Why Chinese People Start by Hanging Resumes in the Park for Blind Dates [China Spotlight]

Profile Photos Displayed in Parks for Document Screening
Youth in China Focus Only on Dating Partner Criteria

"Is your child a daughter or a son?" Mr. Wang (65) asks those interested in his son's background. He introduces his son as a 35-year-old working at a stable company and says he is looking for a working woman over 160cm tall. Mr. Wang said, "Over the past few years, I have met more than 10 potential matches and kept in touch, but none of these meetings led to marriage."

Mr. Li (68), a Chinese man, goes to People's Park every morning to look for a marriage partner for his 34-year-old child. Having struggled with his child's marriage issue for several years, Mr. Li carefully examines the information about other children posted by other parents. He records the details of those he considers suitable in a notebook.

Citizens talking in People's Park, Shanghai, China. Photo by People's Daily, China

Recently, Chinese parents with children reaching marriageable age gather at the matchmaking corner in Shanghai People's Park to look over profiles posted by young men and women. The matchmaking corner at Shanghai People's Park is a hotspot where unmarried women and men, along with their parents, seek marriage partners. Since 2004, many parents of 'single youth' have gathered here every Saturday to find marriage partners on behalf of their children. Hundreds of unmarried young people come here with relatives and friends. As Shanghai People's Park became famous, similar meeting spots were created in Zhongshan Park in Beijing, Zhongshan Park in Xiamen, and other places.

However, as the marriage rate has recently declined, side effects have emerged even in the matchmaking corners within parks. According to the Xiamen Daily on the 15th, there are over 100 profiles stating things like "Mother is a university lecturer, father is a department-level 'cadre,' prestigious family" and profiles of men whose parents own more than 100 rental properties, but all share the same contact number. It was reported that these profiles were posted by marriage information companies. The report mentioned that Mr. Sun paid 10,000 yuan (about 1.86 million KRW) to a matchmaking agency but was not introduced to anyone matching the disclosed information. Xiamen Daily stated that this exploits parents desperate about their children's marriage by approaching them with false information.

Profiles posted on the matchmaking corner at Shanghai People's Park. [Image source=China Baidu]

Xu Dong, a lawyer at Xiamen Law Office in Beijing, explained, "Matchmaking is not a commercial activity, so posting false information is not false advertising, but if the dissemination of false facts is related to monetary transactions, it becomes problematic." He added, "If marriage or matchmaking companies distribute false matchmaking information to attract consumers, it constitutes fraud and can lead to civil lawsuits. Posting false information can infringe on others' rights to honor and privacy, potentially resulting in criminal liability or administrative sanctions."

Many Chinese media outlets pointed out that as China's marriage rate has declined in recent years, the matchmaking style of young people who meet based solely on conditions is causing serious low birthrate problems. According to statistics recently released by the Chinese government, there were 3.43 million marriage registrations in the first half of this year. This is about 500,000 cases (12.7%) fewer than the 3.928 million recorded in the same period last year, marking the lowest figure since the late 1980s. However, experts agree that the number will continue to decrease.

Young People Meeting Dating Partners Through Online Live Matchmaking Broadcasts

Online blind date broadcast posted on China's social networking service (SNS)
[Image source=China Baidu]

Young people have turned their attention to creating another People's Park matchmaking corner online. Mr. Fang, a Chinese man who introduced himself as a teacher born in the 1990s, met a dating partner through an online live broadcast. His partner is a man preparing for a doctoral program in Japan. Mr. Fang said, "In regular matchmaking, you can learn about the other person's information well, but there are limits to continuing a relationship based on emotions. Online matchmaking allows you to understand each other's personality, interests, and hobbies and continue the relationship."

Recently, many Chinese media outlets, including Xinmin Evening News, have highlighted the social issue of declining marriage rates over the past few years and reported that a new matchmaking method is becoming popular among young people. This is 'online matchmaking,' a method based on social networking services (SNS) that conducts real-time live matchmaking. Because it is an online meeting format without time and space constraints, it is attracting the interest of young people.

Lou Qingli, vice president of the Shanghai Marriage Management Association, explained why live matchmaking is popular among Chinese youth: "It is a convenient way for anyone to meet friends or dating partners," and "It is a new channel for young people to communicate."