THE proportion of single men in Shenzhen is the highest nationwide, while nearly 30 percent of single people in Shenzhen said that they have blind dates arranged for them during the Spring Festival holiday, according to a Beijing newspaper.

    A survey released by a dating website showed that the proportion of single women in Beijing is the highest nationwide, followed by Shenzhen, Shanghai and Guangzhou, while Shenzhen has the highest proportion of single men compared with other cities in China.

    Meanwhile, nearly 30 percent of singles in Shenzhen have had blind dates arranged for them by families and friends for the Spring Festival holiday, which is the highest nationwide, followed by Beijing, Guangzhou and Wuhan.

    A 29-year-old technology development engineer in Nanshan District, surnamed Chen, said that his family had set up blind dates for him when he returns to his hometown for the holiday, and he wouldn’t resist going on the blind dates. “I also want to get married and settle down as soon as possible, so I have a positive attitude to blind dates arranged by my family and friends,” he said.

    According to the survey, the most sought-after singles in Guangdong Province are 28-year-old women, while in Beijing 33-year-old single men with a monthly wage of at least 20,000 yuan (US$2,898) are most popular.

    Single men working as IT engineers are more likely to be single, while women working in sales and marketing are having the most trouble finding boyfriends because they are too busy working.

    Among the “marriage evaders,” as they were labeled by the survey, 40 percent felt it was difficult to find a date, while 20 percent said that they were not good at communicating with their loved ones even when they fell in love. Around 19 percent said that they would actively engage in social activities and blind dates, and only 7.85 percent said that they enjoyed being single.

    Dating experts said that singles should consider whether they really enjoy being single or they have just been “left single” passively due to the stress of finding their true love, according to the report.

    The survey also noted that 63 percent of singles had personal savings between 30,000 and 50,000 yuan, while 15 percent of singles had between 60,000 and 100,000 yuan in their personal savings.

    Generally, most single men have set requirements for their date’s appearance, while single women are more concerned about their date’s economic condition. Over 50 percent of singles said that being able to cook was a plus when they choose a date.

    According to the Civil Affairs Ministry, there were over 200 million singles in China as of last year. (Zhang Yang)