A MAJORITY of spouse-seekers at a matchmaking corner in Futian District’s Lianhua Hill Park are women between 30 and 35 years old, the Daily Sunshine reported.

    The park’s matchmaking corner has been a popular venue over the past few years for many local parents to seek a spouse for their children.

    Parents usually put up marriage-seeking advertisements that display their children’s personal information and criteria for choosing a spouse.

    Of the approximately 1,500 ads, nearly 80 percent are for single women, most of whom are listed as between 30 and 35 years old. Most of the male spouse-seekers were born in the late 1970s. Some ads for singles born after 1990 can also be found at the corner.

    “Every time I come here, there are at least several dozen parents looking for spouses for their children,” a mother said. “The number of parents surges to hundreds during weekends and some even bring their children with them.”

    A local resident surnamed Zhang has spent a year going to the corner to seek a spouse for his daughter. “My daughter is 30 years old. She graduated with a Ph.D. degree two years ago and is now working at a local hospital,” Zhang said.

    He added that his daughter doesn’t allow him to put up her information in public, so he has to come to the corner regularly to get updates on the small pool of male spouse-seekers.

    A woman who isn’t married, doesn’t have a boyfriend and is over 30 years old is often called a “leftover woman” in China. Li Jianxin, a social science professor at Peking University, said these women are usually outstanding individuals and would rather be single than marry a man who is less accomplished than them.

    But Li said most single men can’t find spouses due to various external conditions, among them their economic status.

    A matchmaking site recently did a survey on single women in China. The results showed that more single women in China are financially independent. Among the respondents in Shenzhen, 12.5 percent had an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan (US$16,280), according to the survey.

    More than 60 percent of the single women in Shenzhen said in another study that they would prefer to be single their whole lives if they don’t meet an ideal man.

    Ma Hong, president of Shenzhen Women’s Federation, said the growing number of singles can be attributed to different criteria for choosing spouses between men and women.

    “Most ‘leftover men’ want to seek younger girlfriends and most ‘leftover women’ want to find a man who is more outstanding than them,” Ma said. “A lack of education about marriage and how to find a compatible partner contributes to the problem.”

    (Zhang Yang)