownership.  Others had eye color, salary, and car driven.  Very few of the resumes included photos.

Agency tents

Strolling

The DIY approach includes using an umbrella to showcase the resume



It turns out that several of my Chinese coworkers are unmarried and looking.  One guy I spoke to, felt that Chinese women are asking too much.  I imagine that it doesn't help that boys are much more prized than girls as offspring.  I believe that this has led to a big disparity between the number of men and women.

I am not sure if my opinion is that valid, but I can understand the frustration.  In Chinese society being married and having children is of utmost importance.  At the same time, many people choose spouses objectively based on criteria, height, weight, salary, car brand, apartment size and location, etc.   When compared on this basis, there is always someone that earns more money, has a larger apartment, or a newer car.

Now don't get me wrong, I know there are people in the US that marry for money or status, but I think they tend to be the exception, not the rule.  I could be wrong.  All the people I know have always been with their significant other based on personality or some other emotional trait.

From what I have read, the market has a pretty low success rate.  In most cases, the men and women represented in the market, are not too pleased about it.  However, I can understand how in a society that holds marriage so highly, parents would do everything possible in order to help their children get married.