Matchmaking a solution for young singles

A city of 1.3 million people in Anhui province has responded to calls from residents by pledging to emulate larger cities by creating a matchmaking corner at a local park to foster a conducive environment for young people to meet and date.

A comment left by a netizen recently garnered attention from the government of Tongling, where the number of newly married couples has been declining in recent years. "Other cities have matchmaking corners in their parks, but ours does not have one yet," the netizen wrote.

In order to make it easier for young people to meet potential partners, the netizen asked if authorities would create such a corner at Cuihu Park.

In a written response, the government said it would, adding that it is communicating with authorities involved to create a "good external environment" for meetings between young people who are ready to marry.

The government said the continuous decrease in local marriage registrations in recent years had created strife in families, a tacit reference to the parental pressure placed on children to date and marry, which in some cases leads to strained relationships.

"Therefore, establishing a corner to expand channels for young people to make friends is very necessary," it said.

Matchmaking corners — with amenities such as seating and shelters to facilitate conversations — are often found in parks or similar locations in first-tier cities, where experts believe heavy work pressure and the hefty cost of living have dragged down marriage rates, despite single people being urged by family members to tie the knot and have babies.

The corners are also embraced by aging parents who hang out at the sites with posters containing personal data about their adult children, including their incomes and contact information, to help them find a suitable partner.

In China, parents play a significant role in their children's marital decisions, including in arranging meetings and vetting potential partners.

The Tongling city government described the corners as a Chinese tradition spurred by parents' desire for their children to be happy, though some internet users say such sites are being developed in vain amid a growing generational divide in attitudes toward love and marriage.

The local government said the corners first popped up in Beijing in 2004 and have been emulated by other cities such as Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

They have been popular alternatives for young people seeking to meet potential mates in areas outside the workplace and without relying on friends and family to introduce them to others.

More efforts have been urged to create more matchmaking corners across the country amid concerns about falling marriage and fertility rates, with some such requests receiving official endorsement.

For example, netizens in Beijing recently implored authorities to create a matchmaking corner in Tongzhou district so that older parents don't have to travel long distances to such places in the city center.

The district government later replied that it had relayed the netizens' concerns to relevant authorities for future policymaking.

Netizens from places such as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, as well as the provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi, have also voiced their support for such corners.

In December, authorities in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, said that apart from designating spaces at local parks as matchmaking corners, they will also organize events on special occasions such as the Qixi Festival, known as Chinese Valentine's Day.

Meng, an accountant in Beijing who asked to be identified only by her surname, met her husband five years ago at college. She hailed the corners as an additional avenue for young people to meet, especially white-collar workers like her who have limited opportunities to meet people outside the workplace.

However, the 30-year-old added that people should not be too optimistic about the corners' effectiveness, because the posters put up by parents usually simplify individuals to a few tangible metrics such as height and income level and downplay crucial factors such as personality.

"Besides, many such corners are flooded by posters of single women, and those of men are very few," she said.

New marriage registrations began falling nationwide after peaking at 13.47 million in 2013, according to official figures. The number dipped below 10 million in 2019 and started decreasing by about 1 million each year, reaching just 6.83 million in 2022.

Last year, 7.68 million couples registered marriages in China, the first uptick in nine years.

lilei@chinadaily.com.cn