CRI听力:China's Singles Look for Love in Many Different Ways

Zhongshan Park is located in the heart of Beijing. Every weekend hundreds of parents gather in the park to try to find matches for their sons or daughters.

Lu Shan, a professional matchmaker explains that in China parents put a lot of pressure on their kids to get married at a proper age, but high standards like having a house and a car make it difficult to meet the one, and so many worried parents have started to look on their own.

"They love their children and worry so much about them. If a girl is 30 or a boy is more than 30 but not married, their parents are willing to try every means they can for them. Thus parents' matchmaking parties in parks have been created. But those matchmaking activities are rarely successful."

Nevertheless, the demand placed on young people to find love has caused young people to look for options besides having their parents speed date for them. Lu Shan now runs an introduction service and a marriage studio for lonely hearts in Beijing.

At 29, Fiona Yu, a translator who lives in Beijing, is fast approaching the cut-off date for what is considered a good age to become a bride in traditional Chinese society. She has come to see Lu Shan in the hope of meeting someone special.

"It also has something to do with my work. Because there is a lot of pressure from work, I seldom have any time to focus on finding a suitable boyfriend. Women want a happy marriage. I always think about that too, but don't spend much time to achieve it, nor do I have many opportunities. "

Sofie Sun, a 35-year-old entrepreneur and a single woman, holds a different opinion. She argues that the biggest problem isn't the lack of opportunities or time, but the rising of women in Chinese society.

"The reason I am still single is because I find it so difficult to find a man who you love and hold the same values with. For many well-educated man, especially Chinese men, their requirements for women stayed the same: young, pretty, meek, respectful to parents. But for women who have had the same education, they consider those things as good virtues, but not the most important part of a marriage."

But single women aren't the only ones having a hard time. A recent study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found that due to the gender imbalance in China, where boys are prioritized over girls, millions of men could find themselves without a spouse.

For CRI, this is Li Ningjing.