高房价让你由男友变"剩男"

　Mike Zhang considered himself serious boyfriend material. He knew what to order at an Italian restaurant. He could mix a tasty margarita and always volunteered to carry his girlfriend's handbag. Then came the deal breaker。

　　Zhang, a 28-year-old language tutor and interpreter, couldn't afford an apartment in the capital's scorching property market. Rather than waste any more time, his girlfriend of more than two years dumped him. Zhang's misfortune is not uncommon. China's housing boom has created a woefully frustrated class of bachelors。

　　Unlike in the United States, where home buying traditionally takes place after marriage, owning a place in China has recently become a prerequisite for tying the knot. Experts said securing an apartment in this market signals that a man is successful, family-oriented and able to weather challenging financial circumstances. Put succinctly, homeownership has become the ultimate symbol of virility in today's China。

　　Chen Xiaomin, director of the Women's Studies Center at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said:"Marriage is becoming more and more materialistic. No matter how confident a woman is, she will lose face if her boyfriend or husband doesn't have a house."

　　Dating websites are now awash with women stipulating that hopefuls must come with a residence in tow. "I'm 25 years old, looking for a boyfriend. I want you to have an apartment and a car. The apartment has to be built after 2000 and the car has to be better than a minivan," read one post on a popular Chinese Web portal。

　　Material matters weren't quite so important when previous generations courted. Most Chinese were poor. Property was controlled by the state. But economic reform and mass urbanization in the last 30 years have upended these norms. Young Chinese are coming of age at a time of exploding wealth and rising expectations for material success. In a survey last year, 73% of respondents said homeownership was a necessity for marriage. An almost equal percentage said they had difficulty buying an apartment。

　　Though more women are becoming career oriented, China remains stubbornly traditional. Males are expected to be breadwinners. Wang Haijun, a real estate agent on Beijing's east side, said he can always tell when a desperate bachelor walks into his office. "They're always the least rational buyers. They don't care how little money they have. They just want an apartment as soon as possible. They take on a mortgage with the longest terms and highest interest rates. But they have no choice. They have to get married. I feel sorry for them," said Wang。