NEWS // Dating in China
Usually , Chinese young adults don’t begin dating until after high school. The cultural demand to eager a place in a good college is so strong students don’t have time for dating. For a lot of Chinese people, serious dating starts after they’ve finished school.
Parent involvement
Many Chinese view dating as a pragmatic affair. It’s not always about finding love so much as it is about finding a potential marriage partner who fits with one’s own ideals.
In general Chinese parents expect to be involved in their children’s dating relationships. It’s not uncommon for parents and grandparents to set their children up on blind dates with suitable matches they’ve found. If their child’s date doesn’t meet their expectations, they will not continue dating.
Marriage is the goal
The ultimate goal of most dating in China is marriage. Young Chinese women particularly fee this pressure. If they pass the age of 26 or 27 without finding a husband, they can be called “left-over women.” Men can find themselves similarly left-over if they wait too long to get married.
The dating experience in China is also different. Dating couples will wear matching outfits. They will not maintain separate social lives and friend circles. They sometimes refer to each other as husband and wife, even when they’re not actually married.
Social media
Most social interactions in China usually start or end with people scanning each other’s WeChat QR codes — a practice known as saoing — or adding each other’s WeChat IDs. Many women form their impressions of men based on photographs on WeChat’s “Moments,” a Facebook-like tool.
When it comes to dating, Chinese men are most interested in what women look like, while women want to know about a man’s income. The next consideration is a prospective partner’s profession: primary-school teachers and nurses are in high demand among men, while women favor men in IT or finance – areas men least want their partner to be working in.
Sources: ThoughtCo, Chinese Romance; New York Times