SPIEGEL.DE - Aug 4 - As a result of the government's decades long one-child per family policy and a preference for boys, an imbalance of the sexes has developed. For every 114 men in China, there are 100 women; overall, there are 30M more men than women. Those who remain unmarried die a quick social death in the country. The combination of freedom of choice and social pressure has become overwhelming for many. Thousands of flirt trainers, marriage brokers and love gurus are now employed in China's quest for happiness. Baihe, the largest online platform for people looking for someone to marry, has 300M members and 3k would-be matchmaker employees. The elite agency Diamond Love has its headquarters in Shanghai. It has 5M members, with some of them paying ~$15K a month for "custom services" promising them the wife of their dreams. A person's social status in China is determined by the authorities. The so-called Hukou system of household registration, splits all people into two categories: rural or urban. The place where a Chinese person is registered determines their access to doctors, schools - and also to urban, middle-class women. No date takes place in China without someone politely asking about the other person's Hukou status. Someone who moves to the city can, with some luck, attain the same privileges as the people who were born there. The Chinese government long ago recognized that the hordes of frustrated men migrating to the cities are a problem. The party now wants more children and is organizing mass group dates across the country.
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