Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match . . .
Laura Robertson
CBN News
March 28, 2007
Even though it seems like China would be a single person's paradise, finding a suitable mate isn't as easy as you would think.
With explosive growth in major cities and a competitive job market young singles are often married to their careers, and don't have time for love. Changing social dynamics further complicate things for those on the elusive quest for love. But instead of losing heart, several of these eligible bachelors and bachelorettes have turned to a traditional source: a matchmaker.
A social institution from the early days of the Song Dynasty until the Communist Revolution in 1949, the matchmaker lost favor along with arranged marriages and other traditional customs. While arranged marriages remain a thing of the past, Chinese matchmaking has come back into fashion, but it's taken new forms.
There are currently over 20,000 matchmaking industries legally registered with the Chinese government, some of which are official government entities, and others that are privately owned. According to iResearch, the Chinese matchmaking industry in 2004 grossed about $11 billion RMB (roughly $1.3 billion USD), exceeding the $1 billion matchmaking industry of the U.S.
But unlike the U.S. industry, which has been revolutionized by websites like eharmony and match.com, Chinese online dating sites only accounted for 0.3% of the market, but by next year that percentage is expected to grow to about 4%. Match.com's recent purchase of the Chinese site eDodo.com demonstrates increased optimism in this market, which has become increasingly lucrative.
On the completely opposite side of the spectruMany anxious Chinese parents are taking matters into their own hands. Throughout major cities, hundreds of them have gatherings on the street with pictures and resumes of their children in hopes of finding a perfect match. Some parents also attend some of the events designed for singles, and show pictures of their beloved sons and daughters to potential mates.
Some families carry on the matchmaking sentiments in unique ways. An interesting article in China Daily explored one matchmaking service that stands tradition on its head. Instead of looking for the right girl for a family, the Xiaoshan Golden Idea Matrimonial Agency helps wealthy families with only daughters to interview the proper husband to take on the family name. So through this agency, men marry into the family of the bride, provided the bride's family is worth at least 2 million RMB ($250,000 USD)
So the bottom line is that China's matchmakers are pretty busy these days, and the art still takes on many forms. But despite this booming industry, in its multiple varations, for most Chinese, the tried and true formula of boy-meets-girl, without all the frills of matchmakers, seems to work just fine.
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