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Matchmaking in China by Daniele Mattioli
Every weekend in a park in Shanghai parents offering their children. Those who have a daughter and who try to find a son in law have the most difficult task. Mr Wang is holding a big poster, advertising his son: “Male, born in 1984, 1,70 meter tall, University degree, monthly salary 8000 RMB, owns a flat“. Next to him stays Mrs Xie advertising her daughter: „Female, born in 1977, 1,67 meter tall, does no wear glasses, non smoker“. She wipes the swet out of her face, fans air with an old newspaper and with the other hand she spreads small pieces of paper on which she has written down the email adress of her daughter. It's Saturday afternoon at People’s Square, one of the central places of Shanghai. Every week a matchmaking market takes place here. To Western people who come along by chance the situation seems quite odd. Because the young people to whom a partner should be find are just not present. Instead of that you can see parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. 300, sometimes 400 of them are there. Lots of them carrying self written posters. Like in a secondhand shop for cars they have written down the benchmark data of the person who they want to get across: date of birth, weight, monthly salary. Others of the seekers put their selfmade posters on trees or on their own back and chest...
