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The Shanghai Marriage Market (Chinese: 人民公园相亲角; pinyin: Rénmín Gōngyuán Xiāngqīn Jiǎo; literally: "People's Park blind date corner") is a marriage market held at People's Park in Shanghai, China. Parents of unmarried adults flock to the park every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. to trade information on their children.
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Overview
The primary goal of attending the Shanghai marriage market is for parents to find a suitable partner for their child. The standards of finding the right match may be based upon (but not limited to) age, height, job, income, education, family values, Chinese zodiac sign, and personality. All of this information is written on a piece of paper, which is then hung upon long strings among other parents' advertisements for their children. The parents walk around chatting with other parents to see if there is a harmonious fit only after their children's standards are met.
Many parents do not have permission from their child to go to this event. It has been described as "match.com meets farmers' market" with a low success rate. In many parents' eyes, parent matchmaking gatherings such as the Shanghai Marriage Market are the only way to uphold a traditional dating style for their children in modern China. China's long idealized tradition of continuing their family lineage is very important within Chinese culture. As the children of the One Child Policy start to become of typical marriage age, the so-called marriage "market" of China has wavered in stability, particularly for males in China. The University of Kent predicts that by the year 2020, 24 million men will be unmarried and unable to find a wife.
The marriage market at People's Square has existed since 2004. As of April, 2013, it costs approximately $3.20 USD for an advertisement that is displayed for five months, and marriage brokers provide full access to phone numbers for a $16.00 registration fee.
Changes in marriage patterns
Recently, well-educated women in China with established careers are in less of a hurry to get married. They have more options than women in past generations and are not afraid to put their career first. This change in marriage ideology puts the women in a higher position of power within a traditionally male-dominated society. Now more women seek to find a responsible man with personal integrity instead of just a high paying job.
Many men's standards have changed with the progression of women's status in the work industry as well, they expect a woman that has been educated and well on her way to a career path. But what has drastically changed is the older generations viewpoint on the subject—they agree with the younger generation, with the two most important qualities in a wife being "elegance and a decent career path," quite a change from "diligence and the willingness to suffer the burden of life".
A sociologist from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill expects China's gender gap to widen by the year 2020, with 24 million more men than women.